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

It's all such a coincidence.

When the incident first occurred, it was still within the control of the public relations department, so they simply sent a message to Lin Shi to report it.

No one expected that Soul would suddenly appear and disrupt all their plans.

After Soul's departure ignited public outrage, they urgently contacted Lin Shi when they couldn't reach River by phone, hoping to get in touch with River through him.

Lin Shi didn't expect to get through to Jiang Zhiyu's private phone at this time. Without hesitation, he dialed Hong Liu's phone number directly.

Unfortunately, Hong Liu happened to be in the main area of ​​the film and television city confirming the selection of the team at that time. In order not to affect the live broadcast, he put his phone on silent and put it in his pocket, so he did not receive a single call.

It was precisely because of this series of unexpected events that the club was unable to contact River no matter what they tried, and the joint efforts to refute the rumors were repeatedly delayed.

Lin Shi called the public relations manager back and made a decisive decision: "Don't wait for River, the club should issue a clarification statement first, don't delay."

The public relations department acted quickly; just minutes after hanging up the phone, the official RXG club account released a clarification announcement.

@RXG Esports Club:

The rumors circulating on the internet, such as "internal strife within the team, forced departures of players, and changes in tactics," are all false and fabricated information and are pure nonsense.

Currently, the RXG team enjoys a stable atmosphere, with players training normally and management maintaining order. We firmly oppose online rumors and malicious speculation; please do not believe or spread false information.

We reserve the right to pursue legal action against any acts of spreading rumors or maliciously defaming our team.

The comments below quickly grew exponentially:

[Don't say anything insincere. I'm just asking you, how's River doing lately? Are you guys taking good care of him?]

[No statement is as effective as River herself. Also, send a lawyer's letter immediately to the unscrupulous blogger spreading rumors!]

—Reply: [Don't you guys think this is forcing River to step in and deal with these outrageous rumors? He's resting!]

—Reply: [You're right, but have you noticed that the club's statement can't suppress the current public opinion?]

[So what does "Soul" mean in this context? Did it just casually set the tone and then disappear?]

Wait, there's no clarification about the internal conflict?? Dude, did you guys really have a fight?

By the time Hong Liu noticed Lin Shi's several missed calls, it was already half an hour after the announcement had been made.

The trainees had already finished their trip by dividing into groups and were preparing to board the bus back to the base camp.

"Jiang Zhiyu!"

Jiang Zhiyu looked in the direction of the sound and saw Hong Liu rushing over.

The man, panting heavily, waved to him: "Come here for a second, I need to see you."

Jiang Zhiyu stepped forward, puzzled. The other person shoved his phone into his hand: "Take this. Manager Lin Shi wants to see you."

He nodded and put the phone to his ear.

"Zhiyu?" Lin Shi's voice came through the phone.

"Hmm, what's wrong?"

"Something came up, so I asked Director Hong for half a day off. I'm on my way to pick you up now. Please wait for me there for a while."

"What happened?" Jiang Zhiyu looked at Hong Liu in confusion. Hong Liu shrugged, indicating that he didn't know either.

"It's nothing serious, I told you in the car... don't wander off, find a shady spot and sit quietly while I wait!"

Jiang Zhiyu pursed his lips: "I understand."

Seeing him hang up the phone, Hong Liu couldn't help but remind him, "I've arranged for a staff member to stay here with you while you wait for Manager Lin. Don't worry about the practice; tonight is supposed to be your rest time anyway, so it won't delay the progress."

"Hmm," Jiang Zhiyu responded, then added, "Actually, I can wait by myself."

"No way," Hong Liu refused decisively.

So when Lin Shi parked the car on the side of the road nearby and got out to look for it, he saw a boy sitting under the eaves in a daze, with a person wearing a work badge wandering around next to him.

He first approached the staff member and politely thanked them: "Thank you, you've worked hard. Go back and rest. I'll pick up Jiang Zhiyu now."

After saying goodbye to the staff, he looked down at Jiang Zhiyu.

Jiang Zhiyu, who knew nothing about anything, was looking up at him with a blank expression and his hair was a little messy.

Lin Shi couldn't help but reach out and smooth his hair before speaking, "Let's go, get in the car first."

"So what's wrong? Why are you in such a hurry?"

Jiang Zhiyu sat in the passenger seat, fastened his seatbelt, leaned his head against the window, and waited for Lin Shi to start the car before asking him.

"Some rumors have been circulating online this afternoon, and they've had a significant impact. Many fans have already gathered downstairs at the club. We'll be going in from the underground parking garage later."

He handed his phone to Jiang Zhiyu, gesturing for him to open it and take a look.

Jiang Zhiyu took the phone, and as he looked at it, his brows gradually furrowed.

News about River always generates a lot of buzz, and the reason this rumor has caused such a stir is because it mentions the "insider information" about River's break.

At this point, the trending topics on social media platforms were flooded with this topic, and all sorts of speculations and conspiracy theories were rampant.

"The club has issued a clarification statement, but it hasn't been very effective." Lin Shi tapped the steering wheel lightly, his voice low.

"What's going on with Soul?" Jiang Zhiyu scrolled through various discussions on social media platforms. Soul's likes and subsequent comments became the central argument for conspiracy theorists.

Lin Shi frowned, a complex emotion flashing in his eyes. He remained silent for a moment before speaking: "He's using public opinion to force the club to terminate the contract. I don't know who gave him this bad idea, but it will ruin him."

Regardless, Soul was one of the players he had mentored, so Lin Shi felt deeply sorry for his irrational behavior.

Jiang Zhiyu lowered his head, his voice somewhat muffled: "But just a month ago, Soul was telling me that he would wait for me to come back so we could win the Grand Slam together."

Lin Shi sighed, hesitated for a moment, and then replied, "The club that wanted to poach him offered a very high price and promised that he would become the core of the team, pouring all their resources into him."

This is indeed a condition that is hard to refuse.

As we all know, River is the absolute core of RXG, and all tactical arrangements are made around him. From the perspective of his teammates, this means that they will always be the supporting role.

But if fans heard this, they would definitely slam their fists on the table and yell: "[If you don't play around the team's star players, how come you have so many championships?!]"

For Soul, perhaps leaving RXG is the only way to have a chance to become the center of attention.

However, his approach was too extreme and too inhumane.

Jiang Zhiyu kept his head down in silence and didn't say another word.

As the car drove toward the RXG club building, he saw through the car window fans gathered in the square and a truck parked on the side of the road with the words "RXG prohibits fooling fans" written on an electronic screen.

They were quiet, without making a fuss or disturbing anyone nearby. They simply sat together in silence, a palpable sense of quiet repression spreading through the air.