Playing Fish Trapped in Secret Room
Book 4: The Return of the King
Chapter 23
The next morning, Ai Qing didn’t wait for the rest of SP but went
by herself to the stadium earlier.
This stadium…...it was the place Solo’s team had won their first
championship after they had defeated Buff’s team. When she
walked in from the passage behind the stage carrying the badge
indicating that she was a commentator, much of the staff greeted
her with a smile.
The passageway was no longer messy and disorganized like the past.
It was wide open and brightly lit with large promotional posters hanging
on both sides.
The entire staff was dressed in uniform; everyone was as dedicated as
volunteers in any indoor sports event.
She was stationed at the southeast corner of the arena and had a very
spacious white table. Her partner beside her was also an old friend.
When he saw her, he took out his earphones immediately and spoke
with a smile. “You’re finally here!”
She put down a pile of notes on the table and sat down. “Please bear
with me today.”
“Are you kidding me. You’re the one who’s going to have to bear with
me.” He laughed heartily and adjusted the headset, “We’re ready over
at the commentator table here. We can start warming up five minutes
from now.”
Ai Qing also put on the white headset. She could hear the jokes and
laughter through the earphones. “Xiao Mai, don’t make any mistakes.
You are working with our qianbei and make sure that you hold your ground.”
Ai Qing disliked being referred to as qianbei. “Everybody, everybody, he’s
older than me. Could you stop calling me qianbei? You’re making me feel old.”
While they were fooling around on the channel, the competing teams
began arriving at the players rest area one after another.
From the angle where Ai Qing was sitting, she could see the areas
reserved for SP and K&K. Solo sat there talking to Baona in low voice.
Gun, with his indifferent attitude as usual, was sitting crossed legs on
the seat right across the aisle from Solo.
If she wasn’t mistaken, it was Gun who took the initiative to sit there.
Though they were still rivals, this was the first occasion over the past
ten years that they sat side by side.
Ai Qing suddenly felt a surge of emotions. She lowered her head and
flipped the papers in her hand, but she wasn’t able to keep her feelings
under control. Using her hand to support her forehead, her vision blurred.
Ai Qing, Ai Qing, the stream would start soon, don’t be so emotional.
……
The stream began.
Xiao Mai cleared his throat, “Everyone, welcome to the site of the
Chinese Regional Finals of
preliminaries have already concluded three days ago. The players sitting
in this stadium now are all from the top teams for this event in the country.
Tonight, China’s championship winner will be decided! There will be two
teams in Chinese Region to play at the Asian Tournament. Everyone, let’s
wait and see tonight whether it’s the old, veteran clubs to keep the throne
or the new, fast growing teams to win the championship!” Loud bouts of
cheers began before he even finished.
The stadium was filled with excitement and exuberance that could only be
found at these kind of large competitions.
“But, tonight, in addition to the wonderful matches among these great
teams, the organizer also specifically invited the top game commentator
Appledog for us. Let me tell you, I was so excited that my hands were
trembling when I heard the news. No one knows more than her about the
4 most popular teams. Believe me, you will definitely hear the most
wonderful stream tonight.”
Ai Qing adjusted her headset and couldn’t stop herself from chuckling.
“Xiao Mai, thank you.”
They began to go through their warmup.
The matches in the morning weren’t too exciting. The real competition
was in the afternoon after 4 o’clock.
The four teams that would play in semi finals qualified one after the other.
There was no surprise that the four qualifying teams were: SP, K&K,
Buff and Taotao.
Ai Qing picked up her cup to sip some water.
Someone put the drawing results on the table next to her.
The first match was K&K vs Taotao.
Was it the new team vs new team?
Ai Qing put down the cup of water and glanced at K&K’s area. Dt was
acting how he usually did, half of his face hidden in the shadow of his
hat brim. The person next to him, Grunt, yawned and muttered something
to him. And Taotao…...She looked at the rookie king who she had tried
hard to secure for SP. These five boys had a sense of relief right before the
disbandment of their own team. They were scampering about and clinging
to each other’s shoulders to walk onto the stage first.
When they started to set up their keyboards and mouses, Dt started to
lead his team onto stage.
Grunt, the nominal captain, was really…...it was difficult to tell what role
he was playing.
Dt and Taotao sat across from each other with two rows of computers
in between.
This was the first time Taotao played against the man ranked number 1.
He wanted to see his face, but the hat blocked his view. Taotao shrugged
his shoulder and adjusted the headset. “Brothers, this could be our last battle.
Let’s go.”