Chapter 62: The League Begins

Cow Eating Grass: "I don't know why, but I'm so hyped!"
Your Grandpa Has an 18-Year-Old Wife: "Hyped? You serious? Young man, acting like this at your age."
Fragile Ice-Heart One Shot to Send: "Looking forward to Immortal's cross-dressing."
Fairy Who Loves Toads: "Waiting quietly for the stream! Mimi, you got this! Xixi, you got this!"
Little Fairy Loves Lollipops: "Xixi! Hurry up and come out! Ah, ah, ah, so excited!"
Old Man Is a Good Guy: "My fellow beauties, don't rush. Sing along with me: In my youth my wild spirit suddenly awakes, on my left I hold a yellow hound, on the right I raise a falcon, hum-ha..."
A Loving Family: "Old man, you better rest for a bit. Don't twist your back."
Sorrows of a Melancholy Wind: "Seriously! Grandpa, grandma is looking for you."
...
Time slowly ticked toward eight o'clock, and the live stream began!
"Good evening, dear viewers! Welcome to..."
A Loving Family: "Why does this host talk so much? Blabbering on and on with a bunch of nonsense."
Old Man Is a Good Guy: "Don't rush, wait patiently. What's meant to come will come."
...
"Now, let's introduce our contestant for tonight, Yang Mi!"
"Hello everyone, I'm Yang Mi." In front of the camera, Yang Mi was wearing a pink short-sleeved shirt, smiling and waving to greet everyone.
"Whoa! Mimi, so cute! Truly my goddess."
"Gulp, this trip was worth it! Totally worth it!"
"Indeed worth it! Brothers, are you still there?"
"I've got something to do, wait for me a second."
"Me too!"
"What a coincidence, me too."
...
The moment Yang Mi appeared, the screen was completely flooded with dense bullet comments.
"Alright, next up we'll introduce our next contestant, Song Xi!"
...
...
Every time a contestant was introduced, it inevitably sparked a minor sensation.
"Okay, the final one—you might all be very familiar with him. He is this year's top scorer in the college entrance examination for Xiang Province—Lin Yi! Let's give a round of applause to welcome Lin Yi."
Applause????
This host must not be very used to online live streaming, Lin Yi thought silently to himself.
"Hello, I'm Lin Yi, long time no see."
"Wow, it's been so long since I last saw Lin Yi, and he's gotten even more handsome!"
"Little Yi, hurry up and get into big sis's bowl."
Maternal instincts flooded out.
Lin Yi truly did look much more handsome than before; his features were refined, his skin was much fairer, and the acne was gone.
Furthermore, Zhao Xin had even spent money to hire a tutor to teach him styling skills, and his fashion taste had improved significantly compared to before.
Lin Yi didn't linger on the bullet comments for long. After glancing at them briefly, he turned his gaze back to his phone. There were simply too many comments, and reading them gave him a headache.
This tournament was a best-of-three series.
He was on a team with Tudou, Daxian, Eddie Peng, and Yang Mi.
The opposing team consisted of Old Demon Jiumo, Tomato, Haishi, Song Xi, and Lei Ting.
Judging by the prior discussion, the main focus was entertainment; winning or losing didn't matter, and the most important goal was publicity.
"Lin Yi, long time no see. What have you been busy with lately?" Eddie Peng's voice came through the voice chat.
Before Lin Yi could answer, Yang Mi asked with curiosity, "Eddie, do you two know each other?"
"We know each other. We acted together in *Fleet of Days*. I was the male lead, and he was the second male lead—he played my good friend and love rival," Eddie Peng explained.
Hearing their conversation, Daxian and Tudou felt a secret jolt of surprise. Lin Yi had actually entered the entertainment industry!
Tudou, in particular, had been wondering earlier why Qidian would specifically invite Lin Yi instead of other long-established heavyweight authors.
At this moment, it all started to make sense to him.
"Lin Yi, you even act in movies," Yang Mi said with a smile.
"Yeah, though my acting skills still need improvement. After all, I'm just an outsider."
Hearing Lin Yi mention acting, a faint, fleeting blush appeared on Yang Mi's cheeks.
"Heh, Lin Yi, you're being far too modest. Everyone has seen your acting skills, and you've been constantly improving with every role," Eddie Peng said with a slight upward curve of his lips.
"Alright, let's not talk about that. Back to the business at hand—let's coordinate our roles first," Lin Yi said, eager to change the subject as he noticed all the attention focusing on him.
Daxian: "I can play anything. You guys pick whatever you want, I'll fill in."
Tudou: "I'm better at mages and tanks."
Yang Mi: "I can only play heroes in the mage and support roles."
Eddie Peng: "I can play tanks or junglers, but I'm afraid my jungling might ruin the tempo."
Lin Yi: "I can play whatever."
He wasn't limited to just Lanlingwang; he had playable heroes in the top lane, mid lane, and bottom lane as well.
After some discussion, the five of them finally locked in their positions.
Daxian played the jungler Dianwei, Tudou played the mage Mozi, Eddie Peng played the tank Cheng咬金 (Cheng Yojin), Yang Mi played the support Yao, and Lin Yi played the marksman Hou Yi.
Over on Song Xi's side, their roles and heroes were also locked: Lei Ting played the jungler Kai, Haishi played the mage Gan Jiang, Old Demon Jiumo played the fighter Kuang Tie, Tomato played the marksman Di Renjie, and Song Xi played Zhang Fei.
A five-v-five team battle!
The match officially begins!
Whoosh!
Entering the Canyon of Kings!
Yang Mi's Yao followed Mozi to the mid lane, while the opposing Gan Jiang and Zhang Fei arrived in the mid lane at the same time.
Daxian skipped taking his own blue buff and sneaked into the enemy's blue buff bush. He didn't initiate an attack immediately. Two seconds later, finding no one there, he quickly started taking down the blue buff.
Daxian: "Mozi, Yao, stall them and don't let them come over."
Tudou: "Got it."
Yang Mi: "Mm."
Lin Yi played it safe, steady as an old hound, as he faced off against Di Renjie in the lane.
While Di Renjie was clearing the small river monster, Lin Yi traded blows and danced back and forth with him. When the small monster was down to a single drop of blood, Lin Yi quickly cast his second skill.
Unfortunately, Di Renjie was faster!
Lin Yi's skill missed.
Di Renjie took an early lead in net worth!
Yang Mi's Yao rushed down to the bottom lane to support Lin Yi.
After finishing the blue buff and clearing two small monsters, Daxian hurried over to hide in the mid-lane bush and wait in ambush.
A new wave of minion lines soon arrived.
While Mozi and Gan Jiang were trading blows in the lane, Dianwei stood motionless in the bush.
At this moment, Daxian spoke up.
"Mozi, lure him out a bit more."
"Okay." Tudou deliberately took some damage to draw Gan Jiang out.
"Now's the time!" Daxian quickly pressed his first skill and sprinted forward.
However, from the upper bush, Kai quietly emerged, chaining his first skill directly into his second.
Mozi was killed in action!
Tudou: "..."
A moment later, Dianwei was also killed in action.
"What the heck!" Zhang Daxian smacked his thigh, staring at the scene in dumbfounded shock.
Miscalculated!
The audience erupted.
"Daxian, that shady military strategist, has miscalculated again, again, and again."
"I don't know why, but seeing Daxian's expression makes me want to laugh."
"Me too, hahaha..."
...
Shortly after Dianwei's death, Eddie Peng's Cheng Yojin in the top lane was also killed!
Eddie Peng: "This Kuang Tie deals so much damage! I can't even clear my lane."
The opening score was 0-3.
Lin Yi became even more reluctant to venture out, clearing minions just slightly outside the safety of his turret, terrified of being ganged up on.
However, what was meant to come still arrived.
Zhang Fei dropped his second skill right in front of him and used his first skill to knock him out of the turret range.
Yao, who was attached to Hou Yi, couldn't escape this onslaught either.
Kai charged in with his ultimate activated, while Gan Jiang simultaneously unleashed his ranged attacks with his second skill.
The two of them ultimately fell victim to the enemy, dying on the battlefield.