The traffic was great so they arrived at the venue 10 minutes before the opening ceremony.
To his surprise, Fu Zhen drove straight to the underground parking lot that staff or celebrities were supposed to use.
Seeing his questioning looks, Fu Zhen explained as he parked the car,'' Due to work. I got the tickets from the organizer. "
Since Fu Zhen did not go into details, Fu Yue knew that it was confidential so he simply nodded his head without asking more questions.
" Wear these. "
A facemask and a cap were given to him which caused Fu Yue to look suspiciously at his older brother.
" My face is known to the public. "
As Fu Zhen put down this sentence, he proceeded to put on sunglasses and a mask on himself.
Fu Yue went silent at his big brother's disguise which felt like it did not help to cover up his identity.
Fu Yue: "..." Are you sure that no one is going to recognize you when you stand out so much?
While feeling pensive, Fu Yue proceeded to wear the mask and cap. Believing that when someone took a picture of his big brother later on, his face wouldn't be shown.
As it was approaching the opening ceremony, the seats were already filled with fans raising various self-designed cardboard or their respective team's merch to cheer on the players.
Being in this noisy environment filled with audiences, Fu Yue was reminded of those times when he came as a player.
But now, he was just a passerby.
As Fu Yue was immersed in his thoughts, Fu Zhen's voice was suddenly heard from the side pulling him back to reality.
'' If you are aiming to become a pro player, this scene will greet you every time you have a match. "
Fu Zhen was afraid that his little brother hadn't realized how his future working environment was going to be so he decided to take him to witness it with his own eyes.
Right after Fu Zhen finished his words, the host came on the stage to do the opening ceremony. He first introduced Yuelan's players before moving on to Sunzheng.
As players appeared one by one on the stage, the crowd went wild and loudly cheered causing Fu Yue's eardrums to almost tear.
Fu Zhen seemed to be unperturbed by this scene. He continued to comment after the voice died down,'' You are going to compete on the stage under the eyes of millions of people, think you can handle the pressure? "
Fu Zhen had no intention of intimidating his little brother. He just wanted the latter to prepare himself mentally to face the challenges coming his way in the future.
Fu Zhen has spoken a lot of words but so far, he did not hear any response from the other party. Turning his head to the side, he was immediately met with the scene of him rubbing his eyes.
Fu Zhen thought that his little brother's mentality has matured so he did not hold back his words and spoke seriously. That's why seeing the other party cry, he immediately became flustered thinking that he spoke too harshly a while ago.
" Wait, why are you crying?! "
Fu Yue harshly rubbed his eyes to chase away the tears that were threatening to fall as he said in a muffled voice,'' I am touched. "
Fu Zhen: "...''
Fu Yue was not a crybaby. Due to his experience, he was quite mature for his age.
However, after hearing his big brother's nagging, he couldn't help but be reminded of the time when he just embarked on his e-sport career.
At that time, no one was there beside him.
Even if he was at a loss for what to do, he couldn't ask anybody.
Failure was not an option so even if he was a nervous wreck, he couldn't turn back as he had no other options.
The more Fu Yue thought the sadder he became so Fu Zhen who was watching him on the sideline was so frustrated that he did not bring a handkerchief or tissue with him.
Fu Yue, too realized how much of an embarrassment he was so he bowed his head to hide his face.
Just as he was about to wipe his nose with his right sleeve, a dark blue handkerchief suddenly appeared in his view.
'' Use this. "
A certain young man's voice sounded from his right side the moment this handkerchief appeared. The voice that he heard was nice and deep, simply a treat to the ear.
Fu Yue was put into a daze by this stranger's voice only to snap back from his stupor due to his runny nose.
Fu Yue hurriedly thanked him as he took the offered handkerchief to cover his nose.
The other person seemed to be a man of few words as he only gave a light Mm before redirecting his attention back to the stage.
Fu Yue secretly heaved a sigh in relief before silently leaning closer to his big brother to blow his nose as quietly as possible.
Thankfully, the crowd was cheering loudly so no one cared what he was doing and hopefully, that nice friend did not hear the sound of him blowing his nose either.
A big man like him cried in a public, how embarrassing orz
Back to the present, the banning phase has just started so Fu Yue momentarily threw away his shame and began to earnestly watch the game.
The strategy made during the banning phase was one of the keys to victory. Even with a team full of great players but played with a bad draft, victory or defeat was hard to say.
Due to this reason, each organization invested a lot of money to hire famous coaches and assistant teams to help with the strategies.
Yuelan was known for their strong bot lane. Their ADC, XiaoXi was the season 8 world champion from the Korean division with 5 years of experience. His kill counts and damage per game were ranked within the top 3.
On the other hand, Sunzheng was famous for their mid-laner, Zizi. He also debuted the same year as XiaoXi and was named the best mid-laner in TOBH. He rarely played a losing lane.
Speaking of these two, Fu Yue couldn't help but remind of several other players who also debuted in season 6.
One would say that Season 6 was a bloodbath as rookies who debuted that year became legendary figures in TOBH.
Yu Shen as in Shen, an annoying support of the North American team, Sun, last year's world champion.
Gu Nan as in Empty was an aggressive top-laner currently in the Iceborn team, season 6 world champion, and his team ended up fourth this year.
Last but not least, Wei Chen known as Silence, a two-time world champion of seasons 6 and 7, was currently the captain of Tianmeng.
Speaking of the last player, Fu Yue couldn't help but be in awe at his achievements.
So far, Silence has played the most games on the world international stage. Even though he did not snatch the trophy, it just showed how scary he was.
However, Silence was also the most miserable on the internet as the netizen claimed that he failed to live up to their expectations every single time.
To make things worse, this year Tianmeng got third place. Therefore, his toxic fans had their noses up high and righteously flamed him for his bad performance which in turn dragged the team down.
Having experienced beforehand how unreasonable those people can be, Fu Yue would not judge based on the internet's opinion.
Fu Yue only had time to search Yuelan and Sunzheng for today's match so he was still in the dark about other teams and players.
If not because Yu Shen, Gu Nan, and Wei Chen debuted in the same year as XiaoXi and Zizi, Fu Yue would still be clueless about them.
Back to the game, the first side selection went to Sunzheng and they immediately chose the blue side. Therefore, Yuelan was automatically arranged to be on the red side.
Having the advantage of first ban on the blue side, Sunzheng instantly banned Yulu, one of XiaoXi's signature heroes.
Almost immediately, Yuelan returned the greeting with one of Zizi's heroes, Yifan, a flower demon.
Next, it was Sunzheng's turn to ban. They banned yet another ADC while Yuelan also took away another ADC that had a really good wave clear.
Sunzheng's last ban of the first phase was a support Ki whereas Yuelan banned away the jungler, Radanh.
Fu Zhen, who was not well versed in the game heard the lament of the fans around him,'' What's the difference between getting blue and red? ''
Hearing his question, Fu Yue faintly explained,'' Being on blue means that you can first ban and first pick which is a huge advantage in grabbing the hero that you want to secure in your draft. On top of this, you can also make the red side waste a ban slot by not banning a strong champ. By doing this, red needs to choose whether to ban or let that hero go and whatever decision red made, blue will not lose anything. "
Nodding his head in understanding, Fu Zhen said,'' Doesn't that mean Yuelan is at a disadvantage since they are on the red side? "
In return, Fu Yue gave a small laugh,'' No. I think Yuelan on red is better than on blue. After Sunzheng's first pick, the red side can pick two champs at the same time which is easier to grab a bot duo. "
As expected, when it was Yuelan's turn, they indeed grabbed a bot duo.
Fu Yue then added,'' Yuelan also can do a counter pick at the end so it is a win-win to them. "
In the end, Sunzheng's lineup was: Blacksmith, Li, Dotte, Lay, and Ilay.
While Yuelan's lineup was: Dark knight, Duke, Millie, K, and Syn.
Just by looking at the lineup, Fu Yue stifled a laugh," This is just like you poke, I tank. "
Sunzheng's draft was a poking comp with Li, Dotte, and Lay who excelled in single out a target. On the other hand, Yuelan seemed to be hellbent on disengaging and protecting K.
Fu Zhen curiously asked,'' So who do you think will win? "
Fu Yue gave a small smile,'' Favorably Sunzheng's comp is better since Yuelan lacks the output so the draft heavily relies on XiaoXi's performance. "
'' So you bet on Sunzheng? "
Unexpectedly, Fu Yue shook his head,'' No. I bet on Yuelan. "
'' Why? ''
Being caught off-guard by this sudden magnetic voice, Fu Yue involuntarily turned his head to the side.
Up until now, Fu Yue has never taken a close look at this nice friend. It was only at this moment did he realize that the other side was a tall man who might be the same height as his big brother.
Slightly tilting his head, Fu Yue silently observed this person's appearance.
The man was covered from head to toe even more thoroughly than him. In the end, Fu Yue could only see his pair of light blue eyes that peeked out from behind his silver-rimmed glasses.
However, sometimes, no matter how hard a good-looking person tried to cover himself, he still looked good no matter what and it went the same for this person.
Is this person an actor?
That's what came to Fu Yue's mind at this moment.