Esports world champion, debuted as the center of a talent show

During the pre-recording interview, a staff member held up cue cards, looked at Jiang Zhiyu, and asked with a smile, "Do you usually play games?"

Jiang Zhiyu answered decisively and without the slightest hesitation: "Yes."

"What games do you like to play?"

"The Zeroer"

This answer was expected by the staff, since almost every trainee who participated in the recording said they loved the game.

The staff member pressed further: "How would you rate your own gaming skills?"

Jiang Zhiyu paused slightly, his fingertips unconsciously rubbing the hem of his clothes. After a moment's hesitation, he chose to tell the truth: "It's alright."

"Okay, then I look forward to your performance today!"

After finishing the interview, Jiang Zhiyu walked to the computer next to the camera and sat down. He lightly touched the mouse and clicked on the familiar game icon on the desktop.

The login uses a basic account provided by the program team. In addition to RXG's championship banner, the game's main interface also features a countdown to the start of ZPL's new season.

The bright red numbers were very noticeable. His gaze swept over the string of numbers indifferently before moving away without any reaction.

The custom room was quickly set up, and all ten players entered the game preparation phase.

Jiang Zhiyu almost reflexively opened the game settings and adjusted the parameters to the most familiar state, but the cursor he was rapidly changing the key bindings suddenly froze. After a brief hesitation of two seconds, he reluctantly changed it back to the default settings.

His unique game setup has been studied and used by fans, but even when used, it is considered as fans imitating him.

But he worried that if he used familiar parameters, he might get carried away and lose control, aiming wildly, which would be no different from having a sign that says "I am River" on his forehead.

Game recording began quickly.

The first segment was a long-winded introduction by the host about the game "Zeroing Out," which consisted of official information that could be found online. Jiang Zhiyu sat in his seat, listening with a growing sense of drowsiness.

After finally waiting for the host to finish explaining the rules, the team assignments were announced:

Attackers: Jiang Zhiyu, Wei Shuang, Fu Xingyu, Ai Junmin, Xue Guang

Defenders: Shen Fengyu, Fang Shi, Chen Feng, Wang Zijie, Liu Pengheng

He noticed that Wang Zijie, who had recently stated in an interview that she was a "die-hard fan" of River, was in the opposite Player4 position.

Most of the names were unfamiliar to Jiang Zhiyu. In this unfamiliar environment, he would only become quieter, using silence to gain a sense of security.

Fortunately, there was at least Wei Shuang by his side. Although Wei Shuang's face was still very sour, Jiang Zhiyu was able to ignore his expression and sense his somewhat excited inner thoughts.

Game begins—

Jiang Zhiyu defended the opening.

Once in the game, he fully embraced his excellent habit of "playing dumb while still getting a feel for the whole game." He bought a small pistol at the start and followed his teammates around, pretending to aim, but he was just a human outline master and couldn't hit a single person.

His teammates saw that he stayed in the back the whole time and his shooting skills were mediocre, so they treated him as a human bomb-planting machine and didn't pay much attention to him, focusing only on their own performance in front of the camera.

Jiang Zhiyu nodded in satisfaction. Before the start of the new game, he finally managed to scrape together enough money, opened the game store, bought a sniper rifle, quickly opened and closed his scope, and a happy smile crept onto his face.

Sitting next to him, Wei Shuang sighed heavily. Jiang Zhiyu turned his head and looked at him, somewhat puzzled, wondering who had offended this person again.

He opened the game's stats screen and suddenly understood something.

Of the five players on our side, only Wei Shuang's kill count is increasing; the other four, including himself who is just wandering around the map, are all at the bottom of the leaderboard.

With the game about to switch sides in the final minute, Jiang Zhiyu was the only one left on his team, navigating the map. The attacking team's explosive charge was about to detonate, and his teammates' spectator view was focused on him. His task was to protect the sniper rifle in his hand.

He was curiously adjusting the scope like a novice when suddenly a figure flashed past the edge of the scope, moving so fast that he couldn't react in time.

Almost instinctively, Jiang Zhiyu flicked his wrist, rapidly moved the mouse to aim, and fired in one fluid motion without any hesitation. A golden headshot kill notification immediately popped up on the screen, and the crisp sound effect was exceptionally clear at the scene.

The top right corner of all teammates' profiles prominently displayed: Jiang Zhiyu used a sniper rifle to headshot and kill enemy player 4.

Jiang Zhiyu's hand holding the mouse froze instantly. His heart skipped a beat, and a hint of embarrassment appeared on his face. He subconsciously avoided his teammates' gazes, his fingertips curling slightly, looking somewhat at a loss.

"Pfft—"

Kui Shuang, who was sitting next to him, couldn't help but laugh out loud, and her furrowed brows instantly relaxed.

The trainee on the same team immediately brightened up, looking surprised: "Wow, Jiang Zhiyu, that flick shot you made was so cool! I didn't even realize someone was there before the other guy was already down."

Jiang Zhiyu snapped out of his daze, coughed lightly, and replied in a flat, dismissive tone, "I was just lucky, it was just a coincidence."

Although the shot took away the last enemy soldier, the attacker's explosive charge had already been detonated, so the attacker still won the point.

The game had just entered the first minute countdown after switching sides, and the trainee laughed and joked a couple of times, not thinking much of it, just taking it as a lucky shot, and turned back to continue the game.

Thanks to Wei Shuang, a teammate who really knows how to play "Zeroing Out", the score was very close.

In the final few rounds, Wei Shuang showed signs of weakness. After losing several gunfights, Jiang Zhiyu couldn't resist firing a few more shots to secure the victory.

For Jiang Zhiyu, losing a match is harder than pretending to be a novice.

After the game ended, Jiang Zhiyu breathed a sigh of relief and leaned back in his chair.

The recording venue for e-sports variety shows was crowded with people and had a lot of equipment, making the air inside a bit stuffy. Jiang Zhiyu pulled up his cuffs and collar to get more air conditioning.

The recording of the main competition has ended, and the recording of post-competition interviews is underway not far away. Most people are queuing up in the open space in front of them.

Jiang Zhiyu was still sitting in front of his computer, browsing the information on the homepage of the game "Zeroing Out".

"I don't think I've ever seen you wear short sleeves before."

Upon hearing this, Jiang Zhiyu turned to look at Wei Shuang, who had spoken. He sensed a hint of probing in her words. Wei Shuang paused for a moment, then added, "There are no cameras here."

"It seems like we've only known each other for a few days." Jiang Zhiyu was somewhat confused by the word "never" he used.

The person who started the conversation shrugged, seemingly not expecting any answers anyway, and immediately changed the subject: "The first rankings will be released tonight. Do you think you can get first place?"

"I've always been very confident that I can come in first place."

Kui Shuang gazed into his calm eyes, watching the light highlight his confident expression, and couldn't help but smile and look down: "Yes, you've always been like this."

After saying that, he turned and left, walking out of the recording studio.

A staff member called out to him from afar, "Wei Shuang! The post-match interview hasn't been recorded yet!"

He waved his hand without turning his head: "I don't have any thoughts. Ask other die-hard River fans."

Jiang Zhiyu sat there watching Kui Shuang's figure walk further and further away until she disappeared outside the door before getting up and leaving.

The staff didn't stop them; there were indeed enough people for the interviews. However, they still asked, "Jiang Zhiyu, aren't you going to record an interview either?"

He turned around and nodded: "Yeah, I'm too bad. You guys should find other contestants to record."