Chapter 120
The team tyrant went off to do the interview by force. The rest of them returned to the lounge to wait for Shi Luo to finish his interview and head back to the hotel. The Free team had such touching internal camaraderie that no one even offered to help Yu Sui carry the equipment. Yu Sui struggled slightly as he gathered both sets of peripherals and headed back to the lounge. Zhou Huo, unaware of the interview swap, frowned at Yu Sui. "You're not going to do our press Q&A as the team's spokesperson, so why are you back?"
Chen Huo shrugged. "They switched it up. Evil went instead."
The lounge still had both the official film crew and the team's own camera operator. The official crew and other staff were locals and didn't know much about Free's internal dynamics. They were confused when Yu Sui came in carrying two sets of peripherals and asked curiously whose equipment this was.
Yu Sui set both sets of peripherals on the table, then picked up Shi Luo's peripheral bag to pack it away for him. He spoke in a perfectly natural tone. "This? It's my boyfriend's."
The official crew didn't understand Mandarin, so they couldn't grasp why everyone in the room suddenly burst out laughing. Old Qiao, being the troublemaker he was, struggled with his terrible English to gesture emphatically at the official camera operator, trying to emphasize that no, they didn't need to understand—but this statement was very important, and if they had it on film, they could consider editing it into the official video.
"Tch." Zhou Huo couldn't stand Yu Sui. "Every time Shi Luo isn't around, you cause trouble… Is teasing him really that fun?"
"It's fun. And this barely counts as causing trouble." Yu Sui finished packing up both sets of peripherals, set them aside, and sat down to watch the live broadcast screen in the lounge. "Besides, the real troublemakers are about to show up…"
Chen Huo and Puppy also sat down, ready to enjoy the show. Within moments, the live feed cut to the backstage interview area. On the screen, Shi Luo removed his cap and tossed it onto the interview desk. He then stepped up to the interview area, spread his arms wide, and lifted his chin with an expressionless face as the staff worked to attach his portable microphone.
The guy helping Shi Luo clip on the mic wasn't very skilled. He fumbled with it for a while, unable to get it right. The guy was clearly anxious too, constantly adjusting—touching up, touching down. Through the camera angle, it looked like he was grabbing Shi Luo's waist. Yu Sui watched for a while, then couldn't help turning to the official staff in the lounge. "Can't you find a woman to do this for him?"
The staff was bewildered. Old Qiao held back a grin. "Come on, enough already. Who's going to intentionally grope him?"
After more fumbling, they finally got the mic clipped on. Shi Luo pulled over a chair and sat down, hands stuffed in his team jacket pockets, expression calm.
There was only Shi Luo in the interview area. Behind the narrow row of tables, the press was packed in—countless reporters with their cameras and microphones.
Zhou Huo watched Shi Luo on the screen and murmured in admiration, "That face, that aura… like a young star…"
Puppy stared at Shi Luo, clicking his tongue. "Look at that expression, look at that presence. Who would believe that this player's first time at Worlds was just qualifying through a group of has-beens in Group A?"
Chen Huo chimed in. "If you didn't know better, you'd think this player just won the championship."
Yu Sui stared intently at the screen. "Quiet."
The reporters didn't have a single complaint about the last-minute interview substitution. If anything, they were delighted.
Yu Sui, as a superstar player, did carry more weight—but veteran players like him always gave watertight interviews. Unless he wanted to share something, he wouldn't give them any material.
These rookie players like Shi Luo were much easier to interview. With a few trap questions, rookie players would easily take the bait.
Naturally, that was just what the reporters thought going in.
The domestic reporters asked first. Competing against other regions, domestic reporters would usually stick up for their own side. Completely changing their usual attitude, they asked gentle questions—mostly congratulating Free on successfully qualifying from group stage. The questions were all about the group stage situation. Shi Luo was friendly to his region's reporters too, answering every question, even the most bland ones, with great detail.
Then the foreign reporters started asking.
The foreign reporters' questions were far less friendly, and when it came to the local European reporters, the questions became increasingly pointed.
The European reporter asked, "You advanced to Worlds for the first time, and as the only rookie on your team, you've somehow racked up multiple MVPs. Looking at the reasons behind this—was it more about your own excellent performance, or was it more about how the other veteran players on your team declined significantly this year?"
Shi Luo said, "I got more kill credit."
The European reporter asked, "As everyone knows, three players on the Free team were formerly from the Holy Sword club in the European region. All three players have former teams, and at Worlds there's a chance you might face your old teams. Does it get awkward between teammates?"
Shi Luo said, "As for having former teams, Holy Sword probably has the most across the entire region and the whole league. I saw their players performing quite well. No awkwardness there. I don't think it's awkward for our team either."
Holy Sword never cultivated new talent—they simply watched for skilled players and did whatever it took to poach them. Their bad reputation preceded them. Before Shi Luo even finished speaking, several domestic reporters burst out laughing.
In the Free lounge, Zhou Huo couldn't take it anymore.
"What's this supposed to mean?" Zhou Huo complained, getting up. "Now we need the manager to tag along for these small interviews? Fine, I'll go intercept. What kind of questions are these…"
"No need." Yu Sui watched the screen. "Besides, even if you went, you couldn't stop them."
Zhou Huo's fighting spirit suddenly ignited. His eyes sharpened. "I can't stop these reporters?"
Yu Sui smiled. "What you can't stop is Shi Luo."
Zhou Huo was speechless.
"Sit down." Yu Sui remained composed. "We've practically been fighting Holy Sword face-to-face already—they're already tearing into us online. Did you really think their region's reporters would be polite to us? In a few days during the Group D qualification matches, our region's reporters won't have kind words for them either. It's the same thing."
"That… that can't be the same." Zhou Huo frowned, watching Shi Luo on the screen. "Our player is only nineteen years old, okay…"
Zhou Huo couldn't help complaining to Yu Sui. "Why did you let him go do this?"
Yu Sui chuckled. "Did you think I could have stopped him? He wanted to go."
"So because he wanted to, you agreed?" Zhou Huo glanced at the other outsiders in the lounge, then lowered his voice. "Shi Luo's answers are really… not great. Too blunt. What if we actually lose to Holy Sword later?"
Zhou Huo lightly slapped his own cheek and continued, "If that actually happens, you know what will go down, right? With Shi Luo acting this ballsy, the domestic haters will take everything he said now and use it to tear him apart and mock him.到时候……"
"Quiet." Before Yu Sui could respond, Chen Huo, who was fixated on the broadcast screen, cut Zhou Huo off impatiently. "I can't hear!"
Zhou Huo, being the kind soul he was, was about to snap, when Puppy laughed. "Stop being such a mother hen. Don't you know how much Young God loves his kid? Whatever you're worried about, he already thought of it?"
"Shi Luo has been holding this grudge for so long. If we don't let him blow off some steam, the kid's going to break." Puppy rested his chin on his arms, watching the broadcast screen leisurely. "Also, appreciate Shi Luo's interview while you can. This level of blunt honesty? You don't see that every day."
Puppy gave a self-deprecating smile. "Being afraid of getting flamed, afraid of getting mocked, afraid of people dragging you—sometimes when I do interviews, I'd rather not say a word, just keep everything vague… I really can't remember the last time I gave an honest interview."
"I used to be like Shi Luo too, back in the day." Chen Huo stared at Shi Luo on the screen, a hint of admiration in his eyes. He sighed. "If I didn't like something, I'd figure out a way to怼回去 right away… Later I got flamed into submission. Exhausted. Stopped bothering with all that raw emotion… Damn. What's there to be afraid of? Next interview, let me go. I'll have a blast too. Say whatever I want to whoever I want. Who cares."
The interview continued.
The European reporter asked again, "Usually solo post-match interviews are done by the team captain. Was the last-minute switch to Evil because Whisper didn't want to face reporters from his former region?"
Shi Luo said, "No. I'm the only player who never competed in the European region, so I particularly wanted to come face them."
The reporter asked, "How does Evil view the qualification situations of the other groups? Especially Group C and Group D?"
Shi Luo said, "Group C has my former team. I wish them luck qualifying. Group D—I don't know anyone there, so I can't say."
The reporter asked, "Group D has last Worlds' champion Holy Sword. Would you still say you're unfamiliar with them?"
Shi Luo said, "I'm a rookie. Everyone's unfamiliar to me."
The murmuring among the reporters grew louder and louder. The interview topics had basically all circled back to Holy Sword. The reporters were getting frustrated by Shi Luo's sharp responses, and their questions became increasingly difficult.
"What are Evil's expectations for this Worlds? What placement do you think you can achieve?"
Shi Luo said, "The higher, the better."
"Your first time at Worlds, with so many strong opponents—setting such high goals for yourself, won't the pressure be overwhelming?"
Shi Luo said, "Other teams have already said that matches before the Worlds finals are meaningless. I think I'm being pretty conservative."
"Earlier, Evil mentioned being unfamiliar with Holy Sword. It's said that before this, Free and Holy Sword scheduled practice matches. Is that still considered unfamiliar?"
Shi Luo said, "We only played two games before Holy Sword claimed there was a power outage. We couldn't even finish one best-of-three. I'd say that counts as unfamiliar."
The interview was getting too heated. The European reporters were practically being choked to death by Shi Luo. The host official, afraid things would really escalate to the surface, signaled that the interview could end. One reporter, unwilling to give up, begged to ask one more question. The staff, helpless, nodded in agreement.
The reporter pressed, "Evil just said he thinks he can win the championship. Holy Sword, as last season's champions, said in a previous interview that they came here for the finals. Regarding that statement, does Evil have anything to respond?"
The reporter quickly added, "Since we actually all know about the situation with that practice match, there's no need to obscure the truth—Holy Sword won the first game."
"Before, I did lose one game to Holy Sword. I admit that." Shi Luo stood up. "My response is…"
Smart as Shi Luo was, he naturally understood—the other side just wanted to bait him into making some kind of bold declaration so they could pull out this video clip later if his team lost and use it to embarrass him.
At this point, he could just not respond.
Or maybe he should dial it back a bit.
Shi Luo slowly unclipped the portable mic from his waist. Suddenly, he lifted his gaze and looked directly into the interview room's dedicated recording camera.
His teammates and all the staff traveling with the team were watching him.
That pack of scheming, calculating bastards from Holy Sword were definitely watching too.
Yu Sui was watching too.
Thinking of Yu Sui, Shi Luo's eyes sharpened.
Unbidden memories flashed back to a few days ago—in the hotel's training room, the teammates joking around together, mimicking that ridiculous cat-ear promotional incident from two years ago when the Holy Sword manager fought with Yu Sui.
Yu Sui, Chen Huo, and Puppy were actually trying to comfort him. Shi Luo knew that perfectly well.
So Shi Luo had gone along with everyone and continued training, not asking Yu Sui any more questions.
So then, what about that watch?
So then—that watch worth several million RMB, how much did he sell it for, how many fines did it cover?
When Yu Sui first came to this place, he probably didn't have much money left.
Those bastards…
There were some things better left unexamined. Shi Luo snapped back to the present, thinking to himself: What the hell am I afraid of?
Shi Luo looked at the European reporters. "My response is: before this Worlds finals ends, no matter which team I face, I. Will. Not. Lose. Again."
Shi Luo unclipped his mic and set it on the desk. He put his baseball cap back on, walked out.
In the Free lounge, Chen Huo howled like a wolf, pounding the table repeatedly, resentful. "Why didn't I volunteer?! Why didn't I?! Damn it! That was so cool—when he said that, it must have felt amazing! I want to say that too!"
Puppy laughed. "Just now when I told you to go, would you have dared?"
Zhou Huo had been worried that once they lost, Shi Luo would get ripped apart by haters for his big talk. Now he didn't care anymore. "Damn right, just怼 them! What the hell,先爽了再说—regardless of win or loss, Holy Sword's going to try to mess with our heads anyway. Even if we're diplomatic, will they let us off? Better to just declare war! Damn it, go, go… next time anyone wants to go let loose, go for it. If we really crash and burn, I'll back you up!"
"Hire bots! Buy trending topics! Ban the forums!" Zhou Huo, inexplicably caught up in the fervor, suddenly roared. "Come on! You think you can out-market me?! What do I have to be afraid of? It's just money, right?! What's my job as a manager?! Isn't it handling all your cleanup and damage control?! Let's see who dares flame our player when that day comes! Ahhhhh!!"
Yu Sui: "…"
Everyone in the room—including Shi Luo, who had just returned and walked into the lounge—was startled by Zhou Huo. Shi Luo looked Zhou Huo up and down, hesitating. "You… what happened?"
"I felt the adrenaline! I felt young!!" Zhou Huo, dressed in his formal suit that restricted all movement, wished he could be ten years younger and step onto the battlefield himself. "Is this that thrill Young God mentioned—that feeling you only get when facing strong opponents? I felt it!!"
Old Qiao, exhausted, looked at Zhou Huo suddenly coming alive and couldn't help muttering, "The NSN manager… the other day was like this too. Everything was fine, then suddenly lost his temper, ran onto foreign websites and started flaming… Can this sh*t be contagious…"
"You wouldn't understand." Zhou Huo rubbed his hands together, his expression growing more serious. "You know why we adults, who clearly play like garbage, still love watching you compete?"
"It's not about learning technique—learning technique at our age is pointless. We just live our lives too carefully, too constrained. We just want to see something that isn't constrained!" Zhou Huo pulled out his phone, gritting his teeth. "That's why we love watching you young people怼天怼地—taking on anyone on stage, backing down to no one… So fucking exciting! I can't, I'm getting hyped! Old Qiao, come help me call that Chinese restaurant owner. I'm afraid I'll end up yelling at him!"
Everyone laughed helplessly. Old Qiao took Zhou Huo's phone to call the restaurant. The others busied themselves—some changing clothes, some grabbing their peripherals.
Shi Luo had just vented his frustrations and felt a bit anxious afterward. When he noticed no one was paying attention, he walked over to Yu Sui. "I… what I said…"
"It was exceptional."
Yu Sui had already changed into his regular clothes. He slung both his and Shi Luo's peripheral bags over one shoulder, then wrapped an arm around Shi Luo with his free hand. He turned his head, leaning close to Shi Luo's ear, and spoke softly. "I got hard from listening."
Shi Luo coughed awkwardly. He reached for his peripheral bag, but Yu Sui pulled away. "Go change your clothes. Change and let's go home."