League: I really didn't tank!

Chapter 496 Gold Medal

As the South Korean team's training base crumbled into pieces, the lights on the roof of the stadium shone brightly and intertwined, eventually converging on the side where the Chinese team's players were seated!

"Champions! We are the champions!" In the commentary booth, the Wawa and Miller brothers were overwhelmed with emotion and hugged each other excitedly!

"The first-ever esports gold medal in Asian Games history belongs to the Chinese team in the League of Legends event!"

The two could not hide their emotions!

Because everyone understands what this gold medal represents.

As someone inside the esports industry, Wawa Miller was well aware that the Asian Games Council was already considering whether to officially include esports as a main event in the next Asian Games.

As the host country of the next Asian Games, and with Mr. Huo serving as the president of the Asian Esports Federation, they have crucial decision-making power in this matter.

All the Chinese leadership needs is a result!

If we can achieve a good result in this exhibition match, we'll have a sure thing in the main competition at the next Hangzhou Asian Games!

And the gold medal in the League of Legends competition is the most crucial part!

After winning this gold medal, Miller could even picture the e-sports industry taking off again!

The esports industry experienced its first major leap forward in November 2017 when QG lifted the trophy at the Bird's Nest stadium.

Now, QG will propel the esports industry forward once again!

That's amazing, QG team is really amazing!

At this moment, countless viewers in the live stream chat were also celebrating the Chinese New Year, with messages flooding in one after another!

[China team is awesome! Brother Shu is awesome!]

Wow, Akali is ruthless! She went in alone and killed both carries? This champion is just too overpowered!

It depends on the player. Last game, Smeb was also playing Akali, and he didn't get a single kill.

【really】

[A 3-0 sweep of the South Korean team, right? Great!]

[It wasn't just 3-0, it was 11-0!]

[Winning gold with a perfect record! Wow, that's incredibly impressive!]

Is this all the Korean dream team is capable of? They're not even as good as one member of QG!

[The Dream Team is like this: normally they are all the big shots in their own teams, and they all need resources. Now that they're all put together as one team, it's really not going to work. It's better to let a single team play.]

[The main reason is that all five QG players are quite strong; apart from Xiaohu being a bit weak, the other four are top-tier.]

At the competition venue, the cheers from the audience were deafening. Guan Daxiao and other commentators were also expressing their emotions by shouting from below the stage, all excitedly waving red flags in their hands!

There were also countless supporters who came all the way from China, and their faces were full of pride!

On stage, the five starting members of the Chinese team stood up and excitedly hugged each other!

Despite their confidence in the final, believing they could easily win it.

But now that they have won the gold medal, the bright spotlight shining on them makes it hard for them to hide their excitement!

Xiaohu's face was flushed, as if he had been infected with the red fever virus from Uzbekistan. He rushed to Chen Dongqing's side, excitedly shouting, "Awesome, Brother Shu! That Akali was ruthless!"

After watching Chen Dongqing's Akali performance in the final team fight, Xiaohu can only say that he is utterly impressed!

His rigid mind, which couldn't play assassins, really couldn't believe that Akali could be played like this!

With such a dominant teammate in the top lane, how can we not win the championship!

Listening to Xiao Hu's flattery, Chen Dongqing's smile grew even brighter. He waved his hand and said with a smile, "It's alright, it's alright, as long as I have hands, it'll be fine!"

"Gold medal in hand!" Shi Senming and Uzi rushed up excitedly from the side, Uzi grinning widely, "Another undefeated championship?! These guys are amazing!"

Chen Dongqing patted Uzi on the shoulder with a smile: "You were pretty crucial today too, crushing Ruler Emperor with all three of your attacks!"

"Of course!" Uzi laughed. "I can't speak for others, but I'd definitely hit Ruler every time!"

After saying that, Uzi spread his hands again: "But obviously, today has nothing to do with me. I'm just lying down like Li Yuanhao."

Although Uzi played well in those three matches, he also understood that even if he played poorly, he should still win the match easily.

"Alright, that's enough." Chen Dongqing still wasn't used to his teammates praising him, so he waved his hand and said, "Let's go, let's shake hands!"

Representing his country and winning the gold medal, Chen Dongqing even felt a little lightheaded. The excitement this venue brought him today was perhaps only second to that of the Staples Center in 16 and the Bird's Nest in 17.

Soon, Chen Dongqing walked over to the South Korean team's seating area.

It can only be said that people's joys and sorrows are definitely not shared. At this moment, all five South Korean players looked dejected and speechless.

The South Koreans value this Asian Games gold medal far more than the Chinese do.

After all, esports is a key industry in South Korea, something that is truly promoted nationwide.

For the five athletes on the field, this gold medal not only represents their strength, but also the honor of being valued by the country, and the right to be exempt from military service!

But now, all of that is out of the question.

They won eight consecutive games and remained undefeated all the way to the finals, only to be swept 3-0 by the Chinese team.

The psychological gap caused by this was something that the South Korean players found difficult to adjust to for a while.

Faker tilted his head back, barely managing to keep his expression straight, and managed to keep the small pearl in his eye socket from falling out.

He felt a little melancholy.

He is different from players like Ruler and Peanut, who are newcomers and still at their peak.

This is his sixth year playing professionally.

Faker, who believes his peak has passed, sees this Asian Games as his only chance in his life.

But he failed to seize it.

The next Asian Games? That's four years from now. Faker, reflecting on the past two years of his declining performance, doesn't know if he can hold on for another four years.

The noise around him pulled him back to reality from his chaotic thoughts, and Faker saw that Ilex had already walked up to him.

Lee Sang-hyeok pursed his lips and extended his right hand to shake hands with his old rival.

The two first met at the 16 MSI.

At that time, Faker had just won two championships and the LCK championship. He was in the prime of his life, the undisputed Demon King, the greatest of all time, and held a high position.

On the other side, Ilex is a substitute player who has just proven himself as a rookie top laner and is in a low rank.

At that time, their careers were like two curves that intersected at the point of "16MSI" before heading in different directions.

Since then, Ilex has risen to great heights, accumulating numerous honors and becoming the first person in history to achieve this.

Faker, on the other hand, has been getting lower and lower until he reached his current state.

Faker didn't say a word to his old rival. After a brief handshake, he lowered his head and began packing up his peripherals, preparing to leave.

But halfway through packing up the peripherals, he turned his attention to the audience.

His grandmother was sitting in the audience, looking at him kindly, and giving him a thumbs up.

For Lee Sang-hyeok, his grandmother was his closest relative.

A few years ago, Faker, from a single-parent family, was addicted to the internet and often stayed up until four or five in the morning playing games. His grandmother would stay up with him until four or five in the morning. When they won, they would laugh together and when they lost, they would cry together about how it was a pity.

"Grandma was a track and field athlete back in the day, and she won first place out of 36 schools. Grandma doesn't like second place, she likes first place, so Sang-hyeok became the number one in League of Legends too."

Faker's tears, which he had been holding back, finally fell. He dared not look at the audience anymore, and could only roll up his peripherals, lower his head, and leave the stage with his teammates.

After the handshake, Chen Dongqing turned around and walked to the center of the stage with his teammates, bowing to the audience.

A wave of applause erupted from the audience. Chen Dongqing straightened his back, packed up his equipment, and turned to leave.

After leaving the venue, everyone hurried to the backstage dressing room.

After I put down the peripherals, the Asian Games coaching staff immediately gathered around.

Abu's smile was the brightest, his already high-pitched voice becoming even more shrill with excitement: "Brothers, you played amazingly!"

Abramovich was indeed excited, after all, the last time he won a championship as a coach was in 2015.

Three years later, he not only won the championship again, but he also won the championship in the Asian Games, a special event!

I'm definitely the best domestic coach!

Abu pondered with satisfaction.

"Come on, come on, hurry up and change your clothes, get ready to receive your award!" Zhu Kai pushed over a box and urged the contestants to quickly change their clothes.

The Asian Games podium uniform is a sporty jacket with a white base and a design of the Great Wall, which can only be described as having a strong Chinese flavor.

Beside her, Meiko carefully examined the award ceremony gown in her hand, feeling quite satisfied.

Although he didn't play in any of the 11 matches at the Asian Games, it didn't stop him from being very satisfied.

Who says a gold medal won by lying down isn't a gold medal?

Meiko carefully put on her award ceremony attire.

Even Meiko, a substitute, proudly puffed out his chest when he thought of the Chinese team's undefeated record!

Beside him, Chen Dongqing also put on his coat, his heart remaining calm.

For others, this opportunity to wear the award ceremony gown may be a once-in-a-lifetime experience.

But for Chen Dongqing, that's still a long way off.

He'll probably have to wear it twice more in the next day or two.

Then Linko came over, holding a neatly folded five-star red flag, and said, "The national flag can't be missing!"

The six Chinese athletes carefully unfurled the red flag, and then each of them held it in one hand, pressing it against their chests.

Linko looked at the six people carrying the national flag, nodded in satisfaction, and then explained the things to pay attention to during the awards ceremony.

Soon, staff came over and signaled to the Chinese team athletes to prepare to go on stage.

"Let's go!" Linko laughed. "Time to collect the gold medal!"

As soon as everyone arrived backstage, they heard the announcer's voice coming from the sound system.

"First, let's welcome the bronze medalists from Chinese Taipei in the League of Legends competition!"

Upon hearing this, all five provincial team members walked onto the stage with broad smiles, their faces beaming with pride.

Before the final began, the provincial team and the Vietnamese team had already engaged in a bronze medal battle.

In this best-of-three (BO3) match, the provincial team fought hard against Vietnam for three games and finally won a hard-fought victory, securing the bronze medal.

Unlike the South Korean team, they didn't intend to win the gold medal from the beginning, so they weren't frustrated at all; on the contrary, they were quite happy.

Please, they're sending all five members of QG! You want us to win the gold medal? No way!

Even a silver medal is unlikely, so getting a bronze medal would be a success!

Even bronze medals are highly valuable; we're ranked ahead of Vietnam!

The six members of the provincial team all had smiles on their faces, bowed their heads and let Mr. Huo hang the bronze medal around their necks, and then shook hands with each of them one by one.

After the bronze medal award ceremony, announcements continued at the venue.

"Next, let's welcome the silver medalist, the Republic of Korea!"

The five members of the South Korean team, who failed to win gold but succeeded in winning silver, were still reeling from their defeat. Their faces were stiff as they slowly walked onto the stage and stood on the podium where they had won silver.

The silver medal was far more dazzling than the bronze, but the South Korean team had no time to appreciate it.

It can only be said that mindset is often more important than circumstances.

Finally, the host announced the champion's appearance on stage!

"Next, let's welcome the gold medalist in the League of Legends event at the 2018 Jakarta Asian Games! The People's Republic of China!"

"Let's go! Chen Dongqing, hurry up!"

"What's the rush? Take your time! Hold the red flag properly!"

Chen Dongqing, head held high and chest out, was the first member of the team to step onto the stage!

Instantly, applause erupted from the audience!

Countless viewers pulled out their phones, and flashes went off one after another, capturing this scene forever on their phones!

China is a vast country, and for such a large country, they don't attach much importance to the e-sports industry. They don't have the same level of importance as South Korea, nor do they promote it as much!

In China, esports was something that nobody cared about. Its current scale is entirely due to the accumulation of generations of "gamers," which has created what we now call "esports."

But this industry, which was neglected and made from scraps, has reached the top of the world!

Following Linko's instructions from below the stage, Chen Dongqing first walked up to the six members of the provincial team, shook hands with them in turn, and then walked up to the six members of the runner-up South Korean team, shaking hands with them again.

Finally, everyone stepped onto the central podium to receive their awards!

The six men placed the national flag in front of them, bent down, and let Mr. Huo hang the gold medal around their necks.

The gold medal was heavy, as if it were shining.

On the right side of everyone, Faker was also looking at the gold medal, his expression revealing his dissatisfaction.

I wonder if he will have another chance to compete in the Asian Games.

But if he has the chance, he will definitely take back what he lost today!

"A fantastic performance!" Mr. Huo said to Chen Dongqing with a smile, "If there were an FMVP award, it would definitely be yours."

Chen Dongqing responded with a smile, "It's my honor, and it's what I should do."

Mr. Huo shook hands with Chen Dongqing and said, "Keep up the good work for the competition tomorrow and the day after. I look forward to your performance."

Chen Dongqing nodded with a smile.

With that, the handshake session came to an end. Mr. Huo gestured for everyone on the podium to look towards the corner of the stage.

In a corner of the stage, flag bearers were already prepared, arranging the national flags of the champion, runner-up, and third-place winners in the prescribed order.

The five-star red flag is placed in the middle, the Taiji flag is on the left, and the provincial team's five-ring flag is on the right.

The music began to play softly.

"sol.si.re.re.mi.re"

The familiar prelude begins, a sound etched into the very bones of every Chinese person.

At that moment, the "March of the Volunteers" resounded throughout the entire venue!

"Arise, ye who refuse to be slaves!"

As Chen Dongqing watched the national flag slowly rise to its highest point, a sense of sacredness welled up in his heart.

Following the sense of sacredness comes a heavy sense of responsibility.

For him, this was just the beginning.

This gold medal is wonderful; he wants to win a few more.

(End of this chapter)