Chapter 759

Xiao Duan hurriedly trotted backstage, excitedly arriving at the dressing room; as he entered, he almost bumped into someone. He lifted his head, saw a stranger's face, froze, and instinctively asked, "Who are you?"

The other person enthusiastically grabbed his hand and shook it: "Hey hello, I was wondering why I didn't see you—I'm Zhu Zhen! Come on, let's take a photo!"

Zhu Zhen... who's that?

Although they had seen each other from afar during rehearsals, Xiao Duan had no impression of this LPL-official invited to host the finals and the whole sixth-anniversary celebration; before he could react, the person grabbed his phone, put an arm around Xiao Duan's shoulder, and lifted the phone—

Click!

After the photo, Zhu Zhen patted Xiao Duan's shoulder, said "good luck," then walked away satisfied, murmuring happily, "Now we're all set," or something like that.

Xiao Duan stared at the brothers sitting on the sofa and asked, "Who is he?"

Fu Lan Duo said, "Majoring in group photos at Shanghai Theatre Academy."

Xiao Duan: "???"

A tense-faced staff member walked in and said, "VG members, please go backstage to prepare; we're about to go on stage."

Liang Yan glanced left and right: "Where are the EDG people?"

The staff member replied, "They arrived early and are already waiting over there."

Liang Yan felt a bit regretful; he had originally wanted to confront the manager face-to-face to put pressure on him, but because Liang Yan had used a little "big star" privilege to preview EDG's trash talk, the manager's segment was, to be honest, quite arrogant…

……

The venue.

Most of the venue's lights had been turned off; in the dimness, the theme music of the Star Guardian series skins played softly. When the music ended, the huge screen above the stage slowly lit up, and a number gradually appeared.

Nearly twenty thousand spectators in the venue instantly erupted, began shouting in unison, and counted down along with the on-screen timer.

When the countdown reached zero, the venue fell silent again; suddenly a clash of cymbals rang out, accompanied by a spotlight hitting the center of the stage, revealing a Peking opera performer wearing an orange form-fitting costume with a banner on his back. His attire and makeup were exquisitely detailed, and even standing still he exuded presence.

The audience's cheers surged again, mingling with thunderous applause, booming like waves crashing against Shanghai's cliffs.

Immediately afterward, the Peking opera performer began to sing.

Although most of the audience didn't understand Peking opera, it didn't stop them from enjoying the atmosphere—the drum clapper, big gong, cymbals, small gong, jinghu, erhu, yueqin, and sanxian rang out clanging and clinking nonstop, extraordinarily lively.

At the end of a Peking opera piece, the performer's loud, ringing voice echoed beneath the venue's dome; then he suddenly drew the two large flags behind him and threw them upward, instantly plunging the stage into darkness as the audience gasped in unison.

When the stage lights slowly came back on, the members of both teams had already appeared at the backstage exit.

The teams' frontline top laners each held aloft a massive team flag; guided by the banners, the two sides formed two columns and marched with vigorous strides to the center of the stage, standing face to face in two rows.

The host Zhu Zhen appeared at some point in front of the two teams, standing between them.

"Hello~~~~~"

Zhu Zhen drew out his voice, smiling broadly as he raised his hand to greet the entire audience.

The audience obliged, sending warm cheers and applause.

Of course, among the 20,000 people present, at least a few hundred are die‑hard fans of this host, and they came today just for him. Zhu Zhen debuted as an actor, appearing in classic dramas such as *Deep Love in the Rain* and *Pink Lady*, but in those dramas Zhu Zhen was merely a minor supporting role with little screen time. It wasn't until he starred in *Love Apartment* that he gained fame. However, after becoming popular thanks to *Love Apartment*, Zhu Zhen did not continue developing as an actor; instead he brought his talent to variety shows, becoming a variety‑show personality.

Zhu Zhen finished his greeting, stood in front of the stage, raised the microphone and spoke louder:

"Welcome! To the 2017 League of Legends sixth‑anniversary celebration!"

"This is the Five Pine Trees Arena, hello everyone, I am the host, Zhu Zhen!"

"Today is the first day of the sixth‑anniversary celebration; the grand show about to be performed here is something everyone has long been looking forward to!"

"That's right—today two top‑tier teams will decide the ultimate victory here! A new champion will be born!"

"Now please allow me to introduce the two teams competing in the 2017 League of Legends Professional League Summer Finals!"

"First, let's welcome our champion team from the 2017 Mid‑Season Invitational!"

"Vi! Ci! Gaming!"

The introduction segment ended, and the players from both sides took their seats in the player area.

The arena's cheers had not yet died down, the fervent atmosphere infecting all of VG. The starting player, Ze Ze Tai, fidgeted uneasily in his gaming chair: "Bro... brothers, I... my hand is shaking a bit; later could you give me more feedback?"

Fu Lan Duo, with an oily tone, teased him: "Not just shaking hands—brother, your mouth is shaking too; why don't you go take a leak to relax? I'm afraid you'll end up doing something embarrassing in public."

Ze Ze Tai: "If I go down, can I come back up?"

Liang Yan checked the equipment and casually replied: "No."

Ze Ze Tai: "Th... then I…"

Sima Laozei: "We can still win even four versus five."

?

"Holy crap, Ma Ge…"

"Awesome."

"You can't win, right?"

"Then you go down."

"Awesome, Ma Ge isn't even taking a support—he's going solo 1v2 in Xia Lu!"

"So badass!"

Sima Laozei didn't think he himself could take on three versus five; rather, he believed Liang Yan could do three versus five. After MSI's championship, Sima Laozei developed a blind faith in Liang Yan.

The director's camera swept around in front of both teams' benches, and then the big screen began to show pre‑match trash talk.

Liang Yan was the first to appear, wearing a plain, ordinary smile: "There's nothing special to say about playing EDG—everyone knows Changzhang is my brother. To keep them from getting overconfident and heading to the World Championship clueless, we've decided to cool EDG down today."

The director whispered off‑camera: "What do you mean?"

Liang Yan: "Three‑zero. To spare the audience's bladders, we'll try to finish the match within an hour and a half."

Next up was Changzhang—this guy definitely had his lines memorized.

"I admit Jiao Shen is strong."

"But from S2 to now, I've seen countless talents in the LPL; many have had their moments of glory, yet none have been able to maintain top form for two consecutive years."

「In the LPL circle, no one can keep winning forever. 」

「Only we, EDG, steadily reach the finals year after year. 」

「Because EDG has me. 」

「We are the highest mountain and longest river in the LPL. 」