From Pokémon to The International, Dota 2

Today's live stream duration: 9 hours and 23 minutes

Peak concurrent users: 25326

New followers: +1038

Gift income: 30800 yuan

"Is this it? I'm already in the offline competition?" Gu Ran closed the live stream, still a little incredulous. He felt that getting into the offline competition was too easy—he only won two BO3 matches.

He received an unusually large number of gifts today, and the double joy made him feel a little overwhelmed.

The main reason is that their team hasn't discussed this at all. After all, discussing this before the game would seem like popping champagne at halftime if they couldn't make it offline, so they feel a bit lost now.

After a moment of confusion, he stretched, lay on the bed, and opened his phone to book a flight to Shanghai. No matter what, he had to book the ticket first, and then he could think about what changes of clothes to bring.

This is his second time visiting Shanghai. The first time was for the Shanghai World Expo. He was young then and only remembers that the scenic area was packed with people. He doesn't have any other special impressions.

Oh, by the way, the top of the Oriental Pearl Tower is quite beautiful. Standing on the transparent floor, you can see the ground, which is very exciting.

Snapping out of my reverie, a message popped up in the WeChat group:

[Hey guys, wanna go out for team building on the 5th?]

Lu Chen asked in the WeChat group.

Team building? Gu Ran sat up straight in bed.

Sure, the competition isn't until the 7th anyway. We can just do a couple of practice matches after our rehearsal on the 6th to keep our skills sharp.

Gu Ran replied immediately, saying that he actually really wanted to meet up with his teammates whom he had been playing with for almost a month.

[Can] *3

After all five team members agreed, team leader Su Xiaoman also spoke up.

[Let's grab Little Swan hotpot together tonight, I have a membership card. What do you guys want to do after dinner?]

【…】

Everyone seems to be a gamer, and they don't usually go out much. Going to the Bund in Shanghai sounds nice, but it just doesn't feel quite right.

[How about we go sing karaoke? I bet you guys are all hardcore anime fans.]

Gu Ran mentioned it briefly because he had learned from chatting with his brothers that they all really liked singing anime songs. For them, singing anime theme songs might be a better way to strengthen their bond than going shopping.

I think it's okay.

[You sing well!]

Lu Chen and Jiang Xia both agreed.

The other three members neither particularly like nor dislike singing. Since half of them wanted to go singing, they naturally didn't object. So, the first gathering of the Sora team was decided to be hot pot and karaoke.

Five days later, in Shanghai, at Little Swan Hot Pot.

Gu Ran arrived half an hour early. He had always been used to leaving a little early since he was a child, but he didn't manage his time well in Shanghai and arrived a little too early.

Pushing open the door to the private room, I found someone already sitting inside, a young man who looked to be around twenty years old, wearing glasses and playing on his phone. He looked up when he heard the door open.

It was a very young face, with fair skin, wearing black-rimmed glasses, and one leg had a neat circle of transparent tape wrapped around it.

"Xiao Jiang?"

"Xiao Gu?"

Although they had never met before, they could guess each other's identities from their age and voices. Gu Ran sat down next to Jiang Xia and glanced at what he was looking at.

He thought it would be a game like Genshin Impact or Arknights, but he found it was the Perfect World eSports app, and he was watching the discussion of the winners' bracket finals.

"You actually like watching this? But I suggest you watch it after the whole match is over, or when you win the match. If you lose, absolutely do not watch it."

Gu Ran was also a loyal user of this app. He remembered that when he first started using the app, he would post "Another victory after waking up" every day. Later, it became "Why not ban Mammoth?", and then it became...

Forget it, don't dwell on bad memories.

Jiang Xia nodded, and just as she was about to reply, the door to the room was pushed open again, and the two of them looked towards the doorway:

He was a tall young man, about 1.85 meters. Broad shoulders, long legs, he stood there like a poplar tree. He was wearing a black short-sleeved T-shirt, the collar slightly deformed, and the print on the chest was a silhouette of an anime character raising his fist.

He stood at the door, his gaze sweeping across the private room. When he saw Gu Ran and Jiang Xia, his face suddenly lit up. The corners of his mouth turned up, revealing a set of neat white teeth, and his eyes narrowed into two curved slits.

"Hey guys!"

His voice was very loud and full of energy, which made the two of them recognize him immediately—it was Lu Chen.

The three brothers sat together and chatted for a while before the door to the private room was pushed open again.

A man entered. He was in his early thirties, of medium height, neither fat nor thin. He wore a gray polo shirt, buttoned up to the second button at the collar. He wore dark blue jeans, slightly faded at the knees, and his belt was the kind of brown leather that had been used for many years, with the buckle slightly deformed.

His face was the kind that's hard to spot in a crowd after seeing it only once. His features were regular, but not striking. He wore frameless glasses with a very fine scratch on the lenses, probably from something scraping them, but it didn't affect their use. There were a few gray hairs at his temples, barely noticeable unless you looked closely.

The three brothers warmly invited Lao Fang to sit down, and after chatting for a few minutes, the door to the private room was pushed open again.

A man stood at the doorway. He stood at the junction of the corridor and the private room, one hand still on the doorknob. The afternoon sun slanted in from the window behind him, casting a pale golden light on his silhouette.

He closed the door and walked in. The light finally fell on his face. He was very handsome, with a clean and sharp jawline. The curve from his ear to his chin looked as if it had been drawn with a single stroke of a calligraphy brush. His skin was fair, but not pale; it had a healthy hue, as if it had been nurtured by the sun and sea breeze.

If Hu Ge's appearance is gentle and refined with a touch of chivalry, then his temperament is the same formula—delicate, resolute, and gentle, but with a sharp edge in his eyes.

Everyone naturally recognizes this person.

"Old Wang!"

"Brother Yu!"

"elder brother!"

It seems like some strange nickname has been mixed in, but we don't need to worry about these details. After the five of them sat down, they left the main seat to the captain.

Two minutes later, the door was pushed open for the last time—Captain Su Xiaoman had arrived!

She was about 1.6 meters tall, very thin, but not frail. She wore white canvas shoes with light blue jeans, and a short beige cardigan over a white T-shirt. Her hair was casually tied in a bun, with two loose strands at her temples swaying gently in the air conditioner vent.

The crossbody bag is made of canvas, and there are three charms hanging on the strap—a mini Pikachu, a DOTA2 TP scroll model, and a 3D robot she printed herself, holding a chip with "Sora" engraved on the base.

How should I put it? She's a beautiful woman whose voice matches her perfectly.

"Are all the brothers here? Looks like I'm a bit late. How about we order first? Waiter, we've taken our order!"

She pushed open the door, popped half her head out, beckoned a waiter over, and then sat down in the remaining seat with a smile on her face.

The atmosphere at the dinner table was excellent. Everyone had actually been playing together for a month and were already quite familiar with each other, even though they hadn't met in person. This gathering felt like a meetup with online friends, so no one felt awkward. They had many topics to discuss, from the recent round-robin tournament to their favorite anime and manga. Everyone was a gamer and anime enthusiast, so the conversation flowed smoothly.