Volume 1 - CH 21

Playing Fish Trapped in Secret Room

Book 1: The Storm is Coming

Chapter 21

The theme of the dinner that night for SP was “Pep Rally Before the Battle”.

Starting tomorrow, for the six-day long exhibition tournament, the names of SP’s <Secret Room Storm> lineup would be revealed, the roster for their top two teams.

The second team had always been led by Solo, thus it was clear to everyone inside SP who the players were for the second team.

But for the roster of players for the the first team, even the SP staff did not know who they were.

It was said that there were retired players, new generation players, and international professional players.  Anyway it was a mysterious team that Solo had been preparing for a very long time and it was to be their A team.

“I went to watch WCS this afternoon.”  Ai Qing took some food onto her plate.  She went back to sit down next to Solo and the others.  The second team’s manager and coach sat right across from her.

“Oh, yeah?”  Solo laughed.  “How did it feel?”

“I do not know what to say.”  Ai Qing sighed and thought about it.  “I have mixed feelings about it. Baona and I had pretty high expectations when you picked up StarCraft 2 in the beginning.  But unexpectedly, it didn’t get popular in China.  It didn’t even have a professional league.”

This was Solo’s last event before he retired, so he was the most qualified to comment on it.

But he didn’t say anything.

It was the coach of the second team who laughed and made a comment to Ai Qing, “StarCraft 2 requires very high level play and the threshold to be a pro also high.  So it’s not a game that can gain popularity easily.  There was a joke that a StarCraft 2 Chinese Regional champion was ignored by reporters after a competition, he got so angry that he switched to LoL.  Frankly speaking, only the group battle competition games are more suitable for the general public.  Aren’t LoL and DotA all very popular nowadays?”

But it was different.

The charm of StarCraft and WarCraft, which had dominated an era, was exactly because they demanded a high level of individual skill when playing.

Extreme plays, explosive APM numbers, and fast hand speeds.

Even watching someone play on a keyboard was a kind of performing art during a game competition.  But in a group battle competition, nobody would pay attention to each individual’s keyboard.  They only cared about their skill in positioning.

Ai Qing felt somewhat emotional about it and lowered her head to eat dinner.

She didn’t notice that there were newcomers arriving until Solo started to applaud beside her.  She looked up and saw several people arrive each carrying backpacks in front of her.  They were led by Baona doing self introductions.

“My main event was CS in the past.  I was a member of Solo’s team and we took the championship of Chinese Regional tournament in ‘04 and ‘05.”  A tall big man smiled like a rogue.  “I was the captain in ‘04.  We won the championship of Beat it in the Chinese Regional tournament.  You are welcome to just call me All.  Although I retired twice before, I’m only one year older than Gou Gou.”

“I am Xiaomi.  My experience was the same as All.”  Xiao Mi smiled mildly.  “I never retired and I’m always on the frontlines fighting.  I’m only seven months older than Gou Gou.”

Ai Qing was left in a bit of a daze.  It felt like a dream.

“I am Slide.”  Slide put his hands behind his back and looked at Ai Qing with interest. “I was with Gou Gou at the ‘07 Asian Tournament.  As the captain of the Chinese team, we won the first Asian Tournament group championship.”

He finished, then he added as an afterthought,  “Although I retired also, I’m but one year younger than Gou Gou.  I am not old yet.”

It was a complete and unexpected surprise.  She was happily stunned.

Ai Qing just could not believe it.  She turned to look at Solo several times.  Solo was very calm.  He smiled in response to her excitement.

The four players of Solo’s old team had reunited again, here in this Korean resort on the first evening before the exhibition tournament officially started…...They had experienced whole nights training, through shady deals and unfairness, various victories, etc.  These scenes all played out in theirs heads.

All these memories overlapped before their eyes.

She was stunned and couldn’t tell whether it was reality or a vivid memory from the past.

Until…...the last person spoke.

“Oh.  My name is Inin.  I have Chinese and Korean mixed blood.”  The last young boy carrying a backpack.  He was not quite clear with the situation.  He looked around the room, and finally he also focused on the only two people he knew------Solo and Ai Qing.  “I’m not from the group battle and I never retired.  I started to touch esports last year.  My main event is StarCraft 2.  I was the champion of WCS American Regional tournament.  My rank on the America Server last year was number 3. This year is not over yet, I think…...by the end of the year I should be ranked 1.”

He felt that it was like a rule to compare his age with “Gou Gou” after he finished speaking.  He asked Ai Qing with very good manner,  “That…...I don’t know Gou Gou so I don’t know whether I am older than her, or younger……”