FOG [e-sport]

Chapter 127

Free took the initiative to give up on the league’s free European tour benefits for the relatives of the players who made it to the quarterfinals. It wasn’t completely without its upsides. By doing so, they also dispensed with the need to record videos with their relatives, leaving them with a whole day of training more than the other teams.

The quarterfinals was approaching day by day. Apart from training day and night, Free’s players were trading insults with Sacred Sword online.

Zhou Huo’s original plan had been that before the quarterfinals, he wanted the players to disconnect from the Internet. In any case, they used the league’s officially-provided server when playing the practice games. It could be that only this would be provided access. In fact, everyone’s computers can be set up for the players so that when they use their computers the only thing they could access would be the game.

He could also temporarily confiscate the player’s mobile phones. They would be clearly cut off instantly. All these grievances can be discussed after the game. As manager, Zhou Huo still had this authority.

But before Zhou Huo could tell this plan to the players, it was stopped by Old Qiao.

“It’s a hundred ills with no benefit.” Old Qiao shook his head, “They must remain used to the rhythm of being sprayed and having their heads messed with. If you protect them too much, they won’t be able to resist pressure very well. Really, this is just how people are... The more spoiled they are the more fragile they become. What would happen if they’re told something they couldn’t stand on the day of the match? If they can’t immediately adjust their mood and it affects the match, we’re dead.”

Zhou Huo wondered, “How can anyone mess with them on the day of the match? The security in the stadium is so strict. How could they possibly dare? Besides, can they say anything worse than what they’ve already been saying?”

Sacred Sword was posting disturbing tweets every day. The day before yesterday they asked Shi Luo if he was feeling nervous. Yesterday, they showed a picture of the peripherals Yu Sui used when he was in Sacred Sword and asked if Yu Sui was missing them. Today, they asked Free if they’d already booked their return flight after the quarterfinals. Posting several tweets a day and sending greetings to all and sundry, Zhou Huo was really busy these days. With how stressed he was, whenever he saw their tweets, he would blow a fuse. “If I could just squeeze out some spare time these days, I would have already filed a complaint with the league officials. Damn this group of e-sports hooligans!”

“It’s useless trying to look for help from the league. They’ve already said that we normally have good relations and that we’re just joking around before the match. Besides, they were obviously prepared.” Old Qiao sneered. “They don’t say anything too excessive on their official Twitter account. The really provocative ones, they send out using their boss and their manager’s personal accounts. These are personal statements and the league can’t control them. And also...”

Old Qiao said solemnly, “Trust me, they really haven’t begun to mess with our heads yet.”

Zhou Huo had to wisely abandon the idea. Still, he did not believe they could do anything worse.

Until the day of the rehearsal before the quarterfinals.

The venue for the quarter-finals has been changed. Unlike when they were playing in the group stage, the venue for the quarterfinals was changed to the local stadium which could accommodate the most spectator seating. There will be a bit more pre-match programs compared to the group stage, such having as an opening ceremony, introduce of each player’s military record, so on and so forth... The entire thing was going to be broadcasted live and so, to avoid any unforeseen incidents, the players had to go through the entire process once.