The King's Avatar

Zhang Jiale returning to the scene and joining Team Tyranny would happen just like he said he would. The fans’ entreaty failed to change a thing. This topic was enough to attract controversy. However, the entire Glory scene’s attention had now been stolen away by the Challenger League.

The Challenger League had the old powerhouse Excellent Era, gossip about Ye Qiu, and an Internet cafe team that even dared to challenge Excellent Era.

Zhang Jiale’s official return didn’t go unnoticed, but the attention received was lessened. This was obviously good for Zhang Jiale. His return came with a lot of pressure. He wasn’t completely unmoved by the fans’ requests. For an instant, he even felt the urge to return to Team Hundred Blossoms, so that he could meet his fans’ expectations. But in the end, his desire to win the championships was too great, so he stuck with his original path.　

He prepared for the incoming attacks, but who would have thought news of the Challenger League would be so explosive, lowering the pressure on him. Zhang Jiale was glad.

”What did he do now?” He had seen how Lord Grim was Ye Qiu, but also not Ye Qiu. He was Ye Qiu in the game, but in the Challenger League, he wasn’t Ye Qiu. Zhang Jiale felt a bit dizzy, but in any case, getting through the Challenger League would require overcoming Excellent Era.

”It seems like it won’t be so easy for us to meet again...” Zhang Jiale mumbled to himself. Excellent Era’s current competitive strength was truly a waste in the Challenger League.

”What’s not so easy?” Zhang Jiale was muttering to himself, when he suddenly heard someone behind him ask him a question. He turned around to see who it was. The other three aces of Tyranny, Han Wenqing, Zhang Xinjie, and Lin Jingyan had all walked in together. Zhang Jiale had gone alone to the press conference, announcing his official addition to Team Tyranny. Even though Tyranny had arranged for Han Wenqing to come with him, Zhang Jiale refused it politely. He didn’t want too much pressure, but he didn’t fear it either. He felt like this pressure should be assumed by him alone.

”Oh, I’m talking about this guy. I’m saying it won’t be easy for him.” Zhang Jiale pointed at the newspaper he was holding. It was the ESports Weekly, which belonged to ESports Home, the most reputable source of eSports news in the country. The newspaper was issued twice a week on Mondays and Thursdays, reporting all eSports news both inside and outside of the country. Glory was the number one game in eSports at the moment, so it occupied the majority of the front page.

It was Thursday today. Zhang Jiale had the most recent issue of the ESports Weekly. The news couldn’t be the most immediate news. Zhang Jiale had officially announced his return today, so this issue obviously wouldn’t have anything related to his announcement. The majority of the front page consisted of the commotion caused by Excellent Era two days ago.

Han Wenqing and the other two didn’t participate in the press conference with Zhang Jiale, but they knew that the press conference couldn’t have been a relaxing one for him. Whether it was a good topic to write about, or because of their actual feelings on the subject, the reporters would certainly have many difficult and penetrating questions for Zhang Jiale.

The three were a bit worried that he would be feeling downcast, but from the looks of it, he was still in the mood to look at gossip. It seemed like he could completely handle the pressure!

”Let me see.” Lin Jingyan took the newspaper from Zhang Jiale’s hands and skimmed over the article. Then, he pointed at the complicated relationship between Lord Grim and Ye Qiu: ”What’s there to say? That guy’s definitely at Happy, but he didn’t register, when it was time to. Although it’s a bit strange...”

”Challenger League rules allow you to add team members whenever you wish.” Zhang Xinjie said.

”So you’re saying that he might appear after the team fights for some time?” Lin Jingyan said.　　

”Could he have made a mistake? Maybe he thought the retirement period wouldn’t allow him to participate in the Challenger League, so he held off on registering?” Zhang Jiale laughed.

”I don’t think he’d be so unclear about what he’s doing.” Zhang Xinjie said.

Han Wenqing took the newspaper from Lin Jingyan’s hands and skimmed over it too: ”Apart from him, no one else can use Lord Grim.”

The other three fell silent. Lord Grim was an unspecialized character. That was no secret, and as pro players, they obviously knew how difficult it was to use an unspecialized. It was quite possible that only the one known as the Glory Encyclopedia could properly control this character.

”But then who’s the person who registered as Lord Grim?” Lin Jingyan asked.

”That’s a problem for Excellent Era to worry about.” Han Wenqing said.

”Oh, let me ask you guys! If you had to choose between that guy’s team and Team Excellent Era to return, who would you rather choose?” Zhang Jiale suddenly said.

Those three hadn’t expected this question to come out. They stared blankly for a moment until Lin Jingyan asked back: ”What about you?”

”Me….. even though Excellent Era appears extremely strong on paper, I still think that guy’s much more difficult to deal with. If we’re thinking about winning the championships, then I would rather choose Excellent Era.” Zhang Jiale said.

”Mm, Excellent Era then!” Zhang Xinjie said. He didn’t say the reason, but his ”mm” represented his approval towards Zhang Jiale’s reasoning.

”Indeed, if it’s that guy, and since we don’t know anything about his team, then I’d choose Excellent Era!” Lin Jingyan said.

The three turned their heads to look at their captain, Han Wenqing.

”It doesn’t matter who returns.” Han Wenqing said, ”They’ll be opponents we need to beat anyways.”

”Hahaha.” Zhang Jiale laughed, ”You really are Tyranny’s captain!” He extended his right hand: ”I hope for a pleasant cooperation.”

”I hope for a pleasant cooperation.” Han Wenqing shook his hand. As the representative for Team Tyranny, he officially admitted their new team member.

Happy Internet Cafe.

There were only three days remaining for Chen Guo’s promotion deal. The Internet cafe was still packed, but the sounds of ridicule towards Happy had lessened greatly.

Those players didn’t have the face to keep on mocking them anymore. They kept on trying to slap their face, but Happy slapped them back instead. They didn’t have the qualifications to call out Happy for not knowing the difference between heaven and earth. If you wanted to say something, you at least needed to back it up, no? Happy received all sorts of challenges, but they never lost a single one!

Despite all of this, their anger hadn’t completely dissipated, especially after Excellent Era’s reveal, which received a lot of controversy. Although Happy was no longer surrounded by angry fans, there were still plenty of people trying to figure out if Ye Qiu really was there or not. The media didn’t only come once to dig out the truth. Happy Internet Cafe’s owner and self-proclaimed owner of the team, Chen Guo, refused to budge. She refused to leak anything regarding the team. She simply told everyone that they would find out sooner or later.

They would obviously know sooner or later. Once they reached the final stages of the Challenger League and went to the offline studio, every member would be revealed, but who wanted to wait until then? There were still three days left and the number of participating teams had already passed ten thousand. According to the past, the last few days remaining would also have a sudden spike in registrations. The number of teams participating this year was clearly more than last year’s. This was also proof of the Glory Alliance’s continued growth.

More teams meant more rounds in the early stages of the Challenger League. The offline studios wouldn’t be played in until even later in the year. The spectators wanted to know the answer, but it was going to be dragged out for so long. They couldn’t bear it!

But what could they do? Happy’s owner refused to say anything. It’s not like they could put a knife to her throat and demand it!

There were a few impolite players who barged into Happy Internet Cafe to search, but how could they come up with anything? At this point, if Ye Xiu and the others stayed in the second floor, they would too overconfident. Ye Xiu and the others had already moved into their gaming house.

In the end, nothing else about Happy came out to the dismay of countless gossipers. The noise from Excellent Era fans had also died down significantly too, because it proved that their so-called experts had all been crushed in front of Happy. Their ability wasn’t enough to take down Happy. Even though a few refused to admit their mistake and argued noisily despite having nothing on their hands to back them up, these people were the minority. They continued to shout loudly, but they didn’t get anywhere with it.

Excellent Era fans were still thinking of slapping Happy’s face, but their most powerful force was Guild Excellent Dynasty. Demands started rushing in again. When Chen Yehui received the news, he felt like dying. How did it all come back full circle? Before, he had come across this problem and knowing that his guild’s experts would only get crushed too, he thought of revealing Lord Grim’s identity, using this topic to divert attention.

But before Happy could even respond to their statement, the media revealed the truth, destroying all their efforts. The fans turned this way and that, before shouting at Guild Excellent Dynasty to save them again.

”Did they not see the news! Ye Qiu isn’t registered, but he’s certainly in Happy! How could people in the game even hope to beat him? That Soft Mist just might be Ye Qiu, which is why she’s so strong! Why is everyone turning a blind eye to all of the analysis going on out there?” Chen Yehui wanted to say this to the fans, but as someone who represented the club, he couldn’t make any inappropriate statements.

Cui Li had already emphasized that Chen Yehui could not receive help from pro players either.

Hm... just when he was thinking about how pro players were no good, Chen Yehui suddenly had an idea.

Pro players weren’t convenient to use, but what about the training camp? The little demons of the training camp had received professional training. In terms of their skill, they were certainly better than any in-game expert. If he gathered a few of them, maybe they could beat Happy? Management would support this idea, right?