Chapter 353: VG Rises!

Hahaha……

The Chicken God's compliments made Gangzi laugh happily, and Long Ge curiously leaned over to take a look:

What did the meat chicken say?

He said VG won the championship, hahaha……

Even the Marquis beamed with joy.

After eating, they rested for an hour, then in the afternoon played a few practice matches against IG, and then, under Long Ge's hosting, they did a simple review of today's practice matches.

Around four o'clock, Lu Wenjun and Gao Jun walked into the training room together.

Almost done, everyone tidy up and get ready to depart.

Everyone was startled.

Boss Lu, are you going too today?

Yeah, it's the first match of the season; I'm going to cheer you on.

If we win, will there be red envelopes?

Uh…… yes!

Ohhhhh!

Long live Boss Lu!

Well, it won't be much, just a token……

Hey, don't guess; a few thousand bucks is pocket change for Boss Lu!

Lu Wenjun suddenly felt immense pressure, and instantly felt the seven red envelopes in his suit's inner pocket become much lighter—he had just slipped in an 888, thinking he'd hand them out after everyone won the match, seeking a good omen.

Fu Lan Duo's commotion made Lu Wenjun feel a bit embarrassed.

Finally, as they were about to get in the car, Lu Wenjun gritted his teeth, said 'wait a moment,' returned to his office, opened the safe, and slipped an extra 80 red banknotes into each red envelope.

8888!

His suit's inner pocket definitely couldn't hold it all, so Lu Wenjun grabbed a briefcase.

He really went all out.

……

Today is Tuesday, and the schedule only has two matches.

VG is the second match; the first match was WE versus NB (Newbee). The top laner performed well in all three games, but the Xiaosong duo seemed a bit nervous, messing up two lane phases, and WE eventually beat NB 2-1.

The VG team finished watching the third game in the lounge, and as they were about to go on stage, they brushed past the two teams coming off.

The WE five were laughing and chatting, Condi laughed the happiest, not noticing former teammate Sima Laozei greeting them; instead, Xi Ye, upon seeing Sima Laozei, came over and said she saw his social media posts, complaining that he'd invited her out twice without bringing her.

Sima Laozei was a bit absent-minded, muttering a couple of words, but his eyes were fixed on the NB newcomer support Pinus walking past with his head down; he wanted to comfort him a bit, but being inarticulate, he didn't know what to say, and ended up watching Pinus lower his head and walk right past him.

Pinus is Liu Qingsong; after the greedy Feast team disbanded at year's end last year, he joined Newbee together with Lin Weixiang. Although today's match is Liu Qingsong's LPL debut, he has long known Sima Laozei, their relationship is very good, and they often duo queue and chat on mic in private.

Also, Liu Qingsong is a substitute for NB, with Mor above him; Mor is the old partner from the 'Doomsday' in Prophecy of Doom, the Death Call.

Today's match is Liu Qingsong's debut; objectively, his performance was mediocre, and he likely won't get many more chances to play. Sima Laozei felt sorry for him, missed the chance to comfort him in person, his phone wasn't with him, and after going on stage he sat in the player's seat feeling as restless as sitting on pins and needles.

Xiao Duan observed carefully, noticed that Sima Laozei sitting beside him seemed a bit dazed, and asked concernedly:

What's up, Brother Ma?

Everyone hearing that immediately looked over.

Liang Yan also asked:

What's wrong, Brother Ma?

Nothing……

Sima Laozei shook his head, took a light deep breath, and forced himself to focus on the present.

This match is VG's spring season opener, and also my first battle after joining VG by following Jiao Shen; the opponent is the strong team EDG, and Boss Lu promised red envelopes if we win……

Whether public or private, this is an absolutely must-not-lose game.

If Song Song isn't happy, let's give his dad Changzhang a beating to cheer him up!

Sima Laozei thought that to himself, then emphasized with a heavier tone:

Don't worry, brothers, I'm fine!

Then that's good.

Long Ge, standing behind everyone, also breathed a sigh of relief, adjusted the mic position, and shouted:

Come on, come on, everyone say a few words; let's test the mic, hurry up and check, BP is about to start soon!

The stage lights were off, and everyone quickly checked and adjusted the equipment in the dark.

The whole venue was dim, the intense, dense BGM rendering a tense atmosphere; the seats were full, but only vague silhouettes could be seen.

Many people shouted in the dimness:

Changzhang, go!

EDG, go!

Qi Jiang, crush Jiao Shen!

Jiao Shen is invincible! Pick Mang Seng and crush 4396!

VG, rise up!

Ahhhh, Scout! You're so handsome!

Those around immediately turned toward the source of that shout, faces full of astonishment.

You say Scout is strong, probably still some would agree, but if you say he's handsome…… Scout hasn't started wearing braces yet, with a mouth full of crooked teeth and a big nose, really not handsome.

The girl who shouted covered her face with a cheer sign, 'ying ying ying~'

The surrounding audience instantly got goosebumps all over, as if seeing a 300-pound Garfield cat shaking its fur……

The players on stage wore noise‑cancelling headphones, so they couldn't hear the audience's shouts nor the venue's BGM. But the tense atmosphere seemed to have infected the EDG members—all five wore grave faces, their nerves visibly taut.

EDG's new coach Nofe, a gentle‑looking man with gold‑rimmed glasses, paced slowly behind the players, speaking softly in an attempt to ease their tension.

But he doesn't speak Chinese, so his words of encouragement have to be relayed through others, which dilutes his sincerity and makes the effect naturally mediocre.

In fact, ever since Pawn and Deft left the team, the internal atmosphere of EDG has remained rather oppressive.

Although EDG has always taken Changzhang as its spiritual pillar since its founding, everyone knows deep down that all of EDG's achievements to date are actually chiefly due to the two Korean imports who have now departed.

Now that the mainstay has gone, the newly arrived AD, after a period of observation, is clearly far weaker than Deft and unable to shoulder the burden.

Although Scout looks like he has limitless potential, he never quite clicks with the factory head, his relations with the others are also merely average; despite being the team's most important core mid laner, he feels like an outsider, perpetually sensing a sense of alienation.

These are all out in the open, obvious hidden problems.

EDG seems destined to prove the saying true: the team peaked at its founding and will now go downhill, making it hard to recreate the glory of two years ago.

So on the day Deft packed his bags and left the EDG base, Meiko hid in the dorm and cried secretly for a long time.

Then A Guang returned from his hometown to attend a funeral, his spirits also low.

Though Nofe had just arrived and even though A Bu had given him considerable authority, he obviously still couldn't fully integrate into the team in a short time.

All things considered, the current EDG can be summed up in four words: problems piled up.

Adding to that, recent practice matches have been unsuccessful, so the pressure on everyone present is even greater.