From Pokémon to The International, Dota 2

After everyone got ready, they boarded the car to the anime convention. Su Xiaoman, sitting in the passenger seat, turned to Lu Chen and Jiang Xia in the second row and told them that her best friend would be waiting for them at the entrance. When they arrived at the convention, they could see a girl standing next to the security checkpoint in the distance, holding a selfie stick and wearing Han Yanrou's cosplay outfit—a battle skirt, a high ponytail, and a prop spear in her hand.

Su Xiaoman walked over quickly, and the two of them immediately held hands and jumped around twice. Su Xiaoman turned around and introduced her best friend to everyone. The girl's name was Gu Rou, and she had a sweet voice and two dimples when she smiled.

She examined the costumes of the Soul Stone team members one by one. When she saw Wang Chunyu, she whispered, "So handsome!" When she saw Lu Chen's steamed bun costume, she laughed out loud. Then she greeted the remaining brothers one by one. They all recognized the characters that everyone was cosplaying at a glance, and were obviously also huge fans of "The King's Avatar".

"Why isn't anyone cosplaying Ye Xiu?" Gu Rou looked around, puffing out her cheeks in disappointment. "I wanted to take a picture with Master."

Gu Ran naturally chimed in, "Ye Xiu has it so tough! He's a four-time world champion, which translates to four TI world champions in Dota. No one has achieved that yet. Cosplaying him just feels like trying to piggyback on someone else's success."

Old Fang nodded in agreement: "Ye Xiu's aura is not something that can be easily maintained."

Hearing her teammates' responses, Su Xiaoman suddenly felt a surge of indescribable emotion. She didn't add anything, but simply grabbed Gu Rou's hand: "Isn't having Boss Chen and Han Yanrou enough? Come on, let's take some pictures!"

The crowds inside the exhibition hall surged in like a floodgate opening, never stopping once they entered. Subwoofers from various booths roared simultaneously from different directions, cosplayers moved back and forth in the aisles to the beat of the music, photographers' flashes exploded into white spots above the crowd, and the air was filled with the mixed smells of hairspray, makeup, and some kind of sweet e-cigarette oil.

The six people from Zhenhunshi had only been in the main exhibition hall for less than ten minutes when, like a handful of sand thrown into the ocean, they were each swept away by different tides.

Su Xiaoman and Gu Rou were completely captivated from the very first stage performance.

The main stage is playing theme songs from various anime in rotation. One moment it's the energetic opening theme of a shonen anime, and the whole audience is waving glow sticks to the beat. The next moment it switches to a piano piece from a healing anime, the stage lights dim, and the screen shows a train station in the rain, with a girl in the front row wiping her eyes.

Su Xiaoman and Gu Rou were squeezed in the crowd. Gu Rou held her prop spear, the Cold Smoke Softness, high in the crowd, as if afraid it would be broken. The two of them sang along to countless songs from beginning to end, their voices were a little hoarse, and their light sticks were burning hot from banging.

"You were off-key just now." "You're the one off-key! That was harmony!" Gu Rou was about to retort when the screen on the stage suddenly switched to an interview segment with a girl band, and the audience screamed again. Su Xiaoman's eyes lit up, and she grabbed Gu Rou's hand and squeezed towards the front of the stage: "I've been following this band for so long! You have to watch this part with me before you leave!"

Lu Chen and Jiang Xia stopped at the same time as they passed through the fan art booth area. The illustrations on the display boards were chibi versions of three virtual YouTubers—a cat-eared girl with twin tails, a cute vampire girl with short white hair and purple eyes, and a cute girl with pink hair and golden eyes who combined elements of a detective and an inventor.

A large crowd had already gathered in front of the booth. Some were queuing to buy limited-edition merchandise, others were taking photos of the display boards, and a few fans wearing the cat-eared girl's support headbands were helping each other adjust their angles. "Holy crap! Isn't this that—" Lu Chen grabbed Jiang Xia's arm, the force so strong that Jiang Xia staggered, "That V you recommended to me last month! She actually has an offline booth today!"

Jiang Xia looked in the direction he pointed, her glasses reflecting the booth lights, and then nodded. Lu Chen had already taken out his phone and started taking pictures of the display boards, then dragged Jiang Xia to queue up to buy limited-edition merchandise—Lu Chen held up the bookmarks in his hand, turning them over and over, muttering to himself, "This is limited edition, this is limited edition, this is also limited edition..."

Wang Chunyu was bombarded with requests for photos by various girls—although most of them didn't recognize the character he was cosplaying, his good looks were undeniable, making Gu Ran and Lao Fang a little envious.

Gu Ran had never been to a comic convention before. He thought comic conventions were just a collection of cosplayers and merchandise booths, but after entering, he realized that it was more like a parallel world—everyone was playing the role they wanted to be, every display board was showing scenes from another dimension, and every booth was selling some kind of evidence of passion that they could take away.

He and Lao Fang walked side by side, passing by the booth of a fan artist—an artist was signing drawings on the spot, with a long line of people in front of him; passing by the game demo area—a fighting game was being played on a small table, with more people watching than queuing, and every time one side unleashed a powerful move, the crowd would erupt in cheers.

He passed by a huge display case of figurines—it showcased characters from classic anime to the latest releases, all meticulously painted and frozen in iconic poses. He strolled around, looking at many things and feeling a vibrant, energetic atmosphere, but he always felt separated from them by a thin layer of glass—he could see and hear them, but didn't truly belong there.

He and Lao Fang chatted the whole way. They talked about everything from the crowds at the comic convention to the data from last week's training matches, and from the data to the preparation plan for the next stage.

Old Fang asked him if Su Xiaoman had mentioned the professional contract to him. Gu Ran nodded and said that Su Xiaoman had discussed it with him before and asked him to sound out everyone's opinions first.

Lao Fang didn't hesitate. "I'll sign."

He said, "After signing the contract, our training can be conducted more formally, and our trip to Europe for training is also arranged by the captain, so signing a contract is only right. I don't think Xiao Su would cheat us."

"There's not much of a problem with Lu Chen," Lao Fang continued. "His family has always supported his professional career. His dad wanted him to go to youth training a few years ago, but he refused—he said he wanted to make it on his own. Now that he's made it, signing the contract is just a formality."

"Jiang Xia," Gu Ran continued, "is probably the one who needs this contract the most. His family has never supported his gaming; his dad still thinks he's in school. If he could have a formal professional contract, at least he could give his family some peace of mind—that he's not wasting his time in internet cafes, but doing a proper job."

"The most difficult part," Gu Ran paused, took a few steps forward through the crowd, and continued, "is probably Old Wang. I don't know if his previous contract has expired. Although he's been retired for so long, he might have signed a longer contract..."

Old Fang was silent for a while. Then he said, "There shouldn't be any. When I chatted with him last time, he told me that we both hope the team can operate according to professional standards. Although it may feel a bit restrictive, it would be more professional and allow our training to become more systematic. After all, it's a very mature operating system."

Old Wang used to participate in teams without a boss. If they won, it was fine, but if they lost, the team would easily fall apart.

Gu Ran paused for a moment. A cosplayer carrying a prop greatsword brushed past him and apologized. Gu Ran waved his hand to indicate it was alright, then caught up with Lao Fang again.

"That's good."

Old Fang sensed an emotion in those three words that he had never felt before in all the time he had known Gu Ran.

It was a feeling of security.

From forming a temporary team in Pokémon, fighting together in the Immortal Cup, and battling all the way through the TI qualifiers, they are finally about to become a real professional team with contracts and salaries.