Chapter 131: Five Fingers Work Sometimes Too!
Next, Ren Dong interviewed others, and overall, the atmosphere was very lively.
When interviewing Kuaisu Xing, he was asked why he chose to let Li Fan come up to play the match.
“Unreal was at the base at the time, although not training… but I found his state was very good. Although he was playing gunfight shooting games, his reaction and all operations were top-tier, so I felt he could do it.”
“The result really didn’t disappoint me. He really could… and after that, he kept starting.”
Ren Dong smiled after hearing this answer.
“You just mentioned that Unreal’s state playing shooting games was very good. As the coach, how do you view Unreal playing other games?”
Kuaisu Xing’s mouth twitched slightly upon hearing this question.
West eight, you guy are deliberately stirring things up, right?
But he still showed a smile and answered very seriously: “After intense matches, returning to the base, there’s really no mood to play rank. That’s Unreal’s own special adjustment method, and the effect is indeed very good. We also won the Spring Split championship.”
The audience at the scene couldn’t help but laugh upon hearing this.
But they did win the Spring Split championship, so what does playing these games matter?
Unreal just has this kind of talent.
Now it seems like winning an all-around king championship isn’t impossible either.
……
The lively atmosphere of the interview segment gradually subsided, but the heat in the venue hadn’t dissipated.
Ren Dong smiled and signaled the official end of the interview. EDG’s players bowed again to the cheering fans below the stage but didn’t immediately head backstage.
The confetti on the stage hadn’t been cleared yet, and the Silver Dragon Cup still emitted a silver glow under the lights.
This was exactly the exclusive moment for champions, where they could stay on stage to fully enjoy the victory.
“Come on, come on, photo time!” Abu the coach’s face was beaming with joy. It wasn’t that they hadn’t won a Spring Split championship before, but this championship held great significance for them. After losing the finals last year, their state had been greatly affected.
Not only that, the original lineup had undergone a major trading.
Under these circumstances, winning the championship precisely proved they had moved past it.
This year, continue aiming high!
After iboy comes on in the Summer Split, that will be EDG’s complete roster.
He shook off all these thoughts. This was still a time for celebration. He quickly called to the players, “Everyone come over and gather around the trophy. Let’s take a few more photos!”
Actually, everyone wanted to take photos. Hearing Abu’s words, the players immediately cheered and gathered again around the Silver Dragon Cup.
You put your arm around my shoulder, I put my hand on your back, faces beaming with the purest smiles, striking various cool and goofy poses for the club’s official photographer and the media cameras from all directions.
Especially meiko, who started imitating Li Fan’s MVP photo pose, making everyone laugh heartily again.
“Fan Ge, one solo shot!” the club photographer shouted. This one was specifically for the official Weibo.
Hearing this, Li Fan smiled, pulled the heavy Silver Dragon Cup to his side with one hand again, and made the classic shush gesture with the other hand toward the camera.
“Shh!”
At this moment, the boy and the trophy formed the most perfect scene on the stage.
During this time, fans who hadn’t left the venue yet started clapping and screaming watching the players’ photo session, occasionally shouting a player’s name, and when responded to, it triggered a wave of excited cheers.
The atmosphere at the scene could be said to still be very joyful.
The photoshoot finally came to an end, and the players’ gazes turned to the fans at the edge of the stage who were still enthusiastically holding up support items and hadn’t left.
“Shall we go take a group photo with the fans?” Mei Kong suggested.
After all, they hadn’t left after so long, so these must be everyone’s die-hard fans.
This suggestion was immediately agreed to by everyone.
Abu reminded from the side that everyone should be careful, since there were so many people, being cautious was never wrong.
Of course, he followed along too.
Kuaisu Xing also followed along…
After all, Korea’s anti-fans are even worse than China’s haters.
Pouring sulfuric acid is really commonplace.
The most terrifying thing is that even with such murderous behavior, as a public figure in Korea, you must unconditionally forgive them.
Otherwise, more people will attack you…
This has become an unspoken rule.
There are even banquets specifically to entertain anti-fans.
The purpose is to make these haters hate a little less when hating.
However, as young fans grow up, anti-fans have started to become less extreme.
The environment has slowly begun to change.
Online they don’t affect cursing themselves, offline they still cheer what they cheer…
Under the escort of the coach and manager.
Thus, the entire EDG team holding the Silver Dragon Cup walked to the edge of the stage near the audience seats.
This action instantly ignited the fan zone’s atmosphere.
“EDG! Awesome!”
“Clearlove! Look here!”
“Unreal! I love you!”
Cheers and screams rose one after another.
The players tried their best to meet the fans’ requests, taking photos and signing autographs with fans across the barriers.
Due to the large number of people, security personnel had to maintain order to ensure safety.
Those who got the chance for close contact were truly extremely lucky.
After all, staying here, they hadn’t expected EDG players to come down for interaction.
Besides luck, this was also what they deserved.
Li Fan was undoubtedly the most popular focus of the night.
He patiently cooperated with one excited fan after another, taking pens to sign his ID on support signs and team jerseys, then smiling for photos with them.
A somewhat shy-looking boy, after getting the autograph, was so excited he was incoherent: “Fan Ge… you’re too strong! Keep rushing in MSI! Bring back a Mid-Season Invitational championship!”
Li Fan saw this boy and smiled.
“Unreal’s little fanboy?”
“Ah? Bro, you actually know me?” Yu Luo didn’t expect that he, a nobody, would be remembered. At this moment, he was truly a bit moved.
Completely turned into a die-hard fan.
At first, he came for Li Fan playing other games, and the videos he sliced were somewhat to create topics, thinking it was fun…
In the end, Li Fan’s popularity exploded more and more, and he, as the first slicing uploader to eat the crab.
“Your first two times coming to watch offline matches left a deep impression on me. The videos you sliced are really well done. Thanks for your support.”
“Let’s add contact info…”
Li Fan had long wanted to add Yu Luo’s contact, but never had the chance.
After all, EDG club gives staff quotas for every match, which are essentially tickets.
These can be used as fan benefits.
Anyway, Yu Luo is in Magic City, so giving him one or two tickets for matches is no problem.
Yu Luo was extremely excited at this moment. He didn’t expect Li Fan to want his WeChat.
He excitedly pulled out his mobile phone…
A female fan with a ponytail handed over a carefully made Q-version Unreal cartoon portrait, her voice trembling, showing she was extremely excited: “Unreal, this is for you… congrats on winning!”
Li Fan took the drawing somewhat surprised, looked at it carefully, and said seriously: “Drawn really well, thanks. I’ll treasure it.”
After saying that, he even took a photo with her and the drawing, making the girl blush with excitement.
“Unreal, will you live stream Speed tonight? I love watching you play Speed the most. After winning the championship, you’ve rarely live streamed Speed.”
To this, Li Fan could only smile awkwardly, because in Nanjing tonight, he probably wouldn’t be live streaming.
The celebration banquet would start soon, returning to base would be tomorrow, and then they’d head straight to Brazil.
After all, the Mid-Season Invitational timeline was quite tight for them.
Now was entry time, group stage on May 11th, so actually only ten days of prep time.
“I’ll definitely live stream Speed later.”
The ponytail girl nodded very satisfied upon hearing this.
“Looking forward to your live stream.”
Soon, Weibo hot searches filled with topics like “#EDGChampionship#”, “#UnrealFMVP#”, along with quite a few on-site group photos and photos.
【Aaaah, I’m dying. Just took a photo with Unreal. He’s really so tall and handsome! Amazing skin! And super gentle. He even said thanks for the support when signing.】
【Really has great emotional value. Better to stan esports players than other star brothers.】
【Wuuu, Unreal in person is ten thousand times handsomer than photos. I didn’t believe Super Topic sisters when they said he’s gentle before, but today I totally believe it! He took my support item with both hands and smiled at me!『Picture』『Picture』】
【Saw Unreal squat down to let a kid touch the trophy with my own eyes, my heart melted. What an otherworldly gentle big boy! Decisive killer on the field, so warm off it! Stanning, stanning, lifetime no unstanning!】
【So many upstairs acting thirsty? This is Weibo discussion, not a zoo.】
【Jealous, huh? But we observed up close, Unreal so humble after winning, always looks fans in the eyes when talking, great attitude!】
【Strong skills, high appearance, high EQ, what perfect idol is this? @EDG-Unreal from now on I’m your iron fan!】
【Handsome as hell, I’m tired of saying it, but Unreal isn’t just face, it’s that inner confidence and gentleness combined charm radiating out. Coming to the scene today was so worth it!】
【Completely different from other professional players. Road-to-fan!】
【Tch, all championship fans, only stanning because he won. If they lose later matches, it’ll be different.】
【LOL, look at this photo!】
At this time, someone uploaded a photo of Li Fan carrying the championship trophy toward backstage.
Sparking more discussions…
The entire EDG team took the club-arranged bus, carrying their still surging emotions and the Silver Dragon Cup, to tonight’s celebration banquet location, Nanjing Huatai Wanli Hotel.
Ai De Zhu the boss really went all out this time, not only booking a luxury banquet hall in the hotel, but the dishes were extremely lavish, with lobster, abalone, and other premium items all available.
He even invited quite a few LPL commentators and hosts to the scene.
After all, as a real estate tycoon, he wasn’t short on money.
And the club turned profitable for the first time this year. This money was well spent, spent freely!
The banquet hall atmosphere was lively, and the players, having shed the match pressure, could finally fully relax.
Everyone sat together, no longer discussing complex tactics or reviews. Topics turned to funny operations in the match, fans’ enthusiasm after winning, and anticipation for the upcoming Brazil trip.
As the banquet reached its latter half, with everyone mostly done eating and chatting in small groups, the banquet hall doors were pushed open, and Ai De Zhu the boss walked in beaming.
“Boss!”
“Zhu Zong!”
Players and staff all stood to greet him.
“Sit, everyone sit!” Ai De Zhu smiled and gestured with his hands for everyone to relax.
“First, congrats everyone! You played beautifully today.” Ai De Zhu’s voice was loud, “Seeing you lift the trophy on stage, hearing the whole audience cheer for you, as your boss, I have face and I’m happy!”
After all, aren’t rich second gens just playing these things?
As for the rich first gen, they have no interest in this, preferring traditional sports.
Like Principal Wang’s dad who got into soccer…
The club is just a game to them.
Achieving results in the game lets them show off to friends.
From this angle, these bosses are just like ordinary people.
“Our EDG never fears setting high goals. We had some setbacks last year, but this year we stood back up from spring! What does that show? It shows our foundation is there, our spirit hasn’t been lost!”
He paused, his gaze sweeping over Clearlove and meiko, lingering especially on Li Fan’s face, his tone more serious: “Everyone’s happy today. I’m here to give you a reassurance pill, cheer you on, and boost your morale!”
Hearing this, everyone perked up their ears.
“Next, you’re heading to Brazil soon to represent our LPL in the Mid-Season Invitational. I promise here: if you bring back that Mid-Season Invitational championship trophy for me, beyond the team bonus, I’ll personally reward each starting player an extra five hundred thousand!”
He held up his right hand, spreading five fingers.
“Wow—!!!”
Five hundred thousand! For these mostly young players, it was absolutely a huge sum!
After all, the other EDG members weren’t like Li Fan, who had already made a name on the live streaming platform as Huya’s game section big streamer.
Not to mention signing fee, every stream’s gift rewards were fifty to sixty thousand.
A month down is a few million, an exaggerated number.
So for EDG players, sometimes open five isn’t bad… this open five is too good.
“Boss awesome!!”
“Zhu Zong generous!”
Though it was just painting a pie, having a pie to paint was best for the players.
And based on Spring Split performance, winning this Mid-Season Invitational championship was very possible.
“Alright, that’s all I’ll say! The rest is up to your performance!” Ai De Zhu raised his drink, “Come, everyone, cheers to spring’s victory, and to summer… cheers!”
“Cheers!!”
“EDG! Victory!!”
Everyone raised their drinks.
Seeing it was about time, Ai De Zhu left the scene.
With the boss gone, the atmosphere lost some formality but became more relaxed and casual.
Everyone continued eating and drinking, chat volume getting louder.
Li Fan, full and satisfied, put down his chopsticks, leaned back in his chair to rest. He watched his teammates fooling around, pondering if he should really open a stream for a bit after returning to mix some hours as relaxation.
Though no computer, he could do Honor of Kings live stream.
At that moment, a wave of fragrance mixed with pungent perfume.
Three graceful figures walked to his table, exactly the LPL official commentators and hosts Rita, Zhou Shuyi, and Luo Xin, invited to the celebration banquet tonight.
“Fan Ge~ congrats on winning!” Rita spoke first with a bright smile. She wore a proper dress today.
Luo Xin blinked big eyes, chiming in: “Yeah yeah, you played so handsome today!”
Zhou Shuyi nodded on the side, but her eyes kept glancing at the empty seat next to Li Fan.
Li Fan’s popularity was at its peak now, especially his gentle image interacting with fans post-match already viral on Weibo, with extremely high heat.
Rita and them, as insiders and hosts needing exposure and topics, naturally wouldn’t miss this chance to ride the heat.
A group photo with the new FMVP posted on Weibo would definitely get good interaction data and topic heat.
“Unreal, photo together okay? Borrow some of your championship luck!” Rita gracefully made the request, and while speaking, naturally shifted to stand at Li Fan’s left side.
“Sure…” Li Fan still chose to give Rita some face.
Hearing this, Luo Xin reacted super fast, swooping to occupy the golden spot on Li Fan’s right.
She even happily hooked Li Fan’s arm, saying to Zhou Shuyi who was temporarily holding the phone: “Shuyi quick, take one of us first!”
Zhou Shuyi inwardly cursed “you two thirsty hooves so fast!”, but kept a smile on her face, taking the phone from Luo Xin.
“Unreal, look at the camera!” Zhou Shuyi raised the phone.
“Okay okay, my turn!” After shooting, Zhou Shuyi immediately shoved the phone back to Luo Xin, then wanted a solo photo with Li Fan.
But Rita and Luo Xin wouldn’t give her the chance, both saying let’s take a few more together, so they changed a few poses, gathering enough for a nine-grid.
Zhou Shuyi still wanted a solo, but at this time Li Fan called Clearlove over.
Clearlove had gotten to know Li Fan well in this time and clearly saw he didn’t want a solo with Zhou Shuyi.
Though unsure the reason, he still stood in the middle…
Rita couldn’t wait, already sitting in a quieter corner of the banquet hall, carefully selecting a few just-taken group photos, then editing her Weibo.
Not long after, Rita’s Weibo updated.
“Star-chasing success! Congrats @EDG-Unreal on Spring Split championship and FMVP! So Carry on field today! Borrowing championship luck, also hope EDG shines in MSI! #EDGChampionship##UnrealFMVP#”
Below the text, two photos attached.
One was Li Fan’s handsome shot single-handedly holding the Silver Dragon Cup with shush gesture, the other her side-by-side with Li Fan.
In the group photo, she was slightly turned closer to Li Fan.
【Wow! Rita and Unreal in frame!】
【Handsome guy beauty eye candy!】
【This celebration banquet scene? Rita so pretty today!】
【Unreal’s height and looks are unreal.】
【Why do I feel Rita’s look at Unreal has something?『Doge for safety』】
……
