Reign of the Hunters

Chapter 390 ESports

Ye Ci rolled her eyes. She did not want to raise her voice just to talk Tan Polang in the middle of a crowd. The noise level itself meant that they could not hear each other very well, and raising her voice to shout out her words was something Ye Ci would never do. To her, it was all a waste of energy.

“Of course I know what it is.” Ye Ci grumbled to herself, “I’m not from outer space! What I meant was there’s so many people. Why must we go over there?”

But her words would of course not reach Tan Polang’s ears.

Even if they did, the boy would have disagreed. He was once a professional esports player, and Ye Ci knew Tan Polang’s love for esports very well. That was why she did not make much of a protest despite her grumbling.

She could understand the excitement of someone who saw something that was of interest to him.

Ten computers were arranged together in the small space with comfortable seats for the players. There was a partition between the monitors to stop players from looking into the screen of his or her neighbour.

But Ye Ci couldn’t see the faces of the players sitting in front of the computers, as they were surrounded by a large crowd.

The third computer was surrounded by the most onlookers, and they would occasionally exclaim in excitement as they watched on.

Tan Poland had experienced growth spurt, boosting his height from 165cm to nearly 185cm. Coupled with his handsome face, he received the attention of many of the female convention goers. But his attention was not on them. It was focused wholly on the player on the third computer.

He was very curious.

Just how good is that guy? It had been a long while since Tan Polang had dabbled in esports, but it did not mean that his enthusiasm for gaming had died down.

This was why he was so desperate to have a look at the expert who managed to garner the attention of the majority of the crowd. But he could simply not squeeze his way to the front as nobody was willing to part with their good spots.

Ye Ci laughed out loud at Tan Polang’s desperation. The boy had always acted so mature, but his true nature as a young adolescent had surfaced in a situation like this. She grabbed hold of Tan Polang’s arm and said to him, “Come with me!”

“What are you doing?” grumbled Tan Polang as he was dragged towards the last computer, “I can’t go away. I want to watch the match.”

Ye Ci motioned at the computer, “Why don’t you play the game yourself? Isn’t that better than watching?”

It took a moment for Tan Polang to process her words. A smile spread across his face. He was a former member of the national team, and while he did not make it past the qualifiers, he was still better than the average player. The best way for him to have a gauge of the person’s strength was to play against the person himself.

The player at the last computer was apparently not very good at the game. The crowd around him was rapidly thinning out. Even his expression was filled with regret. Tan Polang walked up to the player and smiled at him, “Hey bro, are you still playing?”

The man responded with a sigh, “Nope. You want to have a go?”

“Yup. I want to try my hand at this.” Tan Polang nodded, “Who has the highest score right now?”

“That would be CM001” the man stood up, “I fancied myself as a decent player, but I got completely destroyed by him in my last match. That guy’s not human.” he sighed as he walked away from the computer, “Do you want to challenge him?”

Tan Polang nodded at the man, “Of course I do.”

“Then be prepared. Don’t be overconfident like I was.” the man pursed his lips. It was apparent that he did not think well of Tan Polang’s chances to win.

He could hear the man talking to his friend, “I thought there are no good players in these parts. But count me surprised.”

“Yeah, whatever, let’s go back and play Fate. Your APM is not high enough. Let’s head to the arena and we’ll have a real fight..”

Ye Ci smiled at the two attendees. Fate’s player base is indeed very large. Her gaze then drifted back to Tan Polang’s monitor. He had already completed an account creation, and was in a match against one of the players.

Despite his lack of achievements in the esports scene, Tan Polang was still a former member of the national team. He was able to defeat the normal players with relative ease. She could tell from Tan Polang’s strategy and high APM that he was a very good player.

He was able to slowly attract a crowd that was rapidly growing around him.

Tan Polang was in Group B, while CM001 was in Group A. It would take him a few more matches to finally be able to meet CM001 in battle.

And this was why Tan Polang had been playing nonstop to reach the points required.

Time continued to pass, and more and more people had gathered around the players.

“That guy on the last computer is quite good! I think he’s better than CM001.”

“I can tell that you’re still a newbie. His APM is not as high as CM001, and his strategies do not make sense.”

“I don’t think so. I think I like PPLL’s (Tan Polang’s in-game name) tempo better.”

There was also multiple discussions about the difference between Tan Polang and CM001.

“How long do you think it’ll take him to fight against CM001?” asked Ye Ci when Tan Polang won yet another match.

“Very soon. He has a lot of challenges. I think there are at least three more. But those guys are not that good. It should be my turn anytime now.”

Tan Polang ended yet another match. And as he stretched himself, he noticed that there was only one more challenger left before he would be able to square off against CM001.

An employee approached Tan Polang as he continued to wait.

Ye Ci glanced at his name tag. He was the employee in charge of the booth.

The employee squeezed his way through the crowd and tapped Tan polang on his shoulder, “Are you PPL?”

“Yes, I am.” Tan Polang turned to face the employee, “Is there anything I can help you with?”

“We’ve been observing the matches of you and CM001, and we think that you’re both very good players. It’ll soon be your turn to play against CM001, and we have a lot of esports fanatics over here. Would you mind if we broadcast your match so that everyone can see it clearly?”

Tan Polang glanced at Ye Ci, who shrugged at the boy. He thought for a short moment before finally nodding, “Alright.”

“Thank you.” the employee replied with a smile, and he pressed a button on Tan Polang’s computer, “You may continue.” he nodded at Tan Polang before leaving.

Ye Ci looked up at the screen not far away, and saw the screen of Tan Polang’s monitor displayed on the screen. Another feed soon appeared. It was the display from CM001’s monitor.