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

Jiang Zhiyu silenced his phone and slept soundly until the afternoon of the next day.

Sunlight streamed into the room from the window, falling directly on his bed. Still half-asleep, he squinted at the light as he reached for his phone on the edge of the bed.

He held his phone up to his eyes; the screen showed the current time: 14:32 PM.

He leaned closer to take a look and saw the exact time. He was now fully awake, a hint of surprise flashing in his eyes.

If I remember correctly, he went straight to sleep when he got home last night, around 21 p.m., which means he slept for more than seventeen hours.

Due to his physical condition and work, he hadn't had a long sleep like this for a very long time.

Just then, a message popped up on my phone from Lin Shi: [Are you awake? Anything you'd like to do these next few days?]

How did he know I woke up at this time?

Jiang Zhiyu paused for a moment, somewhat puzzled.

But he didn't dwell on it. He quickly clicked into the chat window with Lin Shi and discovered that it wasn't Lin Shi who could monitor his sleep, but rather that this person sent him the exact same message every two hours without changing a single word, like a persistent human-machine interface.

[Are you awake? What are some things you'd like to do these next few days?] - 8:09

[Are you awake? What are some things you'd like to do these next few days?] - 10:15

[Are you awake? What are some things you'd like to do these next few days?] - 12:26

[Are you awake? What are some things you'd like to do these next few days?] - 14:33

Jiang Zhiyu typed in the dialog box: [...]

Seeing his ancestor finally willing to reply, Lin Shi responded almost instantly: [Awake? Have you eaten?]

[Just woke up, haven't eaten yet.]

Lin Shi's messages came in quick succession: "Get up and eat something, or your stomach will hurt."

Don't forget to take your medicine. Dr. Shen was asking about your condition just a couple of days ago.

[So, what are your plans for the next few days? Are you interested in watching the RXG match the day after tomorrow?]

Jiang Zhiyu stretched, ran a hand through his slightly messy hair, and replied, "Let's see. I'll rest at home for a couple of days first, and then we'll talk about it."

He took a quick shower, changed into loose loungewear, and let his soft hair hang down.

Lin Shi's last message was: "I've directly entered your information into the VIP ticket list. You can go whenever you want."

Jiang Zhiyu simply replied "okay," then casually switched his phone to Do Not Disturb mode, sat down in his gaming chair in front of the computer, and opened the long-unused "Zeroing Out" game client.

It's no exaggeration to say that Jiang Zhiyu is an addicted internet gamer; for him, playing games is the best way to relax.

The game loading screen features a banner that almost fills the entire screen, proclaiming: "RXG team championship stickers and weapon skins are coming soon, stay tuned!"

The background also features highlights of RXG players' performances at the World Championship, with River's highlights making up the majority.

Although the game developers have been reluctant to release the specific designs of the champion stickers and gun skins, and are very persistent in creating a mysterious promotional campaign, the specific designs of the skins are not a secret to Jiang Zhiyu. After all, the official team specifically asked for his opinion when designing them.

The moment he logged in, a series of offline messages and friend requests popped up on the client. He didn't look at them one by one, but switched directly to the ranked matchmaking page, intending to play solo queue placement matches casually.

Ladder is a game mode, commonly known as ranked play, where players can climb the ranks.

The ranks in "Zeroing Out" from lowest to highest are Beginning, Practice, Sharpness, Valor, Excellence, Perfection, and Final Realm.

Since he hadn't played for a long time, and with the new season of "Zeroing Out" just starting, his account was currently in the unranked stage and needed to play three games to unlock his rank.

Unbeknownst to him, at the same time, Yan Zuo was live-streaming on the other side.

Normally, 2 or 3 pm is the time when professional teams play training matches, but because they need to cooperate with the game to sell skins, they have deliberately set aside a few days without scheduling matches, and the day after tomorrow is the day when the matches will resume.

As a result, the profile picture that had quietly appeared in Yan Zuo's game friend list immediately sparked a flurry of comments from Yan Zuo.

At that moment, Yan Zuo was on the main game screen, talking non-stop about his experience recording the talent show: "You guys have no idea how exciting it was on set. It was so dramatic and exciting that I couldn't stop watching. And many of them don't look good on camera. They're incredibly good-looking in real life... They look good on camera too, but I just think they look better in real life."

"Who am I talking about...isn't it obvious? It's that one, the prettiest one in there."

【I understand now. Which one do you think is the most beautiful?】

So you and Jiang Zhiyu really know each other in real life? How did you meet?

Does he smell good? Does he smell good? Does he smell good? Does he smell good?

I don't know who to envy more; my dimensional barrier has truly been broken.

【Aaaaaa, Yan Zuo, stop chatting!!! Look at your friends list!!! Who's online!!!】

[What's with this profile picture?]

[Isn't this R-God's iconic profile picture? Stop chatting, click now! Yan Zuo, I'm really going to control you!!]

Yan Zuo was stunned when he saw the comments. He reflexively opened his friend list and saw a "missing user" who hadn't been online for several months. The name was simply "Rr".

River has never changed this name in ten years, making it highly recognizable. Yan Zuo almost immediately closed his friend list, but it was too late; the ID instantly ignited a flurry of comments on Yan Zuo's screen.

[I can't believe my eyes! River, you're back!!!!]

[Oh my god, my hands are shaking! I haven't seen this guy's avatar light up on my friends list for months. I feel like crying... I really miss you so much...]

[Please, please, please duo queue!!! Yan Zuo, I'm begging you on my knees!!!]

Long time no see, it really has been a long time...

[I just want to hear your voice, please, Yan Zuo, sob sob, just hearing your voice is enough.]

Yan Zuo's first reaction was: Oh no, what if this causes my brother to be exposed?

My second thought was: It should be fine, right? Neither Jiang nor I gave anything away!

He turned to look at the rapidly refreshing list of comments, hesitated for a moment, and then tentatively clicked on the avatar to send a duo queue invitation.

Upon seeing Yan Zuo's invitation to duo queue, Jiang Zhiyu paused for a moment before clicking the "accept" button.

After Jiang Zhiyu joined Yan Zuo's room, Yan Zuo immediately turned on his microphone: "I'm live streaming."

Jiang Zhiyu responded and asked, "Don't you have any practice matches this afternoon?"