Chapter 828: Disciple's Debut

The third day of the qualifying matches.

Several VG members had lunch, returned to their room, put on hats and masks, took the elevator to the underground parking lot, got into a black minivan, and headed to the venue.

The qualifying matches weren't even over yet, so VG obviously wasn't going to play a match. Today they mainly went to cheer on friends who were about to play their first S7 match, planning to watch just one game and then head back.

But the masks and hats didn't really disguise them; the group together was too conspicuous, and they were recognized by the audience as soon as they showed their tickets to enter.

VG appeared at the qualifying match venue!

Word spread from ten to ten to a hundred… the venue instantly buzzed. Fortunately, on-site security promptly kept order, preventing the qualifying match venue from turning into a VG fan meeting.

The news spread online.

【VG, shouldn't they be focusing on preparing right now? Why come to the venue?】

【Yeah, what's there to see in the qualifiers? I can't be bothered to watch; I'm waiting for the group stage.】

Many people felt puzzled.

Then someone reminded:

【Today there's a match by the Brazilian team CNB, which is on good terms with VG and could be considered a friendly team; they probably came to cheer for their friends!】

【Friendly team? No! CNB is VG's disciple!】

【VG's disciple? No! Actually, it's Jiao Shen's disciple!】

……

Although the qualifying match venue was packed every game, its online buzz was actually rather ordinary. After all, it's either a one-sided stomp or a bunch of weak teams pecking at each other—what's there to see? So most people only watch one or two games featuring strong teams, and the rest hold little interest.

VG's arrival instantly drew countless eyes.

Many VG fans lamented missing the chance to watch the match live with VG. Qualifying match tickets aren't hard to snag; buying from scalpers only raises the price by about a third, which is acceptable.

If you can't watch it live, you can only watch the stream.

A surge of explosive traffic flooded the match's livestream. This is insane— a single qualifying match instantly garnered attention comparable to that of an quarterfinals elimination match.

Officials struck while the iron was hot, posting promotional slogans on major platforms:

【VG's directly transmitted disciple takes on the five major regions!】

The atmosphere was heated up, and countless people couldn't help but develop even greater expectations——

Can the wild-card team CNB really defy fate and change their destiny?

……

Backstage.

The time was a little past one in the afternoon.

The day's first match had already finished, and it was soon CNB's turn to take the stage.

Their opponent was HKA, the third seed from the LMS region.

Facing a strong opponent from a major region in their world championship opener, all of CNB felt nervous. Although before leaving Shanghai, the senior members of VG and G2 had encouraged them, saying they possessed strength comparable to a second seed from a major region, they thought those words were just meant to comfort them and boost their courage, not a genuine objective assessment.

So when it was truly their turn to go on stage and face a strong foe from a major region, CNB's members actually had no confidence at all.

"Don't panic, absolutely don't panic!"

The CNB coach was cheering the team on, but he was actually encouraging himself too, since he himself was panicking badly inside.

"Remember what we've learned from VG over the past six months, plus the results of our recent training camp—we will definitely get through this gate!"

"OHHHHHH!"

In the HKA lounge, a group of people heard the astonishingly mighty shouts from next door, and they were actually quite nervous inside.

They of course knew about CNB's joint training with VG and G2.

What exactly did CNB learn from those two super-strong teams?

Nobody knows.

The HKA coach also started cheering his own players:

"Don't panic, absolutely don't panic!"

"We are a strong team from the LMS region; they should be the ones panicking!"

"The advantage is ours!"

……

At the venue, the VG members sat properly in the front-row VIP seats, seeing both teams march onto the stage with fierce determination.

The camera suddenly panned over the VG group, triggering a chorus of whistles from the entire audience.

CNB and HKA stood side by side on the stage, waiting for the host to introduce them, when they were startled by the sudden roar of cheers. Unable to see the big screen above, they didn't know whether the director had captured the VG-induced commotion, or thought the audience was cheering for them or their opponents, and they all instantly became excited.

Who said Chinese people are too reserved and lack passion at events?

This is plenty enthusiastic!

Liang Yan also raised the sign in his hand that read "Cheer" and waved it, triggering another round of audience whistles, making the whole venue extraordinarily lively.

In the barrage, some sharp-eyed viewers noticed the details on the sign Liang Yan held up:

【Jiao Shen forgot to write the team name, hahaha】

【Cheer? Who are we cheering for?】

【Definitely CNB!】

【Maybe not; HKA is also a Chinese team, and an all-Chinese lineup!】

Liang Yan not writing the team name was actually intentional……

As a public figure with 20 million fans who often appears on CCTV, Liang Yan must pay attention to the impact any of his actions in public settings might have.

HKA comes from the Hong Kong, Macau, and Taiwan region; to be precise, it's a Hong Kong team composed entirely of local players, a pure-blooded all-Chinese lineup in its original form.

So Liang Yan really couldn't write the team name, lest someone with an agenda take it out of context and stir things up.

Easyhoon, who was forced to promote, also followed Liang Yan in raising the cheer sign and waving it twice; after the camera moved away, he quietly chatted with his brothers:

"Does anyone know about HKA? How strong are they?"

"I don't know."

"LMS's Third Seed, I think CNB can easily beat them."

"I don't think so; CNB has never been very confident, their online skill is indeed mediocre, and if their teamwork isn't good, they might collapse quickly."

"It shouldn't be that bad; if they play normally they should win easily."

"Mindset has a huge impact..."

"While they chatted below, the players on stage quickly finished their preparations, and the match entered the BP phase."

"A few minutes later, BP ended. Easyhoon glanced at both teams' lineups, smiled at Liang Yan, and said: 'I think we've got this one; their lineup is pretty good.'"

"Liang Yan nodded: 'If the top lane doesn't collapse, we definitely have a good chance.'"

"He didn't overstate it, because there indeed were concerns."

"In this game, CNB's blue side picked a lineup that VG's members thought was quite good: top lane Nasus, jungle Prince, mid lane Galio, bottom lane Xayah and Rakan."

"HKA's lineup looks a bit odd: top lane Sword Maiden, jungle Pig Sis, mid lane Enchantress, bottom lane Little Cannon + Milk Mom. It looks like they could execute a decent 1-3-1 split-push tactic, but as long as CNB's mid and top lanes don't fall far behind, Sword Maiden and Enchantress will struggle to carry, and if they want to teamfight, HKA's true damage core is only Little Cannon."

"Little Cannon is a hero whose full power only comes online in the late game; unless they keep taking kills in lane, even with the buff from the incense-burning Milk Mom, it's hard for them to become strong in the early and mid game."

"And the average match length in the two days before the qualifiers was still under 30 minutes, so for this level of competition, this is actually a patch where securing an advantage makes it easy to close out the game."

"……"

"……"

"Happy Mid-Autumn Festival!"

"Image: Lotus seed paste egg yolk is super delicious."

"This one still suits me."

"˃̵֊˂̵"