Ch.20 – Does Love at First Sight Exist in Esports?
Yao Sen received a number of gifts on his birthday, including Nintendo’s latest game console from Bai Yue and Song Mingzhe, a new livestreaming mic and soundcard from Wang Yuxi, a down jacket from a very sincere Zhou Ziyu–and of course, the running shoes that Yao Sen wished he could wear a hundred thousand times over.
In the third week of November, they would be entering the second phase of their individual training.
In October, Coach Gou arranged for the five team members to focus on training to overcome their individual weaknesses, while November’s training regimen included tactical training tailored to the main and support roles.
Zhou Ziyu’s training was already quite effective. According to his roommate, Zhou Ziyu went to bed in the wee hours of the morning every day in his first two weeks of joining the main team, tossing and turning under his blanket watching training videos of the main team’s players and summarizing attack patterns and support gameplay. His current performance as a support had grown steadier, and it wouldn’t be long before he’d be able to assume his responsibility as an individual team member.
Before starting the second phase, Coach Gou pulled up the list of top 20 players in the last six years based on individual match points and team match points. The ranking was based on WCAD’s default system calculations; the assaults by their hit rate, and supports by an overall evaluation of their performance in each match.
Although these numbers weren’t absolutely accurate, they were at least much more impartial and objective than the various man-made analyses out there. However, these figures employed the same results from this year’s major regionals’s cut-off. By next year’s WCAD, each player’s progress might be beyond measure.
This was the first time the five players were exposed to these blunt numbers so systematically, and it was also the first time they were able to directly sense the gap between their global rankings and those of other top players.
At 90.5, Yao Sen’s overall strength was ranked fourth in the world, with third place going to the all familiar, one time domestic legend, Caesar aka Lu Kaizhi at 91.8. Second place went to the vice-captain of USA powerhouse Lincoln LC at 93.2. Last but not least, at first place; the captain of Switzerland powerhouse Odin, with a combat strength of a whopping 95.1.
The difference between the few players ranked above and below Yao Sen weren’t at all big, with the gap between Yao Sen and the world’s No. 5, a North American player, being only 0.2 points.
Wang Yuxi ranked ninth in the world with his 87.4 points, while Cobra’s current captain ranked eighth. Shao Han and Noah’s captain Lin Lan tied for eleventh at 85.9.
Meanwhile, on the support side, the first ranked player was a German player with their 95.2 points. The second was a member of the American Lincoln team. Another North American seed was third, while the vice captain of the Swiss Odin team and Bai Yue followed closely behind in fourth and fifth.
Song Mingzhe ranked ninth. Additionally, Cobra and Noah’s Ark members also appeared in the top 20.
Coach Gou hacked everyone into pieces all at once and mercilessly pointed out the differences between them and other teams. After his analysis, Coach Gou didn’t forget to remind them that this was only the strength evaluation at the end of the five major regional world competitions this year; the teams’ data stopped at the end of last year’s Asia regionals. Right now, it was likely that that list had different numbers altogether, and the end result didn’t necessarily stay the same.
After the meeting ended, Coach Gou left the information with the group so they could take a closer look.
Wang Yuxi pinched the list and looked at it for what seemed like half a day before protesting, “I understand their purpose… but why does this list have to include every players’ height?! Gaming doesn’t rely on height, isn’t everybody equally tall when they’re sitting on chairs?!”
Wang Yuxi’s height that didn’t touch 180cm had always been a lingering pain in his heart. Although he couldn’t be considered short, now that there were other players’ heights to compare with, the bloody truth that was presented right in front of his eyes was simply hard to swallow.
The 186cm tall-Yao Sen replied, “It’s okay, you’re a giant in our eyes.”
The 181cm tall-Bai Yue patted Wang Yuxi’s shoulder. “Don’t worry, you’re not short. You shouldn’t be afraid of not being able to find a girlfriend.”
Song Mingzhe, the tallest and sturdiest at 190cm, consoled him solemnly, “177 is really not short. My cousin is only 177 too.”
Wang Yuxi: “How old is your cousin?”
“Seventeen.”
“……..”
Wang Yuxi’s height when he was in the youth training team was pretty decent, but he was struck dumb once he joined the main team. He didn’t know whether it was because good gamers were generally taller or if the Titans club set a minimum height requirement to join the main team so as to fit in with the team’s name. In any case, Wang Yuxi lost out.
Wang Yuxi felt that his three 177 figures in the list were especially unsightly. Most of the top ranking players in the list were European or American; it went without saying that they were all tall. He flipped to the next page, wanting to regain his confidence, but found that even Shao Han was 180 centimetres tall!
Zhou Ziyu, who was the shortest in the whole team, silently said, “Don’t be sad, Xi ge… I think I’d be satisfied if I could grow as tall as you.”
On the side, Bai Yue laughed and advised Zhou Ziyu not to set his goal so low. The four of them started bickering all at once–only Yao Sen stayed silent.
Yao Sen quietly sat on a chair, his line of sight never leaving Lu Kaizhi’s points. 90.5 and 91.8 didn’t seem that far apart, yet Yao Sen knew that each and every single-digit increase in combat strength was exceedingly difficult. What’s more, what made him unable to slack off was the fact that the players who ranked below him were nipping closely at his heels.
Whether assault or support, 95 points was an immense bottleneck, and there were only a handful of players who had reached 95 points or higher over the years.
That afternoon’s solo training, Wang Yuxi, who had been provoked by the talk of body height, was especially stimulated. He killed off everyone in the team who was taller than him… except for Yao Sen.
It’s not that Wang Yuxi didn’t want to kill him–it’s that he was truly no match for him.
That night, Yao Sen livestreamed for the first time ever. He had posted an advance notice on his Weibo two days ago. Sen fans were so ecstatic that it was as if they were celebrating the Chinese New Year, and they all wept tears of joy as they swarmed the Weibo post, crying that they finally didn’t have to rely on previous match videos to fangirl anymore.
White Shark Live was also very efficient. It didn’t take long for them to verify Yao Sen’s identity as the Titans’s captain shortly after he registered a new account, and his followercount rose rapidly.
He directly set up a livestream room himself, and not long after he started streaming, his popularity continuously rose by hundreds of thousands, and his live stream soon ranked first in the gaming section, instantly breaking the gaming section’s record of the shortest time a livestream reached its peak.
Yao Sen first installed the sound card device Wang Yuxi had given him, then put on his headphones and tried speaking a few words. As soon as Yao Sen opened his mouth, the stream’s barrage began to soar dramatically. If Yao Sen’s computer hadn’t been configured properly, such a high-frequency barrage would’ve directly froze his computer.
The fans incessantly appealed for Yao Sen to turn on his webcam. Once Yao Sen turned it on, another three million people poured in in quick succession. The beeps notifying him of incoming gifts were so dense that it resembled the error sound of a computer crashing, hurting Yao Sen’s ears.
“Everyone, don’t spam the barrage so much,” Yao Sen said, “It’s going too fast, I can’t see anything.”
[God Sen I love you aaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh]
[God Sen! Hi handsome! aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhh wuwuwuwuwuwuwuwu]
[The day Sen ge livestreams is finally upon us]
[Frantic Screenshotting in Progress]
“Today is my first livestream since signing with White Shark, I hope you guys will support White Shark and I lots and lots,” Yao Sen pulled some buzz for White Shark as agreed beforehand, then added, “I don’t have any new tricks, the livestream will just be me playing the game. I can also talk to you about gaming techniques if there’s enough time… or if there’s anything else you all want to know, shoot me a question. “
Just then, Wang Yuxi returned. The moment he pushed the door open, he saw Yao Sen sitting in front of his computer with his headphones on and burst out laughing. “Yo, you’re streaming?”
Yao Sen looked back at him, “Get out of the way. Don’t enter the frame, you’ll disturb my fan’s eyes.”
“Bah! I’m in the frame to make you look good.”
Titans fans all knew that Yao Sen and Wang Yuxi were close and immediately began to spam the barrage excitement. When Yao Sen caught sight of some SenXi cultists starting to pop up, he promptly coughed and got to the point.
“I’ll start a solo queue then.”
Yao Sen’s solo queue naturally didn’t bring about much suspense. Playing with amateurs didn’t require skill, and everyone basically watched happily. Most fans were rushing to take screenshots and screen recordings.
Since it was his first livestream, Yao Sen wasn’t too accustomed to things yet. Once he started playing, he forgot that he had to interact with the viewers and merely stared at the game interface without speaking. The barrage were all begging him to open his mouth; Yao Sen swept a glance at them and asked, “What should I say? I can explain things if it’s a professional match, but such a simple game… there’s nothing to say.”
[Handsome!]
[Come chat with us, God Sen!!!!]
[Sen ge, do you usually read your own fanfiction]
Yao Sen: “The only one who does that kind of thing is Wang Yuxi.”
Hearing this, Wang Yuxi looked up from behind him, “What thing am I doing?”
“Read your own fanfiction.”
“Who reads their own fanfiction? Are you sick?” Wang Yuxi shamelessly boasted, “All the ones I read are about you and other people. I personally like SenYue more, but recently I’ve started reading SenZuo.”
[hahahahahahahahaha]
[hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha oh my god]
[Xi ge is really hardcore]
[It turns out that Xi ge is in the SenAll club!!!]
[Pass me your fic stash, Xi ge!!!!]
[Xi ge can’t go a day without being sao]
[Don’t fret, Xi ge! We’ll recommend you some SenXi works hahahahahahahahahaha]
[Which one of you still remembers that God Sen is solo queueing?]
[Sen ge Sen ge, are there any players from other teams that you admire? They don’t have to be from China]
“Players from other teams? ‘Course there are,” Yao Sen answered frankly, “Noah’s Shao Han, OD’s Ethan, LC’s Kevin, and the retired Cobra Lu Kaizhi-senior.”
[wuwuwuwuwu God Sen still remembers Caesar!!!!!!]
[God Sen mentioned Shao Xiao Zuo’s name first (hints]
[yoooooooo]
[What’s so exciting about this pure brotherhood? *doge*]
[Is Shao ge watching this stream hahahaha]
[@-ing Shao ge]
[Shao ge: I heard that Titans’s captain praised me on his livestream.]
[hahahahahaha a scene from the past]
What Yao Sen didn’t know at that moment was that Shao Han was indeed watching his livestream. Leaning against the headboard with his tablet in his hands, he was stunned as he heard his name come out of Yao Sen’s mouth, and the barrage that followed was filled with ridiculous teasing.
Shao Han silently told himself not to be influenced by the fans and casually tapped on a red heart for Yao Sen.
☆ ☆ ☆