League: I really didn't tank!

Chapter 499 The Rise of the Esports Industry!

The spotlights above the competition venue flashed and intertwined, and together with the dry ice and ribbons that spewed out in front, they created a beautiful and dazzling scene!

"ilex!"

"ilex!"

"ilex!"

Before they knew it, the voices of the audience below the stage gradually became unified, and the Indonesian audience below the stage even began to shout Chen Dongqing's ID in unison.

Unfortunately, this isn't in China, otherwise the whole audience would probably be chanting "Chen Dongqing's" name.

This can only be realized four years from now.

Chen Dongqing won three gold medals in three consecutive days!

And these are three different projects that don't have much in common!

Witnessed by audiences across Asia, Chen Dongqing accomplished this almost impossible feat!

Finally, the spotlight shone on the Chinese team's seating area.

Feeling the slight warmth from the spotlight overhead, Chen Dongqing stood up and waved gently to the audience.

There wasn't any exaggerated expression on his face.

The scene before him was magnificent, but this was the third time he had seen it.

Moreover, the gold medal in StarCraft is what he is most confident about.

So although he was happy this time, he no longer had the same excitement he felt when he won gold for the first time the day before yesterday.

What excited him the most was that his game was finally over, and he was no longer tormented by the drug test. He could finally leave the village to get something to eat!

Below the stage, countless audience members sighed again upon seeing Chen Dongqing's calm and composed expression on stage!

See? This is the kind of person who does great things! Winning a gold medal is as easy as picking up a package at the door—calm and composed!

As expected of the "Esports God Body," he's so composed!

At this moment, the domestic live broadcast room was already flooded with comments!

Although I don't understand StarCraft, I know that Tree Bro stomped the opponent!

[The perpetrators of the massacre were Koreans!]

[He's crushing Koreans in League of Legends, and he's crushing Koreans in StarCraft too! Tree Bro has always been a master at fighting Koreans.]

More than two years ago, he was still that "unprofessional" League of Legends player.

[He's neglecting his main job to win three gold medals at the Asian Games! That's outrageous!]

[Winning three gold medals is one thing, but what's even more impressive is that he didn't lose a single game in any of those three events!]

[Really? You didn't lose a single game?]

[Seriously! 11-game winning streak in LOL, 11-game winning streak in DOTA, 10-game winning streak in StarCraft, a total of 32 wins! Three gold medals in one go!]

[That's ridiculously exaggerated!]

Most of these viewers didn't understand StarCraft matches, or even StarCraft at all.

Even many players who don't play LOL, DOTA2, and StarCraft very often are happily discussing it in the live stream.

What they have in common is that they know Chen Dongqing and Brother Shu, and that's enough.

Chen Dongqing, this "unconventional" contestant, is truly legendary, making him a topic of much discussion among players outside the gaming community.

CSGO players are drooling over Tree, believing that if Tree were to join, CNCS might rise to prominence.

King of Fighters players are wondering if Tree Bro's arrival would shatter Kid's undefeated streak.

Even Go players think that if Brother Shu came, he might actually be a very good Go player.

After all, this guy also won the Tencent Dou Dizhu Tournament, so anything is possible with him.

But that's all in the future. Looking back at the present, all we can see is the birth of an all-around esports god!

Three events, three gold medals, 32 consecutive wins – Chen Dongqing demonstrated what a true esports icon is in these five days of competition!

In the live broadcast, Chen Dongqing returned to the stage after leaving, and changed into his familiar award-winning outfit.

There are very few people in the entire Asian Games who can wear their award ceremony uniform three times!

After Chen Dongqing went on stage, he first shook hands with Nice, a contestant from the provincial team, and Maru, a contestant from South Korea. His eyes were confident and arrogant.

Because they speak the same language, Nice and Chen Dongqing had spoken when they were in the Asian Games Village. They exchanged a glance and smiled slightly.

Maru, on the other hand, was different. He stood on the runner-up podium. Although his head was actually a bit taller than Chen Dongqing's, he lowered his head and lowered his eyelids when shaking hands with Chen Dongqing. He didn't even dare to look Chen Dongqing in the eye.

Although he stood tall, he lacked any imposing presence.

Chen Dongqing did not interact with the other party, simply shook hands, then walked half a circle around and stepped onto the champion's podium from behind.

The champion's position is in the very center, and it is also the tallest.

Mr. Huo presented the awards again this time. He first awarded the Nice bronze medal with a smile, then the Maru silver medal, and finally walked up to Chen Dongqing.

"That's fantastic." Mr. Huo looked at Chen Dongqing, his eyes full of admiration. "Thank you for your hard work these past few days!"

"There's no need to thank me," Chen Dongqing said with a smile. "You flatter me. I wanted this gold medal, so this is what I should do."

"Don't say that," Mr. Huo said with a smile. "It's not just me who needs to thank you; the entire esports industry should thank you!"

Mr. Huo found Chen Dongqing more and more pleasing to the eye!

As the president of the Asian Esports Association, promoting the esports industry in China has always been his mission.

The e-sports industry is highly compatible with contemporary young people and is undoubtedly a huge market. The potential profits from tapping into and continuously expanding this market are unimaginable!

Prior to this, he had always believed that he and Tencent were the biggest driving force behind Chinese esports.

But now it seems that this is not the case.

This young man is the real deal!

One person winning three gold medals? That's incredible!

We didn't create a god; this person was born a god!

After today, the news of Chen Dongqing winning three gold medals will spread widely, and Mr. Huo can foresee that Chinese e-sports will usher in a real leap forward!

Of course, as the biggest driving force, Chen Dongqing should also reap the greatest benefits.

In the end, he is actually the biggest beneficiary.

Chen Dongqing understood the key point and said with a smile, "That's my honor."

Immediately afterwards, the national anthem was played.

The March of the Volunteers was played at this venue for the third consecutive day!

The countless domestic audience members and Chen Dongqing sang together with great conviction, and the sound of everyone's voices gathered into a powerful force that resonated throughout the venue!

With the five-star red flag fluttering overhead, Chen Dongqing felt a great sense of relief.

After the awards ceremony, Chen Dongqing walked backstage with his gold medal and saw many familiar faces who had been waiting for him for a long time.

His teammates from both teams, along with several commentators from the League of Legends team, all came to the scene because they didn't want to miss Chen Dongqing winning three gold medals.

"You're so cool, Brother Shu!" Colonel Guan leaned closer, his eyes full of admiration. "Five days at the Asian Games, 32 matches, and you didn't lose a single one! How did you do that?"

"It's not difficult, Brother Guan," Chen Dongqing laughed. "After all, LOL, DOTA2, and StarCraft all use the same control scheme. You just need to select the enemy and tap their head, and that's it."

"Okay, okay, I've learned it." Colonel Guan joked with a smile, "Then I'll go back and practice, and try to get into the 2022 Hangzhou Asian Games, okay?"

Behind them, Xiangguo, Xiaohu, and other former teammates from the LOL division also came over. Xiangguo punched Chen Dongqing, exclaiming that Chen Dongqing had pulled off another big stunt. Xiaohu immediately flattered him, showering him with compliments he had prepared beforehand, making Chen Dongqing feel very comfortable.

The members of the DOTA2 division weren't that familiar with each other, but they gave Chen Dongqing a thumbs up to express their admiration.

As Chen Dongqing walked forward, he chatted with several acquaintances in turn, keeping himself very busy.

Before the group had taken two steps, another burly man emerged from around the corner.

This time it was a real big man.

Chen Dongqing's height of 183 cm is definitely not short, but he only reaches the other person's chest.

This person is probably known to everyone in China; it's Yao Ming.

"Brother Shu, congratulations!" Yao's voice was quite deep as he shook hands with Chen Dongqing.

"No, no, no, don't call me Brother Shu." Chen Dongqing quickly smiled and reached out his hand. "I can't handle that, Chairman Yao."

Yao Ming's palms were as big as fans, making Chen Dongqing's hands seem rather small when they shook hands.

"I've been following your games these past few days, you played beautifully!" Yao Ming laughed, looking a bit like that abstract meme.

Many people know that Yao Ming is a seasoned e-sports fan. His favorite games are World of Warcraft, Counter-Strike, and StarCraft. He developed this habit back when he was still in the Shanghai Youth Team. He once publicly stated at the Asia Forum's "Youth Leaders Roundtable" that he really enjoys playing online games.

During his years playing in the NBA, he was once obsessed with World of Warcraft, and would even drive to the residences of Chinese reporters to play WoW with them.

Now that he saw Chen Dongqing participating in the StarCraft competition, he came to the scene to watch, and he was quite satisfied with the final result.

As a long-time StarCraft player, he felt extremely satisfied to see the Chinese StarCraft team defeat the Koreans to win the championship.

"Want to take a picture together?" Yao Ming offered.

"Okay! Wait a moment!" Chen Dongqing turned around and went into the lounge, took out two more gold medals from his bag, put them around his neck, and then ran back.

A gold medal weighs about half a pound, so three medals weigh one and a half pounds. They are heavy to wear around the neck, but Chen Dongqing doesn't feel the weight at all. Instead, he proudly holds his head high, making his teammates around him roll their eyes.

Damn, three gold medals, you've really gone all out!

Yao Ming first took a photo with Chen Dongqing alone, and then took a group photo with a bunch of friends next to Chen Dongqing.

A dozen or so people surrounded Da Yao, making him appear short in comparison.

Yao Ming still had basketball-related matters to attend to, so after taking the group photo, he turned and left.

Chen Dongqing continued to feel the weight of the three gold medals and listen to the clanging sound of them colliding with each other, feeling extremely satisfied.

When I first stepped onto the stage and swept Maru 4-0, I felt bored. But now that I've stepped off the stage and shown off, I feel great.

As he walked out of the venue, he was once again surrounded by countless reporters, and Chen Dongqing patiently answered them one by one.

After winning his third gold medal, Chen Dongqing spoke to no fewer than fifty people, but he remained quite patient. He was simply excited!

The CCTV reporter has become quite familiar with Chen Dongqing these past few days. He requested an exclusive interview with Chen Dongqing tonight, and Chen Dongqing readily agreed.

After everything was finished, Chen Dongqing was finally able to return to the hotel, carefully put away his three gold medals, and then take out his phone to walk out of the Asian Games Village with his teammates.

No more tormenting urine tests, I can finally eat whatever I want!

Chen Dongqing and his teammates walked to a well-known restaurant nearby. He first opened WeChat and replied to the flood of messages that were so numerous that his phone started to lag. Then he asked for all the photos that others had taken for him and posted them all on Weibo.

There are pictures of him receiving awards on the podium in three different events, as well as a photo of him with Yao Ming that he just had someone take.

The two photos were quickly posted online, sparking numerous comments from netizens.

[Alright, alright, so you've got all three gold medals hanging around your neck, huh!]

These three gold medals are so cool!

[Hilarious! Even though Brother Shu is 183cm tall, he looks like a dwarf compared to Yao Ming!]

Fortunately, Xiangguo was in the group photo, which made Uzi stand out in comparison, so Shuge's appearance was still acceptable.

Chen Dongqing liked the last post separately, and then casually browsed Weibo.

At this point, we can see that Chen Dongqing has dominated the top ten trending topics on Weibo, except for the third and fifth spots.

Perhaps it shouldn't be called being dominated by him, but rather being dominated by "e-sports"!

The top trending topic: [#ilexThreeGolds]

Second on the trending list: [#ChenDongqing]

Fourth on the trending list: [#People's Daily praises Ilex!]

The sixth trending topic: [#TreeBrotherIsForeverAwesome!]

Seventh on the trending topics list: [#esports]

Eighth on the trending topics list: [.]

A whole host of them, all sorts of things, it seems that today's internet belongs to the e-sports industry, with unprecedented popularity!

Chen Dongqing kept smiling as he looked around.

He quickly opened the forum again and saw countless users having a heated discussion!

This discussion wasn't limited to the Anti-Japanese War forum; it also extended to the DOTA2 forum, StarCraft 2 forum, World of Warcraft forum, Steam forum, Diba forum, and Sun Xiaochuan forum.

Everyone's having a blast!

[Holy crap, even someone like me who's never played StarCraft is having so much fun watching this! Every time Tree pushes out a wave of units, the enemy can't hold on at all!]

Is the other team really South Korea, who have dominated StarCraft for twenty years? They seem so weak!

[It's not that the enemy is holding back, it's just that Brother Tree is really strong. Every time he pushes forward with these multiple lanes of minions at the same time, no one in the world can withstand it.]

[Huh? These soldiers are all controlled by Tree Bro?]

That's outrageous!

Esports is really taking off now. Tonight at dinner, even my dad asked me who Chen Dongqing is.

Will Brother Shu become a household name like Yao Ming in the future?

It's far from perfect now, but there might be a real opportunity in the future.

"Wow!" Several teammates nearby were also checking their phones; they'd also seen the incredible commotion Chen Dongqing had created. Xiao Hu couldn't help but exclaim, "Is Brother Shu really about to take off?"

"What takeoff?" Chen Dongqing laughed. "Just a lousy video game player, you think you can take off? If you want to take off, wait a few more years."

"How many more years?" Xiangguo sighed from the side. "Will you still be able to play in a few years? Your prime will be over, right?"

Chen Dongqing smiled but remained silent after hearing this.

Xiao Hu, on the other hand, got a little anxious upon hearing this and immediately said, "Are you talking nonsense? Brother Shu's peak period can't possibly be over! Even if it is, he'll still be stronger than everyone else!"

For a moment, Xiangguo was speechless and could only repeatedly say "OK".

Of course, no one took Chen Dongqing's words seriously. Even Xiao Hu thought that Chen Dongqing's peak period would only last for four years at most, until the 2022 Hangzhou Asian Games.

After that, the peak period was truly over; in fact, it didn't last many years, at most four years.

Of course, they had no idea how twisted Chen Dongqing was.

Only Chen Dongqing himself knew that this Asian Games was just the beginning.

The best is yet to come.

(End of this chapter)