The tournament was much more formal than the qualifier in the past.
As more and more people began to fill up the venue, the on-site workers started to become busy. The arena started to become noisy as spectators entered the university.
Chen Zhifei and the other two felt uneasy when they saw the number of people staring at them.
However, Liu Zilang felt the opposite. He sat there calmly and not a sign of uneasiness was shown on his face.
This was not because he had participated in tournaments in the past.
In fact, Liu Zilang had been like this ever since he started participating in offline tournaments.
Su Changming was in awe back then as he realized that there were people who were meant to be on the grand stage.
However, there were also people who were more suited to play in online tournaments.
Take the best streamer in PUBG, Shroud for example. He was North America’s number one player back when he was in C9 as there was no question about his strength.
However, despite displaying extraordinary talent in online tournaments, he was but merely average in offline tournaments.
Hence, he was known as the best in North America in online tournaments and a disaster in offline tournaments by viewers.
A large majority of players needed time to familiarize themselves when they first began participating in offline tournaments.
It was rare to see gifted players such as Liu Zilang. He could display calmness in a large-scale tournament right off the bat.
…
Team One of the University of Jianghai returned to their seats after greeting them.
Jiang Xinou stared at Pu Taizhuang for a brief moment before they left.
Pu Taizhuang raised his eyebrows!
‘What are you staring at!’
Jiang Xinou turned his head around and walked away immediately.
As Jiang Xinou left the area, the other three dropped by to greet them.
When Qin Xuanxuan came over, she patted Liu Zilang’s shoulder and said to him charmingly, “Good luck out there my little junior! Everything depends on you now!”
Chen Zhifei and the other two were beyond astonished when Qin Xuanxuan walked away.
Liu Zilang shrugged on purpose as he felt that their gazes were on him. “See, what did I tell you?”
…
What happened next was pretty much similar to the qualifying tournament.
Liu Zilang started the live stream on his computer. He then muted his microphone and set his live stream’s delay per the tournament’s rules and regulations.
Viewers started pouring into his stream within a couple of minutes.
“Huh? Why is he early today?”
“What’s with the room’s title? China University Esports League?”
“Oh! That’s right! Vic did mention that he’ll be playing in a tournament today!”
“Woah! There’s even an official live stream from Douyu. This tournament seems rather grand.”
“It definitely is. I heard that they’re having Boss Su and Ms-Joy as casters. Do you think they would agree to cast a typical tournament?”
“Boss Su as a caster? He’s my idol! Where’s the official stream? I need to check it out!”
“Rumor has it that Boss Su has a kid. Why is the nanny casting a tournament instead of taking care of his kid at home?”
…
Liu Zilang took a quick glance at the bullet screen and nodded in his mind.
As he was criticizing silently, a loud cheer came from the scene.
Two people had entered the venue. They kept smiling and waving at students while walking forward.
These two people were no other than the casters for that night, Ms-Joy and Su Changming.
Liu Zilang averted his gaze as he saw Su Changming.
However, he felt a little bit relief when he realized the probability of the latter spotting him was low as there was a huge crowd in the venue.
Suddenly, Su Changming stopped as he and Ms-Joy were walking past the contestants’ seats toward the commentary platform.
Liu Zilang who was pretending to focus on his screen became stiff as he could see a figure at the corner of his vision.
‘Has he spotted me?’
He took a deep breath as he let all of his fear out and raised his head up.
Liu Zilang was slightly surprised by what he saw.
Su Changming was not looking at him. Instead, he was looking at another contestant.
Gradually, Su Changming put a smile on his face.
He reached out his hand as he pulled out his index and middle fingers. He flicked out his thumb to form a pistol with his hand as he placed it on his temple before pointing at a certain contestant.
The audiences were flabbergasted.
‘Who is Boss Su greeting?’
After all, this was a national tournament and they had an official live stream in the arena.
The big screen at the back of the commentary platform soon shifted toward where Su Changming was pointing…
On the big screen, all one could see was a person sitting lazily on a chair as he squinted and mimicked Su Changming’s gesture.
The crowd was astonished the instant they saw him and cheered at the top of their lungs!
“Holy sh*t! Is that who I think it is! Isn’t that Guru Sloth?”
“It’s really him! I thought Guru Sloth had retired! Why is he competing in this tournament?”
“I think that’s where the Wuhan University’s representatives are seated. Could it be that Guru Sloth is still a student?”
“That’s possible! Holy sh*t! I was Guru Sloth’s number one fan back in the past!”
“Hey, can I ask who’s this Guru Sloth? Why does he sound like he’s sh*t?”
“He’s not just sh*t! He’s the sh*t! Have you heard of Sloth the Legion Destroyer? He’s Gao Yunyang, Asia’s number one initiator in the past!”
“I didn’t expect Sloth to migrate to PUBG when he left Se7en. If Guru Qiu and Master Ze are that amazing, Sloth should be on par with them.”
“It’s hard to tell. PUBG is different from any previous FPS games. There has been no news regarding Guru Sloth for the past half year, and we haven’t been watching his streams ever since he retired, no?”
“Rumor has it that Sloth comes from an extremely rich family. The reason he retired was so that he could inherit his family’s business.”
“Quit your bullsh*t! Why would someone from a rich family play in the competitive scene? How bored can you be?”
The crowd discussed this matter as they set their eyes onto the lazy-looking youngster sitting in the contestant’s seat.
Naturally, Liu Zilang was one of them.
Logically speaking, he would have felt rather uneasy and behaved nicely since everyone was focusing their attention onto him.
That would be the natural psychological behavior of a normal person.
However, that man was obviously not normal.
He remained in his usual stance as he sat lazily on his seat and squinted.
Liu Zilang was in shock after seeing him.
He was able to relate to the slothful man sitting opposite him.
This was because he knew that Sloth was the only person in the competitive scene who would write an email to the eSports Association, suggesting that the gear provided in tournaments should be of wide variety. This included a lying chair when a contestant needed one.
Naturally, his request was rejected.
Liu Zilang looked at this man who had been radio silent for the past six months as he recalled the reason he had provided when he decided to quit.
‘Didn’t he decide to go home and inherit his family’s business?’
‘Why’s he here?’
‘Is he a Wuhan University’s student?’
‘Or did Wuhan University request help from outside?’
…