League of Legends: Reborn in Season 3, Tuning the Entire League

Chapter 273 Logitech Custom Keyboard?
NEST!

The full name is NEST National Electronic Sports Tournament, which is a national comprehensive professional competition hosted by the Sports Information Center of the General Administration of Sport of China and organized by Shanghai Huaao E-sports Information Technology Co., Ltd.

To some extent, the creation of this large-scale domestic e-sports event was the result of the country's determination to promote it after witnessing the huge success of the Shanghai (Magic City) LOL All-Star Tournament.

Its original intention was to build a platform that connects professional and non-professional teams, promotes exchanges between teams of different levels, and provides support and development opportunities for some less popular e-sports projects in China.

This year's NEST tournament, being the first edition, features not only League of Legends (LOL), currently the top online game, but also other titles such as FIFA 2013, Warcraft III, StarCraft II, and Dota 2.

In the League of Legends (LOL) competition, the tournament is divided into two stages: offline and online. The qualifiers follow the current LPL rules, with each group playing a best-of-one (BO1) match until the top eight teams advance to the playoffs.

The semi-finals will still be held online. The top eight teams will be divided into two groups, A and B, for a single round-robin BO1 points tournament. The top two teams from each group will advance to the knockout stage.

The final offline knockout stage did not use the BO5 format, likely due to the large number of competitions and limited time.

Both the semifinals and finals will use a best-of-three (BO3) single-elimination format.

In the previous group stage and quarterfinals, in order to provide players with training opportunities, NXG's training team actually only sent members of the second team or even newcomers from the youth training camp to participate.

None of the members of NXG's first team were involved.

However, to Jiang Ming's surprise, the level of competition between his second team and the young players in the youth training camp had reached an astonishing degree.

Who says youth training players are necessarily inexperienced?
As it turns out, trainees from youth training camps can easily defeat the starting lineups of so-called professional teams.

Yes, it wouldn't be an exaggeration to say they were utterly crushed in the BO1 group stage.

With such a strong performance, all three teams under NXG naturally made it into the top eight.

Perhaps due to their overwhelming success, they suffered a seemingly divine retribution in the draw, as the NXG team, which had been on a winning streak, faced an internal battle in the quarterfinals ahead of schedule.

NXG.B vs. NXG.W!

The second epic showdown between the Black and White Duo!
However, the plot took a turn in this match – Qin Huan's Black Team, with a more stable performance, defeated the White Team 2-1 in the second match of the NEST tournament, securing their ticket to the finals.

In the commentary booth, Miller exclaimed: "This victory is like a sharp sword of revenge, precisely piercing the regret of our previous defeat in the City League Championship."

On the other side, NXG's first team, having completed all transfer procedures, is back in action.

Bearing the belief of repaying the club for its support and fighting for their last battle with the team, these seasoned veterans, who have weathered many storms, displayed overwhelming dominance in the semifinals—cleanly sweeping the ambitious OMG team 2-0.

Before the match, there were some discussions that claimed that "NXG's five players were in poor form due to transfer turmoil," and some boastful statements that "OMG wants to make a name for itself by defeating the S3 World Championship winner!"

At this moment, all of that was transformed into a relentless crushing defeat on the field.

OMG fans who saw the scoreboard could only sigh inwardly: "Damn it!"
They've already completed the transfer and aren't part of NXG anymore, so why are they still working so hard?

……

11 Month 30 Day!
The day of the NEST Grand Finals!
NXG vs. NXG.Black!

When the final matchups were announced, a dramatic scene unfolded that amused many – especially when two separate posts declaring war were made on the same club's official Weibo account, and early in the morning, fans spotted the ten players from the two teams, who should have been locked in a fierce battle, sitting in small groups in their seats, sharing a base vehicle to head to the stadium.

Many left comments in the comment section:

[Hilarious! Qin Guangguang's big foot almost landed on Pang Ran.]

[Xiao Duan's eyes are so resentful; this is what it means to be NTR'd right in front of someone.]

[Clearly, I was here first.]

I initially thought that the relationships between the players would be tense in a club with such intense competition like NXG.

[I'm reporting this to the event organizers; someone here is planning to rig the competition.]

[Wait, why do the two teams in the finals have such similar names?]

[I'm telling you guys, enough with the memes. Stop bringing trouble to NXG, okay?]

This dramatic scene of brothers fighting amongst themselves has led to much sarcasm from outsiders: "Why not just skip the final and ask Coach JM who won last night's practice match?"

Jiang Ming was also in that car.

Originally, he didn't plan to go to the NEST competition today. Since the end of the World Championship until last night, he had been so busy that he barely had time to breathe. He finally managed to catch a short break and was thinking about going back to his senior and sleeping in.

To everyone's surprise, the group of young men took turns "bombarding" him with tears in their eyes, pleading that "it would be a lifelong regret if you weren't there for our last dance."

In the end, he was just short of writing some kind of "e-sports declaration" to sue the boss's wife. Jiang Ming's guilt briefly overcame his sleepiness, and even though he was physically and mentally exhausted, he could only force himself to get on the team's base vehicle.

Of course, the biggest driving force was something else entirely, but Jiang Ming didn't mention it to the contestants...

It's not that Jiang Ming doesn't value NEST. Although NXG has accumulated a lot of wealth, and the honor display case on the first floor has added several more championship trophies in a year, and the potted plants that were originally used for decoration were all moved away in less than three months, no one would complain about having too many championships.

NEST is primarily a domestic esports tournament with multiple games, and its significance in training new players for teams far outweighs the ultimate goal of winning the championship, much like the Demacia Cup in the original timeline.

Moreover, the logistical support system for his own training team and staff is already mature, and he has passed the stage where he needs to worry about everything. He should let go of some things.

After all, if he continues to do everything himself, even Ultraman would shake his head in disapproval.

……

17 PM. Shanghai!

Lujiazui Stadium, Pudong New Area, Shanghai.

The cheers of the esports fans in the venue rose and fell, and the enthusiastic atmosphere was completely different from that of other competitions. It was as if every inch of the air was vibrating with the sound waves.

"Is this what a world champion is like?"

Other competitors who had finished their events stood backstage, their eyes filled with envy for the applause the NXG team received on stage.

"Yes, they are currently the most popular team in the domestic e-sports scene."

"They are really strong."

One person exclaimed, "Winning the World Championship with a perfect record? If it were me, I would only dare to dream about it."

If players from other games outside the scene can perform like this, then the professional teams in the LPL region are even more impressive.

Anyone watching this NXG intra-team derby showed an intense desire to capitalize on NXG's popularity.

……

On the field, the five members of NXG's first team were conducting their daily equipment debugging.

"Pangpang, when did you change your keyboard?"

Xu Jing's gaze was involuntarily drawn to the ink-colored keyboard in Pang Ran's hands, as if the ordinary black keyboard had been given new life.

The turquoise landscape pattern is like a lively brushstroke adorning it. When you gently tap the keycaps, the lights flow, and it's as if an elegant landscape painting is slowly unfolding before your eyes.

"Damn, this is actually pretty good!" Xu Jing couldn't help but exclaim.

The uneducated boy chose the simplest way to praise.

"What, you're asking about that?"

Pang Ran raised his head and said, "Logitech renewed their sponsorship contract with our club, right? They'll be customizing esports peripherals for each player this season, so this game is kind of a trial."

"Huh?" Xu Jing was taken aback.

"Tailor-made? Trial version?" Song Yuan and the other two team members said almost in unison, and the three of them turned to look at Pang Ran.

"No, why is it just you who gets it? What about the rest of us?" Song Yuan pointed to his face with his right hand, then turned to Coach White Crescent. "Old Bai, what do you mean by this?"

"Don't look at me, I don't know either." The white crescent moon indicated its ignorance and presented a small bear with a shrug.

Pang Ran chuckled awkwardly, his tone tinged with uncertainty, and asked, "Is it possible that it's because you're no longer considered part of NXG?"

"Damn it!" Xu Jing immediately shouted, "What do you mean we're not NXG anymore? Even if we transferred, we've shed blood for the club and fought for the team! You can't be so stingy as to not even give us a keyboard, can you?"

"No, I have to ask Ming-ge. There must be a treacherous minister involved!"

“Exactly!” Song Yuan chimed in. “And besides, you left the team too!”

"Correction," Pang Ran grinned seriously, "I'm only temporarily loaned to Royal Never Give Up. I'll be back when my contract expires next year. Besides, is it possible that the keyboards are part of Logitech's marketing plan for next season and have nothing to do with whether the team gives out benefits?"

"I don't care!" Xu Jing gritted his teeth in anger. "After this training match, I'm going to ask Ming for it! I'm the S3 champion AD! Logitech isn't even considering designing an NXG-exclusive keyboard for me? I think the head of Logitech's marketing department should pack his bags and leave!"

"Great! Great! Old Xu, I support you!" Song Yuan immediately raised both hands in approval.

"Pang Pang~" Xu Jing's tone changed again, and he directly imitated his sister by picking it up with his chopsticks.

Pang Ran felt a sudden tightness in his lower body and asked with a hint of fear in his eyes, "What are you doing? Ouch!"

"Hey, can I borrow your keyboard for the competition today?"

"Damn, the only things esports players can't lend out are their wives and keyboards."

"Let me see. I read in a novel that those custom-made keyboards for big companies are supposed to be sentient and respond to us."

"you are hopeless."

Inside the NEST tournament live stream room.

Watching the NXG members laughing and joking on stage, many sentimental fans couldn't help but tear up.

The live chat was instantly flooded with various expressions of emotion:
Sigh, we'll never see these five best people together again.

[Damn it! You're making it sound like someone's about to die!]

To be rational, JM was also thinking about their future.

[The league rules are what they are; next season will inevitably see one less team. With mediocre compensation and fierce competition within the team, staying is definitely not a wise move.]

Be content! It was so satisfying to see Team One and Team Two fighting side-by-side one last time before they left!

(End of this chapter)