Esports world champion, debuted as the center of a talent show

Her brain was mechanically processing the massive amount of information received in a short period of time. When she came to her senses, Lu Shanshan felt like a screaming chicken was screaming wildly inside her brain.

what--

What—

Did I hear that right?

Really?

Suddenly, I, a grown-up Jiangmao, have become the most mysterious man in the e-sports circle?!

Immediately, Lu Shanshan's mind raced, and she reflexively began searching for any inconsistencies: "What about the fans? What if some fans would order them themselves?"

Hearing Lu Shanshan's words, Tan Yi's overheated mind began to calm down: "You're right. Although the brand prohibits counterfeiting of this dress, it's not impossible for a true fan to order one for themselves."

Are they true fans...?

Unable to control herself, Lu Shanshan began to imagine Jiang Zhiyu holding up a support sign with his aloof and divine face and shouting "R God, I love you!" She then shuddered, shook her head violently, and banished this bizarre scene from her mind.

"Aaaaah—Lu Shanshan, you're not allowed to think about it anymore—" Lu Shanshan slammed her phone on the table and screamed in pain, clutching her head.

"Shanshan, what's wrong?" Tan Yi asked in confusion from the speakerphone.

Lu Shanshan held her head in her hands, looking resentfully at Jiang Zhiyu, who was whispering to Yao Wei on the tablet screen in front of her, and slowly replied with two words: "It's nothing..."

Meanwhile, Tan Yi was frantically searching for keywords like #JiangZhiyuRiver#, #JiangZhiyuRXG#, and #JiangZhiyuZPL# on social media platforms.

However, the search results only included live footage of the four of them watching the first game of the season and clips from esports-themed variety shows; there was no other related content.

As Tan Yi browsed through the items, she couldn't help but sigh, "Your Jiang Zhiyu has never mentioned River before. There's absolutely no indication that he's a River fan... Could it be a misunderstanding? Does he not know that piece is a River custom-made item?"

"I have very mixed feelings right now. My heart feels like it's been on a roller coaster." Lu Shanshan clutched her heart, wondering if she would die if she was scared like this a few more times.

Tan Yi responded and continued to focus her attention on Jiang Zhiyu's consultation in front of her. As she looked at it, she hesitated for a moment and then clicked on one of the fan-taken photos that partially obscured the lower half of his face due to the angle.

She slowly leaned back in her chair, and after a long pause, she finally spoke: "Now I know why so many people say they look alike. I'm starting to wonder if they're related..."

"What do you mean?" Lu Shanshan didn't quite understand.

"They really do look alike, like Jiang Zhiyu and River, no joke. If Jiang Zhiyu didn't have that 'identity-proof mole' that our River has, I would have suspected that this guy went to the talent show under an assumed name..."

"Wait—" Lu Shanshan suddenly shouted, her voice cracking, as if a flash of inspiration struck her.

Tan Yi jumped in fright: "What's wrong with you? You scared me!"

"Yes, I remember your baby R has a mole under his eye, right?"

"Yeah, what's wrong?" Tan Yi also started to get a little nervous, holding her breath and waiting for Lu Shanshan's reply.

"...I'll send you some pictures."

Lu Shanshan's fingertips trembled slightly as she pulled up her photo album, scrolled up, and sent all the original photos of Jiang Zhiyu leaving get off work on the day of his first stage performance to Tan Yi.

"What's wrong?" The original image was very large, and Tan Yi's phone showed that it was receiving the image, so she could only see a preview. "I vaguely remember this. You took this on your first day as a fan? You even sent it to me."

"Yes, click to take a closer look at the large image. This is the original, completely unedited version."

"Okay..."

Tan Yi fell into a long silence on the other end of the phone, so long that Lu Shanshan suspected she had hung up and glanced at the phone's call screen several times in confusion.

At this moment, Tan Yi stared at the inconspicuous small black dot under Jiang Zhiyu's eyes in every photo, her pupils dilating in shock.

"This isn't right...is this right..." Tan Yi murmured to herself.

Lu Shanshan knew what she meant and replied quietly, "I also want to ask if this is right, but my mind is a complete mess right now, and I can't think straight."

After a long while, Tan Yi sighed, "It's him."

"Are you sure...?" Lu Shanshan's voice was somewhat weak.

"I just urgently went to find a few slices of Jiang Zhiyu to look at..."

"It's hard for me to describe this feeling to you. It's that kind of preconceived notion that Jiang Zhiyu and River could not possibly be related. I don't think the two people look alike at all. But when you look at them with the label that the two people are somewhat related, you realize that they are completely the same person..."

"Whether it's his walking posture or his unconscious little movements... I wouldn't mistake him..."

Lu Shanshan remained silent, then gasped and couldn't help but scream, "Ahhhhhh—"

Tan Yi on the other end of the phone couldn't help but scream along, and the screaming duet echoed throughout the room.

Not long after, there was a knock on the door, and Lu's mother's voice came from outside: "Lu Shanshan, are you trying to kill me? Keep your voice down!"

Lu Shanshan regained her composure and loudly replied "Okay," then lowered her voice, her tone excited and somewhat incoherent: "What... what should we do now?"

"He must have his reasons for not revealing his identity. If it were just the two of us who knew, I wouldn't have exposed him. It's a pity..."

"What's a pity?" Lu Shanshan asked impatiently.

"It's impossible to keep it a secret any longer. I estimate that the massive online campaign to expose people's secrets will begin soon."

Upon hearing this, Lu Shanshan was taken aback: "Why do you say that?"

Tan Yi sighed, feeling that she had sighed more today than she had worked seven days straight during her holiday break: "It's impossible that I'm the only one who noticed this outfit. Once we attract the attention of R fans, it's only a matter of time before we confirm his identity."

"You're right..." Lu Shanshan scratched her head, still unable to contain her excitement.

Suddenly realizing that her idol, who had a huge popularity gap in the talent show, was actually the most popular ZPL world champion at the moment, she still felt like she was dreaming. She couldn't help but jump off her chair and pace back and forth in the room.

Tan Yi let out a long breath and began to organize her thoughts: "Let's first go through the timeline. First of all, we know that River is Jiang Zhiyu. That is to say, a few months ago, River officially announced a break. At the same time, she signed up for the talent show 'Shining Project' under the identity of Jiang Zhiyu. In the show, she frequently went viral for her perfect stage performance and singing and dancing ability, and became the overwhelming center of the show."