Chapter 28

The Director carefully reviewed the message sent by the partner. This was the only partner who could make him smile, yet they were only willing to reveal some cryptic hints in the margins.

The partner said, “Here’s the thing, although our previous cooperation was pleasant, we need to re-evaluate our partners based on certain conditions. For instance, the opinions of other important partners… Recently, the owner of that new team in the League, doesn’t seem to have much cooperation with RS, right?”

After the message was disclosed, everyone present fell silent.

“Who exactly is Xiao Yin?”

Even Qi Su found it hard to maintain his composure. In his memory, Xiao Yin was someone many in the League wanted to befriend, but no one expected him to influence the business side of things.

His face turned a bit pale, and he asked, trying to stay calm, “Is it confirmed? Everyone’s saying this? None of us have offended him.”

“Keep asking around, but don’t let this spread for now.”

The meeting room was filled with a heavy atmosphere. From the Director to the Operations Manager, everyone looked grim and puzzled.

The commercial value behind RS, combined with domestic operations, has long reached the scale of tens of billions. Besides the widespread popularity of the game itself, this is also inseparable from the business model that RS has consistently employed.

Not to mention the players, everyone in the industry knew how high RS’s offers were—typically ten times more than teams of the same level. But because they dominated the market, there was no room for negotiation, and brands still flocked to them like fish swimming upstream.

Several partners were temporarily observing the situation. If this continued, their next quarter’s financial reports would look very bleak.

“We can’t find anything. Even the insiders we know aren’t willing to talk.”

The whole morning passed, and the commercial department along with Qi Su were anxiously waiting for news. In the end, this was all they got.

Typically, if you could ask this much, everyone would roughly understand the situation. If an ordinary person could get some information, it meant there was a chance to act. If you couldn’t get anything, it meant the issue was beyond their control.

The Esports Scene is but a small circle within various industries. Even though it’s currently riding a wave of popularity, it means it’s extremely susceptible to influences from other fields, which can slowly but surely shake its foundation.

A single hammer blow can crush a seemingly resplendent and magnificent palace effortlessly.

RS managed to keep the news of their partners temporarily pulling out under wraps, but fans still managed to pick up clues from various brand websites.

“Are they switching their sponsored team this season? They used to be on the homepage, but now even the previous promotional material is hidden.”

“Maybe the contract just expired? Or is it because our purchasing power isn’t strong enough, so they didn’t renew?”

Some fans were anxiously speculating.

Others tried to reassure them, “Relax! At least we still have Xiao Yun as the Popular Star for this quarter. We’ve already had a great start; there’s no need to worry about this.”

Inside RS, however, the mood was somber.

The Training Room was as silent as ever, the atmosphere heavy.

Xiao Yun repeatedly trained on a Flash Q move, failing nine times out of ten. He let out a long sigh and then picked up his phone with a hand covered in cold sweat.

His domestic fan base had surged by millions overnight, and internationally by tens of millions. His fame had skyrocketed, making him the League’s new top Support.

That game with the four-man ultimate play was still highlighted today as one of the League’s irreplicable moments, showcased on the homepages of over a billion players.

It should have been a time of joy, but his face was pale, filled with anxiety.

He kept pinching his fingertips, repeatedly practicing the difficult Flash Q, until Coach Zhou noticed his behavior and asked quietly, “Xiao Yun, what are you practicing? Didn’t I tell you to practice Earth Mother? You’ve never used this Champion before, why the sudden interest?”

Cold sweat trickled down Xiao Yun’s face. He kept his head down and didn’t respond. After a moment, he switched the Champion to mother of the earth.

Everything felt familiar, everything was part of his old memories.

Xiao Yun’s Earth Mother was taught to him hand-in-hand by Rong Yi. He remembered every detail, down to the exact frame, clearly.

But because he remembered it so vividly… he knew better than anyone how well that person understood him in every way.

For some reason, the League Official became very cautious about the promotion of this match.

In the past, every match that RS played would be prominently featured on various web pages. However, this time, even the promotional posters were subtly adjusted—the black and yellow of RS’s Main Team was split in half, with the other half showing the grey and blue of VIT.

Rong Yi thought he might feel something special, but on the day of the match, he felt nothing out of the ordinary.

He had a tendency to overthink tactics and details, with his mind almost never stopping. Over the past week, he had barely rested, sleeping less than five hours each day.

Grey Cat and Hydralisk were worried he might work himself to death and considered slipping melatonin gummies into his drink. Xiao Yin, on the other hand, didn’t say anything but made sure to give him a small cup of sweet milk before bed each night.

No one in the League understood and respected his habits more than Xiao Yin. They were both workaholics, and to them, the upcoming match was the most important thing.

The unusual attention and focus on RS indicated a sort of rivalry.

Early in the morning, Rong Yi was the first to get up as usual and went downstairs for breakfast.

Unlike usual, Xiao Yin was also up early today.

When Rong Yi arrived, Xiao Yin was already holding a cup of black coffee, sipping it while reading the morning tournament news.

Seeing him, Xiao Yin looked up and greeted, “Morning.”

Rong Yi replied with a simple “Morning.”

They didn’t exchange more words.

This was a rare quiet moment before the morning chaos, because once the other three got up, the Club would undoubtedly become a noisy battlefield.

Hydralisk had been too excited to sleep since last night, boasting that he would score a Pentakill against RS.

Rong Yi scrolled through a few social media platforms.

This match needed no warm-up at all.

A dark horse team, led by Xiao Yin, had just emerged from Group B. Their first match was against last year’s domestic champions, attracting significant attention and likely to be heavily covered by the media.

International media and fans were focused on VIT’s latest performance and domestic rankings; domestic fans, besides being concerned about the outcome, were particularly focused on Rong Yi.

Rong Yi’s title as the world’s number one Support wasn’t just handed to him; he earned it five years ago.

When he and his veteran players reached the top, they set records for single-player damage absorption, initiation effectiveness, and healing done as a Support, all ranking first.

To this day, these records remain unbroken at the World Championship.

For Xiao Yun to rise, he must confront this formidable challenge.

RS fans were fervently debating the relevance of Easy’s achievements: “Easy’s three records are from five years ago. Those were ancient game versions! Do we still need to boast about old accomplishments?”

A post titled “It’s been five years, isn’t it time to replace the league’s best support? The last one already switched to Mid laner!” was trending on major forums.

VIT remained low-key in their publicity.

This was a decision by Xiao Yin and Rong Yi, who both understood that undeserved fame could lead to future problems.

Terms like “first,” “only,” and “world-class” were never used by VIT’s operations team, demonstrating their cautious approach to promotion.

At 8:30 in the morning, everyone finished breakfast and boarded the Club’s vehicle to head to the League Building.

Since both VIT and RS were based in the same city, there was no need to distinguish between home and away games. They entered the League Competition Building together.

By noon, the match was scheduled to begin, but by nine o’clock, a large crowd of media and fans had already gathered around the League Competition Building.

No matter how hard they tried to avoid the cameras, they couldn’t escape the lens. Xiao Yin had specially arranged for Rong Yi to take a separate vehicle, entering through the back garage with the regular staff and escorted by the support team into the League Building.

Unexpectedly, Rong Yi was the first to arrive at the Training Room.

Standing by the window of the building and looking down, the streets and roads on the day off were packed with dense crowds, making them completely impassable.

Fans of both teams had been waiting for hours to enter the venue. The scene was a dazzling display of light boards and banners, mingling with the flashing cameras, creating a spectacular sight.

Rong Yi entered the Training Room, sat down gently, and adjusted the headphones at his station. Then, he got up and walked to the door, his fingers gripping the door handle.

At that moment, he saw people in the Training Room across from him—Manager Qi Su and Coach Zhou Shanyang were already in position. They pushed open the door and were about to enter the RS Training Room.

RS’s Training Room in the League had always been fixed, often humorously referred to by fans as their “exclusive seat.”

Since it was in the same city, RS’s Training Room was always arranged in the corner of the second floor, next to the audience seats, on the right side. The wallpaper was a slightly worn-out blue.

He had played in that Training Room across the hall for five years straight. He knew that place better than his own home.

It wasn’t about unwillingness.

Rong Yi pressed down on the back of his hand, turned the door handle, and closed the door to the Training Room.

Xiao Yin and the rest of the team arrived half an hour later.

Rong Yi had already powered up the equipment and was quietly waiting in the corner of the Training Room.

The other four quickly got into the zone. Grey Cat asked, “Is Captain Rong the main shotcaller today? This is our first match of the Regular Season.”

Rong Yi said, “You call the shots, you handle the BP.”

Grey Cat was taken aback.

Everyone thought that such a crucial battle might hold special significance for Rong Yi. He had spent an entire week researching with little sleep, all to prepare for this match, right?

Yet, Rong Yi still intended to treat this match like an ordinary scrim.

He stretched, flexing his pale fingers, then calmed himself and said lightly, “The three of you, experience the BP style of a top domestic coach.”

“So this match is…”

Wu Daogu instinctively glanced back.

Beyond the soundproof room, the amplified voices of the commentators and the thunderous cheers of the fans filled the air. The RS members were conserving their energy, having already issued their pre-match trash talk.

RS hadn’t pre-recorded their trash talk; the Logistics Team had them do it on the spot.

Rong Yi took the microphone, his voice calm, “A scrim.”