"Are you busy with something right now, Beiming?"
"No. What"s wrong?"
"Log out now!"
"Okay."
……
After logging out of the game and calling Beiming Xue to come with me, I exited the workshop only to realize that my car was still parked at the university entrance. Having no choice, I hailed a taxi, entered the taxi with Beiming Xue and told the driver, "Sir, please go to XX Street 21 as soon as you can! We"re in a hurry!"
The driver responded by activating his F1 racer mode and stepping down on the gas. For a moment, it felt like I was using an Invincible Charge skill or something.
"What is going on, big bro?" Beiming Xue asked. "And why are we bringing our gaming helmets with us?"
"Gui Guzi and the others are attending the opening ceremony of the ASUS e-sports club at Suzhou today, and they are going to play a couple of exhibition matches later. However, Warsky Alliance flew all the way here from Henan and challenged them to a match! Li Chengfeng isn"t here yet, so Gui Guzi wants us to head over and support them for a bit."
"But don"t we have our own contracts? Won"t our sponsor complain about this if we help out a compet.i.tor?"
"I don"t know, but Warsky Alliance showed up today as a representative of Pepsi. If I"m not mistaken, Warsky is doing this because he succ.u.mbed to the pressure from his sponsor. He"s planning to create some positive news to raise his guild"s morale and satisfy the sponsor, and the recently famous ASUS e-sports club is the perfect target. Plus, the team is composed of the key members of Ancient Sword Dreaming Souls. If they beat them, it"s almost the same as beating the top team of our guild. That"s the gist of his plan, basically."
Beiming Xue curled her lips in annoyance. "I thought Warsky is a good person inside the game. I didn"t think he would be so evil as to attack our guild in real life. Did he forget that divine punishment loves people who harm others to benefit themselves like him?"
I chuckled. "What good people? This is the era of heroes and warlords fighting to reach the top and secure a domain of their own, not to mention that karma can"t favor us forever. I"m sure Li Chengfeng, Gui Guzi, Chaos Moon, and the others are prepared for something like this since the day they joined the ASUS e-sports club."
It was at this moment the taxi driver spoke up as if he finally understood what we were talking about. "Boy, it sounds like you guys are playing that game called "Heavenblessed", am I right?"
"Yeah. You know about Heavenblessed too, sifu?"
"Hehe, of course. It"s the only thing that this good-for-nothing son of mine talks about day and night. Oh right, what are you called inside the game? You sound like an amazing player."
I smiled. "My ID is Broken Halberd Sinks Into Sand."
"Broken Halberd Sinks Into Sand?" The taxi driver fell into thought for a moment before exclaiming in realization, "Oh, I remember! That"s the first or second best expert in the entire China, right? My son is actually a fan of yours! He often talks about you and praises your skill!"
I smiled. "I"m just okay…"
A while later, we arrived safely at our destination. I wanted to pay the driver, but he adamantly refused and pa.s.sed me a pen and paper instead. "Do me a favor and give me your signature instead. I"m sure that useless son of mine will be overjoyed if he sees it!"
Having no choice, I accepted the pen and signed my ID "Broken Halberd Sinks Into Sand" on the paper. Then, I added an extra "Falling Dust”.
The taxi driver thanked me repeatedly before he finally drove away. Beiming Xue stared at the departed car for a moment before commenting with a smile, "Big bro, this man is a really good father, isn"t he?"
I nodded. Most fathers would scold or even cane their sons for getting too engrossed in games. However, this taxi driver requested a signature from his son"s idol so he could take it home and please his son. He really was a good father.
……
Beiming Xue and I walked up the stairs leading to the entrance hall where two beautiful receptionists wearing ribbons were waiting. They smiled at us and said, "Welcome to the opening ceremony of the ASUS e-sports club!"
No entrance fee was necessary to enter. While we were going inside, I took out two Lenovo chest insignias, gave one to Beiming Xue and wore the other in front of my s.h.i.+rt. According to our contract with Lenovo, we were required to wear the chest insignia representing our e-sports team in public gaming venues such as this one. It was one of the things Rose had reminded us repeatedly about.
It was extremely crowded inside the main hall. A couple of people were standing on the main stage, and they were none other than Gui Guzi, Chaos Moon, High Fighting Spirits, and Eighteen Steeds of You and Yun. The host was a beautiful woman, and she was declaring the start of the opening ceremony. However, something was clearly troubling her, and she wouldn"t stop shooting glances to the right side of the hall.
I followed the direction of her glance and saw Warsky Alliance"s group as expected. The super experts—Warsky, Farewell Song, Laughing At The Heavens, October Rain, Lin Bing Dou Zhe, and Hundred Battler—were all here, and they were all wearing the Pepsi chest insignia. It looked like all the top experts of Warsky Alliance had shown up, and they seemed to be absolutely confident in their chances.
On the stage, the host said with a smile, "Originally, we were planning to let Gui Guzi and Li Chengfeng fight three exhibition matches with each other as thanks to everyone who showed up today, but it looks like fate has something different in store for us! Our friends, the e-sports team of Pepsi, have traveled all the way here to Suzhou to play a friendly match with us. Legendary Brave is still on his way, but fans of the ASUS e-sports club, do you think we can win this match?"
Countless cheers erupted from below the stage. Countless girls and young wives shouted on top of their lungs—
"Do your best, Gui Guzi! Take down Farewell Song and contribute another achievement to Farewell Song and the ASUS e-sports club!"
"Even without Li Chengfeng, we will win for sure!"
"Berserker High Fighting Spirits, Earth Wanderer Eighteen Steeds of You and Yun, do your best!"
"Gui Guzi, I love you~~"
……
As it turned out, the ASUS e-sports club had a lot of super fans, and a large majority of them were young girls between 14 years old to 20 years old. Gui Guzi"s image as a cultured but brave undead knight was very attractive, it seemed! It was unfortunate that Li Chengfeng wasn"t here, or the chorus of cheers would be even more perfect. Li Chengfeng held a very important place in the hearts of the girls because he was cool, handsome, and as loyal to his brothers as he was bloodthirsty toward his enemies. As one of the guardians of Ancient Sword Dreaming Souls, it was only natural that he was in the mind of many girls.
Gui Guzi blushed like an apple in the face of his brutal fans, but even that wasn"t enough to put a lid on his ever-growing anxiety. Both him and Chaos Moon were scanning the crowd repeatedly as if they were looking for someone. Clearly, they knew that High Fighting Spirits and Eighteen Steeds of You and Yun were strong, but their chances of actually beating a CGL Hall of Famer was very low. Moreover, the cla.s.sic WSL match format was four 1v1s and one 2v2. Frankly, the chances of the ASUS e-sports club winning as they were now was very low.
Meanwhile, I had finally reached the main stage and tried to pull myself upward. Unfortunately, the G.o.dd.a.m.n thing was so tall that I had to climb up the thing like a very clumsy spider. It was an ugly look to say the least.
Gui Guzi and Chaos Moon broke into smiles when they saw me. "Hoho, he"s finally here!"
The crowd and countless female fans stared at me in astonishment as well. "Wah, what is that guy doing? Why is he climbing up the stage? Why isn"t he turning around, I want to see if he"s handsome or not…"
I placed a hand on the floor and slowly pushed myself up to a standing position. The host stared at my chest insignia in astonishment for a moment before speaking loudly and clearly to her mic, "Are… are you Falling Dust?"
I nodded and smiled. "Yep. The players of your club are all my friends, and as a friend it"s my natural duty to support them on their big day, isn"t it? Since our Pepsi friends came all the way to play a friendly match, why don"t we make the match format slightly more interesting? Beiming Xue and I will join the ASUS team temporarily, and the winner will be decided by a best of 7, more specifically six 1v1s and one 2v2. Does that sound like a good idea?"
The host looked surprised and undecided. However, a young man not far away from her nodded quickly, walked up to me with a smile and replied, "That is a good idea! I love your suggestion, Little Heavenly King! I am the leader of the ASUS e-sports club, Agi. I am very glad to make your acquaintance. Anyway, since this is the suggestion of the Little Heavenly King himself, I find no reason to decline whatsoever. But before that, we must inquire the opinion of our challengers. Do you accept this arrangement, friends from the Pepsi e-sports club?"
Agi"s eyes were obviously taunting. My arrival alone had swayed the tides in their favor, not to mention that Beiming Xue was with me as well. Meanwhile, I had turned around to face the crowd. The flas.h.i.+ng of the cameras was so rapid and blinding that I almost couldn"t keep my eyes open.
Warsky was the shotcaller of the Pepsi e-sports club, and he wasn"t a man to back down from a challenge. He nodded immediately and said, "If you want a fight, then a fight is what you"ll get. We don"t fear you in the slightest."
Beneath the stage, the fans were bubbling with frenzy. Countless girls were screaming on top of their lungs—
"Wah, is that guy the legendary Falling Dust and Broken Halberd Sinks Into Sand? He"s so, so handsome in real life…"
"Hehe, our chances of winning are infinitely close to 100% now. With the power of Lu Chen and Beiming Xue"s friends.h.i.+p, there"s no way we couldn"t beat the ugly b.a.s.t.a.r.ds of Warsky Alliance!"
"Yeah, yeah! Just look at Warsky, his face is twisted all the way to New York! I can"t believe he has the guts to the guild leader with a face like that!"
"I know right!? Farewell Song looks like a swine"s kidney, Lin Bing Dou Zhe looks like a steelyard weight, Laughing At The Heavens" face is a :-( emoticon, and Hundred Battler"s hair is as red as a roasted chicken! October Rain is the only beautiful woman in their team! I knew it! Warsky Alliance"s men aren"t worth s.h.i.+t!"
……
Warsky, Farewell Song and the rest of the men couldn"t stop their facial muscles from twitching. The battle hadn"t even begun yet, and they were almost slayed by the enemy"s fans already.
"Let"s cut to the chase already, shall we?"
Warsky abruptly rose to his feet and pointed a finger at the host. Holding his gaming helmet in one hand, he said with a smile, "Please prepare the draw, host. Also, we"ll be sending Lin Bing Dou Zhe and Farewell Song for our 2v2 match. Who will be your players for the 2v2 match, ASUS?"
Gui Guzi and Chaos Moon"s expression turned gloomy instantly. The team wasn"t very good at 2v2 matches, and the only pairing among them who had a good placement in the compet.i.tive arena was Li Chengfeng + High Fighting Spirits. Unfortunately Li Chengfeng wasn"t here yet, so their chances of winning the 2v2 match was even lower than it already was.
I immediately patted my chest rea.s.suringly and said, "No problem. Beiming Xue and I can take care of that, hehe!"
Warsky gritted his teeth. Although Lin Bing Dou Zhe and Farewell Song currently sat at the first place of the 2v2 arena, he knew that the chances of them beating me and Beiming Xue were less than 30%. Right now, I had three Outstanding Earth-grade pieces of equipment—the Soul Suppressing Cloak, the Crimson Rock Dragon Armor and the Stormy Waves War Boots—and the Heaven-grade weapon, the Cyan Netherworld Sword. I could fight the two of them alone and still have a good chance of winning!