During this April Fool’s Day match, even though Excellent Era didn’t perform exceptionally well, their competitor had performed just as badly. Thus, that day’s featured event passed by without any commotion. Who would have thought that the next day, Club Excellent Era would hold a press conference and throw down a huge bomb.
In the press conference, Club Excellent Era’s director, Cui Li, announced: “The recent addition to the team, Sun Xiang, will not be participating in the remainder of the matches this season due to health reasons.”
When Cui Li answered the questions of the reporters, he answered in a very remorseful way. They had noticed Sun Xiang’s poor health a long time ago, but because of Team Excellent Era’s current predicament, they had insisted that he participated in the matches, but now, it had reached a point where he had to stop.
After answering many questions regarding the details of Sun Xiang’s condition, Cui Li confidently expressed that despite missing their ace player and character, the team would try even harder for their remaining matches. At the same time, however, Cui Li had stated that the Club had already made mental preparations for the worst case scenario. If the worst case scenario occurred, the Club and the team would face it with a proactive approach.
Even though his statements seemed modest and tactful, as professionals, the experienced news reporters could hear what was going on under the surface. Excellent Era had made preparations if they were relegated. This meant that Excellent Era wasn’t confident that they would be able to maintain their current position in the rankings.
What had happened to Excellent Era for such a famous team to not even be confident that they could stay in the Alliance? On paper, Excellent Era shouldn’t have any such trouble maintaining their ranki in the Alliance even without an ace player like Sun Xiang or a God’s character like One Autumn Leaf. However, Excellent Era seemed to already be prepared for such a situation.
“Is Excellent Era really planning on giving up this season and returning through the Challenger League next season?” Seeing the news, Chen Guo asked Ye Xiu in disbelief. They had discussed this possibility just last night.
“I don’t think they’d go that far, but it seems like the team really is a mess.” Ye Xiu sighed.
“Excellent Era is going to be finished?” Chen Guo had a hard time believing it.
Ye Xiu could only shake his head and didn’t comment.
“Wow! Wow!! WOW!!!!”
A string of repeated cries interrupted their conversation. Bao Rongxing also known as Steamed Bun Invasion had been brought over to the team’s living quarters after grabbing their late night snacks. That place had been just been given to Chen Guo on April 1st, so she didn’t have much time to tidy up the place. However, the wide and spacious living area was enough to make Bao Rongxing cry out in amazement.
After resting for the night, it was only until that morning that were they able to finish tidying up the place. At this moment, Bao Rongxing had arrived at Happy Internet Cafe. Last night, it had been too dark to see much and there had also been a huge crowd because of the match broadcast, so he didn’t get to have a good look at the Internet Cafe. Now that he had come again, he checked out the whole building from top to bottom. Just like last night, he was crying out in awe all over the place.
His cries clearly made Chen Guo very satisfied. She happily looked at Bao Rongxing, who was currently running down the stairs.
“What a big Internet Cafe!!” After Bao Rongxing had said enough wows, he exclaimed loudly in admiration. Once he gave this compliment, he didn’t forget to ask: “For such a big Internet Cafe, how many security guards do you have?”
“That……. There hasn’t been a need for any. The public security in this area is pretty good……” Chen Guo wasn’t sure how to answer his question. In any case, from what she remembered, she had never seen a situation where she had needed a professional security guard to take care of the matter. Even though there would occasionally be drunk customers or little thieves coming in, she didn’t see the need for a professional security guard.
“Public security…… not all problems can be solved by public security! How about you leave those matters to me?” Bao Rongxing confidently said.
‘I don’t mind.” Chen Guo laughed.
“Okay okay. Let me see! Can I move that table over there for me to sit at?” Bao Rongxing gestured at Happy Internet Cafe’s entrance. The table he was pointing at would block half the walkway.
“Uh…… I don’t think that’s necessary!” Chen Guo began to sweat.
“It’s necessary! It’s necessary! Only if we set it up this way will there not be any holes. If they want to run this way, the table will block them. If they run this way, I’ll give them a good punch and a kick. He won’t have anywhere to run!” Bao Rongxing explained his plan.
Chen Guo was starting to get anxious, but she didn’t know how to communicate with this guy. At the crucial moment, Ye Xiu stood forth: “Bao Rongxing, was this how you did things back at the Internet Cafe you were working at before?”
“Nope.” Bao Rongxing denied, “I would only come out when the boss called for me.”
“Then let’s do it that way too. If there are any problems, we’ll call for you to come out!” Ye Xiu said.
“I’m pretty used to doing it that way. I just don’t know if boss will think I’m dependable enough!” Bao Rongxing looked over at Chen Guo.
“Yes yes yes! You’re more than dependable enough! Here here here, you should spend most of your time on Glory! If something really does come up, I’ll definitely ask you to come out.” Chen Guo said.
“Okay!” Bao Rongxing replied with reluctance.
Afterwards, Bao Rongxing went to Room 213 on the second floor. Thinking about how more team members would eventually arrive, Chen Guo already knew that they would need a much larger practice room. Recently, she had already discussed with several people about remodeling the second floor. However, she hadn’t made any deals yet, so Room 213 would remain their practice room for now.
Bao Rongxing sat inside and once again praised the room. Chen Guo very much liked to hear these words and happily accepted them.
Then, they began to play Glory, but even though the four players were sitting close together, they were all very far in the game. Tang Rou and Bao Rongxing were still in the tenth server, but Tang Rou was a much higher level than Bao Rongxing, so they couldn’t play together right now.
Ye Xiu was in the Heavenly Domain and continued to level Lord Grim.
Chen Guo’s activities in the game were no longer just for fun. She rarely went on her main account. She usually used her alternate account to check on the guild storage and guild members. Apart from that, she frequently checked the forums for any news, trying to find movements of the going ons in the pro scene.
“Old Wei still isn’t here yet?” They had spent most of the morning tidying up the apartment, so Chen Guo told the Internet Cafe to be on the lookout, but when she returned, she didn’t hear about anyone looking for her.
“He said he’d come today.” Ye Xiu said.
“It’s already dark. He’s still not here?” Chen Guo muttered, when her QQ suddenly rang. When she checked it, the little sister at the cash register told her that someone was looking for her.
“Hm? Maybe it’s Old Wei.” Chen Guo said.
“Really?” Ye Xiu put down his game. Tang Rou knew that another member had arrived, so she also got up to meet him. As for Bao Rongxing, he didn’t know what was going on, but seeing that everyone else was getting up, he felt like something must have happened and they needed him, so he immediately followed after them.
Chen Guo led the way. She walked down the stairs and saw an unshaven fellow smoking up a cloud. He had two big bags beside him. His cigarette made the little sister at the cash register knit her brows, but held herself back from saying anything, knowing that this was this boss’ guest. This guy didn’t seem to notice at all. He just looked around carelessly until his gaze reached the stairs. When he saw Chen Guo, his eyes immediately lit up.
“Old Wei!”
At this moment, Chen Guo heard Ye Xiu call out. That guy had already started moving towards them. Chen Guo stepped to the side and let Ye Xiu stand in front. However, when that guy walked over to them, he didn’t shake Ye Xiu’s hand or anything. He immediately looked at Chen Guo and asked Ye Xiu: “Who’s this beauty?”
“She’s our boss.” Ye XIu introduced.
“Ah, it’s nice to meet you.” Wei Chen extended his hands out. He wanted Chen Guo to shake his hand.
Chen Guo instantly felt conflicted! Her initial impression of Wei Chen was nothing good. And seeing how his eyes lit up when he saw a beauty, her impression of him continued to drop. She really didn’t want to shake his hand, but thinking about how he would be a part of the team, as the boss, shouldn’t she show her goodwill? Helpless, she extended her right hand too. She had already come to a decision. If this guy didn’t let go of her hand to take advantage of her, she wouldn’t give him any face.
But Wei Chen just shook her hand a few times and said “Hi, I’m Wei Chen” and then let go, but afterwards, Chen Guo discovered that this guy’s gaze had landed on Tang Rou’s body. His eyes lit up and as soon as he let go of Chen Guo’s hands, his hands seemed to be impatiently heading towards Tang Rou’s hands. He asked: “And this is?”
“Tang Rou.” Ye Xiu used her real name. Tang Rou had never met Wei Chen in-game, so introducing her by her game ID would be confusing.
TL Note:Tang Rou’s game ID in Chinese is Han Yan Rou, which sounds like an actual name
“Good name. It’s nice to meet you.” Wei Chen immediately wanted to shake Tang Rou’s hands. Chen Guo wanted to see how Tang Rou would deal with him, but another hand went up to meet his: “Hi! I’m Bao Rongxing! Those who are familiar with me call me Steamed Bun.”
“Ah….. hi……” Wei Chen was surprised by the sudden interruption. Then, he looked at this guy with his long hair. After saying hi, he turned his head to Ye Xiu: “These are all the members you’ve found so far?”
“Yeah, even though they’re new to the game, they’re quite good.” Ye Xiu said.
“Oh, right! Did you see this?” Wei Chen suddenly seemed to have thought of something. He ran back to his bags and fished out a folded newspaper.
Ye Xiu looked. It was the evening paper in City H. Even though it wasn’t specifically for reporting on eSports, Excellent Era was a big Club in City H, so it gave a brief report on Excellent Era’s press conference in the sports section.
“Of course I’ve seen it.” Ye Xiu only glanced at it. He knew that Wei Chen was certainly referring to this news, so he stuffed it back into the bag.
“What is Excellent Era planning? It seems like they’re already prepared to get relegated? If they actually get relegated and participate in the Challenger League next season, wouldn’t they bump into us? That could be bad!” Wei Chen seriously said.
Chen Guo was surprised. Wei Chen’s previous glances at her and Tang Rou made her think that this person was very dirty, but in an instant, this guy had already begun discussing the biggest issue the team faced.
For these guys, Glory was the most important thing in their life!