Reborn in 2000, starting from the university website

The air in the innermost private room of the New Century Internet Cafe was so stale it could have fermented.

The room was littered with iced tea canisters and instant noodle containers, mixed with the smell of four grown men who hadn't showered for two days. The pungent odor was enough to extinguish a biological weapon.

Bai Yuhang rubbed his bloodshot eyes, reviewing the registration logic code on the screen, the cigarette in his hand already burning down to the filter.

"Sixth Brother, that's a really underhanded trick!" Zhang Jian muttered as he typed, his fingers almost cramping, but his eyes gleaming. "Isn't real-name authentication with ID numbers one thing, but having to get two classmates to help with the authentication too? Aren't you forcing people to go offline and find people to help them?"

"These days, we students don't have cell phones, so we have to do it this way. We have to make sure it's real people, with real information for registration." Bai Yuhang stubbed out his cigarette in the mountain of ashtrays, his voice hoarse. "This is our viral engine. You want to come in and see the class beauty? Okay, first bring your two bunkmates in to testify that you are 'Zhang Jian' yourself. One person comes in, two people come in; two people come in, a whole dorm comes in. We save on the screening process costs and gain a bunch of free offline promoters."

Wan Lianghao stretched, his bones cracking. "I've finished cutting the front-end page. As you said, dark blue with white space, it's as plain as... well, you know. But you know what, after looking at Geek Alliance's colorful pages for so long, this one actually looks pretty good, kind of... what's that word again?"

"A sense of sophistication," Bai Yuhang added, turning to look at Lao Qi, who was huddled in the corner. "Lao Qi, where's the script for the banner?"

Zhang Qingheng was staring blankly at the screen when he heard his name called. He snapped back to reality, quickly turned the monitor around, and blushed slightly. "It's all set up. It's just this copy... 'Want to know if your middle school deskmate has changed now?' 'See where your first love is now.' Sixth Brother, isn't that a bit too... too shameless for those few seconds while it's loading for download on the music site?"

"What's the point of having a face? Can a face feed you?" Zhang Jian peeked out and chuckled. "This copywriting is amazing. If I saw it, I'd click on it too. Who wouldn't want to see how their first love is doing?"

"Merge versions." Bai Yuhang gave the order.

The code files from the four computers began to be copied and merged to the local test server. Wan Lianghao's "high-end" UI, Zhang Qingheng's "dog-skin plaster" traffic-driving Google, Zhang Jian and Zhang Qingheng's personal homepage and class group page architecture, and Bai Yuhang's core that he had painstakingly written over the past few days—the recommendation algorithm mechanism based on the six degrees of separation.

The four of them adopted the tree-structured modular development method required by Bai Yuhang. After the code files were compiled, he did a simple summary and debugging, and then it was ready to be tested locally.

The screen flickered the moment the F5 debug run key was pressed.

A clean, almost incongruous blue and white login screen popped up. There were no fancy Flash animations popular these days, no pop-ups flying everywhere, just a simple and powerful Google slogan:

"Qihang Campus Network - Because it's real, it's wonderful."

Zhang Jian tried entering his information. After filling in Harbin Institute of Technology, School of Computer Science, Department of Software Engineering, and class, several gray profile picture frames immediately popped up in the recommendation bar on the right, with the words: "People you may know: Jiao Liwei, Yang Bo..."

"Holy crap!" Zhang Jian's hand trembled, and the mouse almost flew out of his hand. "This algorithm is amazing! We haven't even promoted it yet, how does it know that the eldest and second eldest are my classmates?"

"Nonsense, do you think you're some kind of god? Don't be ridiculous. I just manually uploaded the data from the top two users; they're the test seed users." Bai Yuhang stood up, feeling dizzy, and had to hold onto the table to steady himself. A tired but arrogant smile tugged at the corner of his mouth. "Alright, the internal test is passed. It's uploaded to the server and ready for online testing. Let these college students who haven't seen the world yet experience what 'social binding' really means. You guys keep an eye on the upload; I need to take a nap. Seventh brother, ask the top brother how it's going at all the internet cafes..."

As they were talking, Bai Yuhang leaned back in his computer chair and fell asleep.

Three days prior, in the afternoon.

Still in Daowai District, at the New Century Internet Cafe.

As Zhao Jianjun finished listening to Jiao Liwei's words, the wallet he had just taken out froze in mid-air. The 5,000 yuan in sponsorship money that he was about to slap on the table, which was intended to reserve the venue for the finals, just wouldn't come down.

"Brother Zhao, please take this money." Jiao Liwei reached out and pushed the wad of cash back into his hand, a increasingly shrewd businessman's smile on his face. "This time, we're not doing sponsorship; we're doing bidding."

"Bidding? I'll withdraw the money after dinner, it's waiting to be given to you." Zhao Jianjun stuffed his wallet back into his pocket, raising an eyebrow. "You think you can play these games with me?"

"Brother, it's not a joke, it's just that this business is too big. Please understand." Jiao Liwei pulled up a chair and sat down opposite Zhao Jianjun, counting on his fingers, "This time we're not doing this small-scale business. There are at least twenty internet cafes involved. Brother Liu and Master Qian have both given their approval. Including the other potential customers I'm visiting these past few days, I conservatively estimate at least thirty internet cafes."

Jiao Liwei pulled a hand-drawn competition format diagram from his bag, placed it on the bar counter, and traced it with his fingertip: "Well, our technical director, Lao San, said that before the preliminary rounds, each internet cafe will organize registration, with eight people per team. They'll practice shooting at the internet cafe, and the internet cafes will have to pay for banners and other promotional materials. We'll provide the promotional posters. How the preliminary rounds are conducted is up to each internet cafe. We can provide technical guidance, just explaining how to conduct the competition and ensuring fairness. The strongest team from each internet cafe will be selected from the preliminary rounds to represent the internet cafe in the finals. The team name depends on how the internet cafe and the team get along. In the knockout rounds, we'll have referees involved in the management."

"Referee?" Zhao Jianjun was taken aback. "Playing football?"

"Yes, that's the feeling. Teams from two internet cafes simultaneously connect to the dedicated tournament server we set up. We have referees in both internet cafes watching, so no one can cheat. After these two weeks of elimination matches, the two strongest teams will emerge from a real battle. At this point, where the finals will be held will be something that tens of thousands of CS players in Harbin are watching closely."

Jiao Liwei leaned forward and lowered his voice: "Brother Zhao, let's start the bidding for this final venue at two thousand. Whoever wins the bid will be Harbin's 'Leading Internet Cafe for Esports.' Even if we stop competing in the future, this title will still be a golden brand."

Zhao Jianjun finally understood. This wasn't about him spending money; it was about him spending money to buy a reputation, and that reputation could be monetized.

"What about the prize pool?"

"Each participating internet cafe contributes 600 yuan. Thirty cafes would contribute 18,000 yuan. Adding the cost of bidding for the final venue, the total is estimated to be 20,000 yuan. The first place winner will receive 10,000 yuan, the second place winner 5,000 yuan, and Qihang will keep the rest for the cost of setting up the game servers. This money isn't coming from us; it's a collective effort. Qihang is responsible for setting up the stage and providing the technology. The performers are the internet cafes and their teams, and the audience is all the game enthusiasts in Harbin."

Zhao Jianjun slapped his thigh, making the ashtray on the table jump: "You college students really know how to think! This is called getting something for nothing... no, it's called using someone else's resources to make something out of nothing! Fine, I'll cover the six hundred. Then we'll see who dares to compete with me for the final venue!"

Jiao Liwei grinned and handed over a prepared authorization letter: "Then, Brother Zhao, sign the contract."

In just three days, a "battle" is quietly spreading through the streets and alleys of Harbin.

Promotional posters and banners for the "Harbin City Esports Alliance - First CS Team Championship" appeared overnight, covering utility poles, bulletin boards, and even the entrances of university cafeterias around major universities and internet cafes.

The poster design was simple and direct: a black background, a green night vision perspective, a huge crosshair in the center, and below it, a line of blood-red text—"Who is the Harbin Gun King?"

The bottom line, though small in size, is crucial: [For registration inquiries, please contact the front desk of any internet cafe. Team members must complete real-name authentication on the "Qihang Campus Network" to participate.]