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

The staff led Jiang Zhiyu and his three companions to the VIP viewing area, where several people were already seated. They merely glanced at them briefly upon their arrival and made no further move.

They sat down, and Yao looked around curiously before whispering, "This is my first time watching a game here."

"Me too," Jiang Zhiyu nodded in agreement.

"..."

Yao scratched his head, walked to the railing of the spectator area and looked down. The stands were packed with people.

Despite being an older game for several years, Zeroers has shown no signs of declining popularity. On the contrary, its popularity has been steadily increasing this year, especially after RXG won the world championship.

The domestic operators of the gaming events also spared no expense in organizing a grand ceremony for the opening day of the new season, inviting people from all walks of life to watch the games. This is why Hong Liu was able to get tickets to the spectator area today.

Unfortunately, ZPL's biggest fan has been "missing" for over a month. During this time, they tried to contact River's agent, Lin Shi, several times, hoping that River could come to the venue as a guest during the break, but the reply they received was always: it's inconvenient.

Fortunately, the rest of RXG's championship quartet remains largely unchanged, and playing them in the first match of the new season will still generate a lot of buzz.

Discussions such as "Can RXG maintain its league dominance without River?", "How much will River's temporary break affect RXG?", and "Can RXG win?" are rampant.

Inside the VIP lounge, two people sitting a few rows away from them were also discussing similar issues.

One person said, "I wonder how strong this newbie is."

Another person chimed in, "I heard they played well in the practice match."

"As we all know, looking at the results of practice matches is useless. Vax is filling the void left by River right away, and that kind of pressure is too much for a rookie. I don't even expect him to perform well; I just hope he doesn't underperform and drag his teammates down."

"That's true. After all, not everyone is like R God, who made a name for himself with a pentakill in his debut match."

Their conversation gradually turned to River, the esports superstar who had almost disappeared from the internet, but who remained the center of attention for all ZPL viewers.

Jiang Zhiyu, who was forced to listen to the whole cacophony of compliments, stared at the pre-match 'GG' on the big screen on the stage with an expressionless face, but his ears were actually slightly red.

He coughed lightly and turned his head to see Lin Sen wearing a dark blue fan support hat with "R" written on it, happily taking pictures with his phone.

"Let me borrow it for a bit." Jiang Zhiyu tugged at Lin Sen's sleeve and tapped his baseball cap.

Lin Sen casually took off his hat and put it upside down on his head: "Here you go, I have more."

He then smiled mysteriously, pulled a hat of a different color from his bag, and said, "I didn't expect you to like River too. Then let's be fans of the same brand."

Kui Shuang, who was sitting at the other end of the spectator sofa, looked over upon hearing this, her expression complex.

Jiang Zhiyu straightened his baseball cap and pulled it down, the shadow of the brim covering his eyebrows and eyes.

He didn't deny it, but simply steered the conversation away from the topic: "I'm going to the restroom."

A staff member who was engrossed in typing looked up briefly and asked, "Do you know where the restroom is? Do you want me to go with you?"

Jiang Zhiyu shook his head, declining his offer: "No need, brother, I know where it is."

The VIP viewing area and the players' rest area are not far apart, with the restrooms in between. As a result, guests in the viewing area and players often meet and take photos together in the restrooms, which ZPL viewers jokingly call the "player arrest room".

Jiang Zhiyu found the entrance to the restroom with familiarity, and as soon as he went in, he saw someone standing in front of the sink.

He paused for a moment, then quickly continued walking in as if nothing had happened.

The man, who had just finished washing his hands, looked up and saw Jiang Zhiyu's back in the mirror. He froze on the spot.

Not long after, Jiang Zhiyu, who had come out again, found that the other person was still standing in the same place. The difference was that the two of them were now standing face to face.

Jiang Zhiyu stood quietly, meeting his slightly reddened gaze without flinching or looking away, his expression indifferent.

You could hear the host warming up the crowd from afar, and the loudspeaker noise drifted into the restrooms, sounding muffled and unreal.

You lied to me.

There was a hint of grievance in the other person's voice.

Jiang Zhiyu sighed and walked back to the sink: "I will keep my promise to you."

"I can't even get in touch with you."

"I haven't been using my phone much lately." Jiang Zhiyu turned on the tap, and the cool water flowed down his hand.

The other person approached angrily, turned off the tap, and said through gritted teeth, "I need a time limit. Do you think I can't tell you're just making excuses? God?"

"I've been really busy lately. Once I'm done with this and you've gained enough competition experience, we'll have a chance to share the stage one day." Jiang Zhiyu turned around, leaned against the sink, and looked intently at the person in front of him who had somehow become taller than him.

He wasn't this tall before he went abroad for the competition in the first half of the year.

Jiang Zhiyu thought to himself, feeling depressed.

The other person's expression softened slightly, but they still maintained a tough stance, hands in their pockets, and nodded in a childish manner: "You must keep your promise."

"Go back and get ready." Jiang Zhiyu smiled and added, "Good luck in the competition, Vax."

Vax is a substitute for the RXG team, and he was personally selected by Jiang Zhiyu from the youth training camp.

These things were never his concern, but he happened to be traveling with Lin Shi that day and happened to see Vax calmly aiming. So he immediately said to Lin Shi, "He's the one."

After bringing the trainee back from the youth training camp, Jiang Zhiyu, a "veteran of esports" who is a year younger than Vax, became Vax's teacher.

Vax would take advantage of his free time after training matches to ask him questions about shooting practice, item placement, tactical strategies, and he would also pester him to have gunfights in the game.

But Vax also had moments of confusion. After a match, he asked Jiang Zhiyu, "Will I never have a chance to play?"

He still can't forget Jiang Zhiyu's answer.

At that moment, Jiang Zhiyu, wearing an RXG team uniform, had just come out of the interview room and was taking small sips of mineral water. Hearing this, he looked at him with some surprise, then patted him on the shoulder reassuringly: "Believe in your strength, and one day we will stand on the same stage as teammates fighting side by side."

At this moment, the image of River in his memory overlapped with the image of Jiang Zhiyu in his casual clothes in front of him. Vax stared blankly at him, a fleeting mist passing through his eyes. He solemnly said, "I will let you witness my first victory on the field."

Two hours later, RXG suffered their first crushing defeat of the new season.