From Pokémon to The International, Dota 2

At 6:50 p.m., under the dome of the Oriental Sports Center, there were hardly any empty seats left in the stands. The sparsely populated corner areas yesterday were now completely filled.

At exactly 7:00 PM. All the lights on the main stage went out simultaneously—the circular light array, the dome spotlight, the box lights, even the emergency indicator lights in the audience area dimmed for a moment. The entire venue plunged into complete darkness. The clamor of thousands of people hung suspended in the darkness for a second, then two seconds, before the central screen lit up:

5——4——3——2——1！

Exciting sound effects exploded simultaneously from all directions of the venue, with drumbeats so dense it sounded like a hundred people were beating a single drum, and strings soaring and rising above the drumbeats.

The circular light array was fully illuminated, and golden spotlights poured down vertically from the dome, illuminating the center of the stage as bright as day.

The host walked onto the stage and stood next to the Immortal Cup trophy.

Chi Xiaotu stood still and picked up the microphone. The lights in the entire venue slowly dimmed by half. She waited for a while, until everyone's breath fell on her, and then she raised the microphone.

"Hello everyone, both in the stadium and watching on screen! Welcome to the Immortal Cup Grand Finals. I'm your host, Chi Xiaotu. How are you all?"

"Bravo!" A roar erupted from the audience. The green glow sticks in the front row were waved with extra force, and several young people in the second-to-left box on the second floor leaned over the railing and shouted with all their might. The sound wasn't particularly loud, but it was enthusiastic enough.

Chi Xiaotu smiled, switched the microphone to her left hand, tilted her head slightly, and made a "I'm listening" gesture with her right hand, placing it beside her ear: "After a month of fierce competition, today we finally welcome our grand final. Let's witness together which team will lift this championship trophy. Are you all ready, viewers?"

"Ready—" The voice was a little louder than before, but not deafening.

Red Rabbit put her hands to her ears, leaned forward slightly, raised her eyebrows, and made an exaggerated "I can't hear you" expression, but a smile still lingered on her lips: "This voice is too soft—it can't even wake up a mountain of flesh! Are you guys ready???"

One last time. Her voice suddenly rose on the word "ma," the ending note rising, and she pointed the microphone forward, as if she had picked up all the expectations of the entire venue with her fingertips.

This time, the cheers finally erupted—"Ready!!!" Waves of sound crashed onto the stage from all directions. Some were screaming, some were whistling, and some were slamming their glow sticks against the armrests of their seats, making a crisp thud. The sound hit the dome of the venue, bounced back, and crashed back again, layer upon layer, lingering for a long time.

"Alright, let's welcome the first team to enter – Team Soulstone!"

A huge animated image of the Soul Stone was displayed on the screen of the main stage. At the same time, the six members of the team walked from the entrance to the main stage. Along the way, they received enthusiastic handshakes from the fans. They high-fived the audience one by one as they walked to the center of the stage.

"Please welcome Team Zhenhunshi, led by Captain Sora and consisting of XS, firefly, Huaqiang, Shikamaru, and OldFang! Where are the cheers and screams?"

Oh~~~~~~~~

Gu Ran and his group of six stood in front of the championship trophy.

Chi Xiaotu stood in front of them, turned around, and her gaze swept over the six faces one by one—Lao Fang's composure, Jiang Xia's quietness, Lu Chen's flamboyance, Su Xiaoman's seriousness, Wang Chunyu's indifference, and Gu Ran's certainty. Then she turned back, raised the microphone, and her voice carried a solemnity that could be felt by all the audience members.

"Let's give another round of applause to Team Soulstone!"

[Slap slap slap slap slap slap! ! ! ! ! ! !

After their appearance, the six entered the competition room together. Next to enter was the Immortal Sword Demon Locking Tower team led by Brother Feng, who also received a warm welcome from the audience.

"Tonight, the veterans will defend their glory with their experience, while the new generation of players will fight tooth and nail for the crown. Whether they are seasoned veterans or just showing their talent, in this thrilling carnival for us Dota 2 fans, only skill matters. We hope everyone has a wonderful viewing experience tonight! Now, let's hand the camera over to our most professional commentary team!"

The live stream zoomed out, offering a bird's-eye view of the entire arena before gradually approaching the stage. Finally, it circled the Immortal Cup trophy before turning its attention to the three commentators in the commentary booth.

Today's commentators for the finals are Cake, AA, and Lao Dang. After they greeted the audience, the screen switched to the ban/pick screen for the match.

The audience's enthusiasm was even higher on the day of the finals than the day before. They waved happily at the camera when it panned across them. The director also knew what everyone wanted to see, so he first looked for pretty girls in the audience, then couples behaving intimately, and finally audience members holding up interesting signs.

For example: [Six private seats at the bottom of the Huangpu River!]

[Immortal Mode activated! Swords, come! Charge into the Demon-Sealing Tower!]

【FGNB!】

[My sword spirit remains! Let my brother experience the thrill of becoming a Sword Saint!]

【YYFSMDDX!】

[Summon the courage you've lost!]

After watching the audience, the screen then switched to the players' seats. Each player's frequently used heroes, win rate, and market value were displayed. When the screen showed the brothers on Zhenhunshi's side, their win rates were terrifying. It was then that many viewers realized that Gu Ran's market value of 610,000 was not low.

Inside a VIP room on the second floor.

Lin Yiming squatted in front of the sofa, his laptop resting on the edge of the coffee table, the data panel on the screen reflected in his glasses. He had a Pocky stick dangling from his mouth, his fingers flying across the touchpad, switching between one real-time data page after another.

"Yiming," the boy in the baseball cap on the sofa mumbled, stuffing a potato chip into his mouth, "what's our approval rating now?"

"Eighty percent."

The boy in the baseball cap stopped munching on potato chips. The girl next to him with round-framed glasses put her cushion on her lap, leaned over, stared at the screen for several seconds, then turned around, her eyes wide: "Wait—it's already 80%? I remember we only had 20% in the first game?"

The boy in the baseball cap leaned back on the sofa in silence for a few seconds, then looked up at the ceiling, his tone tinged with disbelief: "From twenty to eighty... that's too fast."

"Not happy." Lin Yiming put the Pocky back in his mouth, took a bite, chewed it a couple of times, then closed the laptop and turned to face the two people on the sofa.

"From the group stage to the finals, every win increased our support a little bit." He leaned back on the sofa armrest, his tone as casual as if he were reviewing a ranked match. "Actually, most fans' needs are very simple when it comes to competitions—they just want to win. With victory after victory, we continuously increase the fans' confidence. That's the ideal team for everyone."