Chapter 16: Post-Match Interview! Showcasing a Special Talent for Everyone!
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Chapter 16: The Post-Match Interview! I’ll Put on a Special Performance for Everyone!
The several WE players left the stage dejectedly, and Cheng Xian saw everything.
Under the normal progression of the S11 timeline, IG should have missed out on the qualification match for the playoffs.
Over the following month, the four LPL teams that had advanced would put on a series of matches that left the audience bitterly disappointed.
Three of those teams would fall in the Round of Eight—or even the Round of Sixteen—and leave the competition in disgrace. Only EDG would remain to fight alone, surrounded by three-time LCK champions and besieged on every side.
“Let the championship trophy stay here at home.”
Cheng Xian quietly clenched his fists, his gaze resolute.
At that moment, the host, Xiaoyu, had already stepped onto the stage.
After the other IG players bowed and left, Cheng Xian was the only one left behind.
Here it comes, here it comes!
Is this the legendary trash-talk segment?
Cheng Xian thought: This, I know how to do.
“Go ahead and show off, Brother Shaqima!”
————
End of Chapter
Of course, Cheng Xian had no idea that his good teammates had already begun mocking him behind his back.
“This is damn embarrassing.”
Late that night, after taking a shower, Cheng Xian saw the news that he had shot to the top of the trending searches. His face immediately collapsed into the expression of a grumpy kitten.
“He’s so pretentious! I love him!”
Naturally, the most classic line was still: “Faker and I are fifty-fifty.”
“Hello, Cheng Xian.” Xiaoyu approached with a smile. “I watched the match from backstage with complete concentration. Several of your plays were extremely impressive—even I became one of your little fangirls. As a substitute support who hasn’t been onstage for quite some time, you didn’t seem nervous at all despite the way you performed. Could you tell us your secret? Or perhaps share some of your insights?”
“Ahem… Thank you all for your affection. Next, I’ll put on a special performance for everyone.”
“Why does this guy’s smile look so disgusting?”
Cheng Xian had become famous!
“???”
He stared awkwardly at the group of pretty female fans and staff members below the stage, then clenched his fists.
It made sense, but Cheng Xian’s brow kept twitching.
The moment his words ended, however, a burst of laughter and cheers erupted from below the stage.
“In the two games, you used two different champions, and both performed exceptionally well. I’m sure the viewers watching from the streaming platforms—especially those who usually enjoy playing support—must be eager to know how they can play these two support champions as strongly as you did.”
Memes instantly flooded all the major QQ groups.
“Ugh, disgusting!”
“I genuinely had no idea how to play at the time!”
Cheng Xian scratched his cheek.
What secret?
Did she really need to ask? The secret was, of course, possessing a sys—
You have to believe me!
“Everyone knows that your in-game ID is quite interesting too, Shaqima. May I ask why you chose such an ID?”
For his words to be effective, the system had to treat them as valid. Otherwise, it would contradict itself.
If he survived this, he would perform a slide tackle for the audience right there after the match.
The stage was filled with cheerful excitement.
He had imagined countless times how he would become famous, if he ever managed to rise to stardom, and what he would become famous for.
But to be fair, the stage really was slippery. He had nearly slid straight off it.
Suddenly, he remembered!
When he had placed a ward at level one and somehow spotted five huge men, he had apparently said something.
If his words failed to come true, it would mean the system’s jinx had lost its effect.
Even Cheng Xian had no idea how to explain this.
After searching his own name obsessively online for a while, he discovered that the comments had become sharply divided.
“Be my daddy—ah, so it’s a mommy. Never mind.”
“I treated you like a brother, but you treated me like a nasty two-faced troll?”
Even Xiaoyu was looking at him with an expression caught between laughter and tears.
The top spot on Weibo’s trending list was his as well.
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For example, Uzi’s line: “I can play any AD anyway, so I’ll just pick whatever.”
They’re getting ready to fight over him!
After thinking for a moment, Cheng Xian decided to answer honestly.
Cheng Xian: “…”
“Baby Xian, Mommy loves you!”
Xiaoyu: “…”
The Factory: “I’ve already started studying our opponents for MSI.”
The Shaqima ID had gone viral too!
But this time, it was not his plays or his appearance that had made him famous.
All right, enough fooling around. Let me seriously explain why I think having no female lead would be better.
“Ahhh! Cheng Xian is so handsome!”
“I suggest using your phone’s timer.”
The audience froze for a moment before bursting into laughter, accompanied by thunderous applause.
The system had counted it as a valid jinx, so the jinx successfully activated—and allowed him to survive.
“To be honest, the other day I happened to pass his bedroom. His door was open, and I personally saw him practicing sword movements in there. He still has the nerve to claim he trains diligently.”
The system eventually ceased its calculations.
Holy crap, is he really doing this?
No one knew whether it was because his transmigration had altered the timeline, but even his competitive ID in this world had become Shaqima.
Shaqima had actually been his gaming ID in his original world.
He could hardly say, “My mind was completely blank at the time, and my hands were just mashing buttons randomly.”
He had originally chosen the ID because he kept getting ganked while playing games. After being caught so often that his temper flared, he angrily changed his ID to “Keep Ganking Me and I’ll Kill Your Horse.”
Later, because the ID was too sensitive, the system blocked it, so Cheng Xian casually changed it to Shaqima.
And the name had nothing to do with the sweet snack everyone assumed it referred to.
“Everyone can see how much the audience here likes you. Brother Shaqima, do you have any gift you’d like to give to the audience here and to the fans watching in the livestream?”
“Host, fulfill your promise, or the system will terminate.”
After waiting for a long time, the system merely urged him to hurry up and fulfill his promise.
————
What promise?
No, what exactly are you people implying?
Just then, a sudden hum reverberated through Cheng Xian’s mind.
…
“How do you remain calm when the enemy sends four players to dive you?”
“They don’t understand me. I don’t blame them.”
The strong are always envied by ordinary people. It is simply the fate of those who stand at the summit.
Esports does not need love!
Women only affect the speed at which I claim kills!
But the comments in the livestream began filling the screen with question marks.
“I’m sorry I had to meet you under these circumstances, Baby Xian, my Superman!”
“Ahem, ahem…” Xiaoyu cleared her throat twice before continuing with another question.
That slide tackle Cheng Xian had performed during the post-match interview was especially memorable. Netizens had already placed it among the most treasured player videos, ranking it alongside Faker’s tumble on the stage and the Factory’s Sichuan-opera face change.
One beautiful female fan even rushed to the front of the stage, spreading her arms and preparing to catch Cheng Xian.
As for the female lead, I’m still thinking about it.
“Oh no, he actually pulled it off!”
He was not the strong one. The system was.
Introducing a fictional female lead at this point might feel somewhat out of place.
After all, this was a realistic esports novel, and many of its characters were professional players who existed in the real world.
Same pronunciation, different characters—a full-on psychological attack, basically.
“...How should I put it? Maybe it’s because I usually enjoy eating Shaqima.” Cheng Xian improvised an answer.
After a pause, Xiaoyu continued asking questions.
A jinx that had lost its effect yet still activated was an extreme contradiction. It would cause a conflict in the system’s calculations and make the entire program crash.
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As for Theshy’s line: “I like farming.”
First there was Faker rolling to dodge Wei Shen’s backwards arrow. Now there was Shaqima performing a slide tackle to entertain the fans.
“Actually, neither of these two champions is particularly strong.” Cheng Xian told the truth.
There was no choice. He could only grit his teeth and go through with it.
Uh…
Just to clarify, matches will remain the main focus going forward. The livestream sections will simply be occasional bits of relaxed daily life woven between the games.
All the major players showed off their talents, with every line more outrageous than the last.
“Er…” Cheng Xian hesitated several times.
A promise?
Before Cheng Xian could finish showing off in his mind, Xiaoyu continued with the questions she had prepared.
In other words, it was the phrase many ordinary players liked to throw at one another in games: “Gank me again and I’ll kill your mom!”
And this time, who could have expected that transmigration would bring along that associated ID as well?
…
This one, well, this one was definitely a tribute.
“I’m really not strong—Shaqima.”
Sigh. Whatever.
“I think this still has a lot to do with the hard work I put in offline. Once you practice enough, you stop feeling nervous.” Cheng Xian scratched his head and gave a shy, bashful smile. The cheers from the few female staff members below the stage instantly rose several levels.
To Cheng Xian’s surprise, even after the match ended, discussion of that day’s game remained intensely popular online.
Today’s match had been spectacular enough to explode, and with his slide tackle added to the mix, its popularity had soared beyond the heavens. Executives from all the major streaming platforms could no longer sit still. They bombarded Su Xiaoluo with phone calls and offered lucrative contracts one after another.
“I was just messing around at the time. Somehow, I drove them away. I have no idea what happened.”
I’m telling the truth!
“Maybe he was trying to shake every WE player’s keyboard loose. Is this the legendary reverse-thinking training method of the strong? Truly terrifying!”
The IG players backstage could not bear to watch any longer.
The team manager, Su Xiaoluo, called him late that night to ask whether he was interested in starting a livestream.
“I couldn’t agree more.”
Personally, I lean more toward a story with no female lead.
After saying that, Cheng Xian, filled with overwhelming shame, took two running steps across the stage, lowered his body, threw himself forward, and performed a slide tackle.
A few of the young women in the audience nearly screamed themselves hoarse.
Cheng Xian was still somewhat aware of his own limitations. At least until his personal strength improved, he would have to rely on the system for quite some time.
Cheng Xian racked his brains for a long while.
Mm. Reasonable.
Soon, after asking a few more questions, Xiaoyu prepared to deliver her closing remarks.
In the past, Cheng Xian’s favorite part of post-match interviews had always been the trash-talk segment.
Just then, Cheng Xian’s phone rang.
As for writing women who actually existed in the real world, there were only so many possibilities: female streamers, female commentators, and female hosts.
But some readers enjoyed romance arcs, while others found them off-putting.
So I might as well ask for your opinions here. Those who want no female lead, leave a 1 in the chapter comments. Those who want a fictional female lead, leave a 2. Those who want a real-world female streamer or host, leave a 3 and write her name as well.
This will remain open until the book goes live. There probably aren’t many readers at the moment, so I’ll see what everyone thinks once more people arrive.
That’s all for today’s update. I’m off to sleep~
Thanks to the generous reader Tu Shu for the one-hundred-book-coin tip! Bowing! Bowing hard! Bang, bang, bang!!!
End of Chapter
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