070. Preliminary Selection【Donations for Extra Updates】
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The gaming competition has finally kicked off.
It’s still in the preliminary selection stage, set for every night after nine. One match determines the winner; win and you advance, lose and you’re out, until the top ten teams are decided for the offline matches.
As Lin Nan passed by the Grand Playground after evening classes, he noticed that the podium was already being set up for the gaming competition. Three massive screens stood to the left, center, and right, busy esports club students were scurrying around, hanging banners for the event.
“This tournament is sponsored by Jin Cheng Ramen Restaurant on the second floor of the canteen, Zhi Gen Zhi Di Pizza, and Ai Ke Lai!”
“A huge thanks to Yinghua Computer City for sponsoring all the computers and monitors for this event! Play games with Yinghua Computers!”
Lin Nan was taken aback. He had seen various competitions in high school, mainly sports days and singing contests, but this was his first encounter with a sponsored tournament.
Suddenly, gaming felt pretty high-end, but unfortunately, the venue setup was a bit shabby—there were no soundproof booths like those in tournament live streams, just three large screens and a couple of rows of tables.
“I heard there’s going to be a Douyu live stream for this competition.” Chen Yao, hands shoved in his pockets, glanced at the Grand Playground setup and explained, “Next Tuesday is the Honor of Kings competition, the week after that is League of Legends, and I heard they’re even planning a PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds tournament, but they don’t have enough computers.”
“So fancy!” Lin Nan exclaimed, feeling a surge of excitement.
“However, we might not even make it past tonight’s preliminaries.”
True enough.
Lin Nan pouted. Although the popularity of League of Legends had dipped a bit lately, there were still over thirty teams participating, including some veterans, and some even brought in outside players.
After all, this wasn’t like the school-organized top ten singers competition; the rules weren’t exactly strict.
Back at the dorm, Lin Nan quickly snacked on some chocolate to replenish his energy for the match, especially after nearly passing out in P.E. class earlier that afternoon. Dong An had also brought his laptop to their dorm and was now chatting with Chen Yao about the long legs of a girl in their school.
“That girl in the big class next door really has some long legs!”
“I’m not a leg fan,” Chen Yao replied, sounding disdainful.
Dong An then pulled out his phone and handed Chen Yao a sneaky pic he snapped.
“No way! Those legs are for real!” Chen Yao’s eyes were immediately glued to the screen.
Xiong Da was still glued to his phone, absorbed in his game, while Tu Junhui leaned in curiously toward Chen Yao, letting out his own male gasp of astonishment.
Lin Nan barely glanced at them.
My legs are definitely not worse than that girl’s, okay!
He huffed internally, then, in a sudden moment of realization, Lin Nan slapped his forehead.
Why am I comparing my legs to a girl’s?! It’s all Lilith’s fault!
With the competition still quite a while away, Lin Nan and his roommates had logged into their accounts and entered a custom game room, ready for the match.
Lin Nan felt a bit out of place. Last semester, their dorm was full of late-night jokes, animated gifs, and memes shared in their online group, but this semester, he couldn’t tell if it was his newfound femininity making everyone cautious or if these guys suddenly turned into serious adults, but the late-night talks had mysteriously vanished.
What was worse was that these three seemed to have formed another group chat without him, making him feel oddly isolated and uncomfortable.
Xiong Da was also curiously leaning over to check out the girl’s legs, the group muttering quietly among themselves. Lin Nan sensed he should try harder to fit in with his roommates, so he hopped over to join them.
But as soon as he did, Chen Yao suddenly dropped his awestruck expression and said, “The match hasn’t started yet. How about we practice some solos?”
“??? ”
Tu Junhui’s lewd grin turned serious too: “Yeah, we should practice. I’m determined to crush the enemy top lane this time!”
Wait, what’s the deal with this secretive collaboration behind my back?
Dong An retrieved his phone, and since Lin Nan wasn’t that familiar with him and found his laid-back attitude irritating, he begrudgingly returned to his seat.
Why am I suddenly being sidelined?
I thought only the girls’ dorms had their tight-knit circles, and that guy dorms usually solved problems with fists instead?
Lin Nan sighed, but then he saw the referee confirming the contestants.
He quickly typed “1” in response and reminded the other four in the dorm, “It’s about to start.”
“What’s the rush?” Dong An said, sitting beside Chen Yao. With two big guys squeezing onto a small desk, it felt incredibly cramped.
This was just the first round of the preliminaries. Tomorrow and the day after, there would be more preliminary rounds until ten teams were chosen for the offline matches. Lin Nan figured that even without serious training, their team should be fine for the offline rounds.
For this prelim, they were up against an average entertainment team with a golden rank, called “The Emotionless Team,” while Lin Nan’s squad name, after a fair vote where he was the only one to object, ended up as “My Nan Nan is Super Cute Team.”
“Is My Nan Nan ready?”
That line appeared on the game’s public screen, making Lin Nan’s face flush with embarrassment.
He couldn’t imagine how it would feel when they walked onto the stage during the offline competition, and the host enthusiastically introduced them: “And here are the five members of My Nan Nan is Super Cute Team!”
Just thinking about it felt so shameful.
Lin Nan felt utterly dejected; maybe after this competition, his name would become a regular in the school’s forums. Even though it was just the preliminaries, some folks on the school forums were already suspicious about their dorm team’s name and started investigating who “Nan Nan” was.
Who knows why these college students have so much free time?
Since it was a preliminary round, the match would only be text-transmitted on the school’s forums. Lin Nan stole a glance and realized they hadn’t even entered the formal stage yet, but dozens of comments had already popped up on the live text post.
“It’s starting!”
Suddenly, the bans began, and Lin Nan tossed aside all his earlier thoughts.
For the sake of a thousand bucks in prize money, just hang in there.
He gritted his teeth, thinking about how that thousand could buy him a good meal.
Abalone, king crab, bluefin tuna!
He was clearly from the coastal region, but he’d only ever had Boston lobster at banquets; now that he’d bought his computer, his focus had shifted straight to satisfying his cravings.
“Play seriously; don’t get wrecked by a bunch of gold players.” His anxiety kicked in.
Dong An scoffed, “That bunch of noobs? I can take on ten of them by myself.”
The game started, and Dong An fed first bl**d.
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Thanks for the 10,000 donation from Si Si Zi Lian, currently owing for four more updates!
