The next morning, Ai Qing didn’t wait for the rest of SP but went


    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 <Secret Room Storm>.  The eight-city


    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.”