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

"You all probably don't know, but Yan Zuo arrived yesterday," a staff member interjected. "Yesterday, he disguised himself as one of our staff members and recorded a short video to garner votes. He's here today with a mission: to announce the results of our 24-hour vote, which determines the order of the second performance!"

Yan Zuo took the card handed to him by the production team and smiled mysteriously at the camera: "I disguised myself well enough yesterday, right? I guess no one noticed. Okay, enough talk, let's announce the voting results now."

He opened the card in his hand, raised an eyebrow, and said meaningfully, "This first place is exactly what I expected."

[It won't be as everyone expects.]

Hurry up, Yan Zuo! Even if it's you! Keeping us in suspense won't work!

I came here because I heard I could meet my brother Yan.

I bet Jiang Zhiyu's group didn't come in first place. If I'm wrong, I'll have to eat fried chicken tonight.

【So you're really craving it!】

"The team that came in first place in the 24-hour vote, chosen by sequence, is—" Yan Zuo paused, "...Jiang Zhiyu's team! Congratulations!"

Yan Zuo smiled and secretly glanced at Jiang Zhiyu, just in time to see him surrounded by his teammates cheering, with a faint smile on his face.

He suddenly felt a pang of emotion. After not seeing him for so long, the person who rarely showed his emotions seemed to have finally become more energetic and vibrant.

After a brief moment of distraction, he snapped out of it and quickly read out the rankings of the other groups.

The staff member continued, "Now you all have five minutes to discuss and decide on the order in which you want to perform in the second round. After five minutes, each group leader will come forward to make their selection!"

Discussion gradually filled the large classroom, becoming somewhat noisy.

"Our song isn't really suitable for warming up the crowd," Lin Sen said with certainty.

Jiang Zhiyu nodded, agreeing with his opinion: "The later it goes, the better."

"How about the last one? The grand finale?"

"I think it's okay."

No one questioned whether it was the best choice for them to go last.

Minutes passed quickly. During this time, Yan Zuo retreated to the sidelines, but his gaze never left Jiang Zhiyu, and he kept staring at him.

The staff noticed his gaze and, assuming he was interested in Jiang Zhiyu, couldn't help but strike up a conversation: "That's Jiang Zhiyu, our show's current TOP1, the most popular contestant."

"Yes, I know him," Yan Zuo replied casually. "I know him."

The staff member was taken aback, not expecting that these two seemingly unrelated people actually knew each other, but they were too embarrassed to ask any more questions, so they just smiled kindly and looked away.

"First, please invite Jiang Zhiyu to come forward and announce the performance order chosen by the team."

Jiang Zhiyu obediently stepped forward, took the microphone handed to him by the staff, and said decisively, "Our group will choose the last one."

[Just as I predicted! I knew their group would choose the last one.]

[The last one is beneficial to their style; it's not the kind of stage that's extremely explosive, so they need to come on stage after the audience has been hyped up.]

[What should I do? I'm starting to get nervous now!]

Meanwhile, the news of "Yan Zuo joining a talent show" was also widely discussed on the "Shining Project" and ZPL forum.

- [Has the Shining Project Shined Yet?] Forum

#Holy crap, Hong Liu brought in ZPL pro players!#

[1L: I saw it, and I was completely shocked.]

[2L: I'm really curious how they managed to get them to come; it must have cost a lot of money.]

[3L: It's still the middle of the season over there, I feel like even if you have the money, you might not be able to hire them.]

[4L: I don't know much about the esports scene. Can someone explain who Yan Zuo's popularity is equivalent to in Shining?]

—Reply: [This is a bit difficult to compare. Although the popularity of "Shining" has been rising recently, Jiang Huang's popularity has been consistently lagging behind, and the base popularity of the two circles is completely different.]

—Reply: [Now that you mention it, ZPL is actually a big name whose popularity has dropped, it makes sense!]

—Reply: [Please, don't attract the opposing fans here, it'll be all over if they start fighting!]

……

[31L: What's there to be afraid of? Jiangsi might just be able to fight back.]

—Reply: 【? ? Don't harm us, we don't want war.】

—Reply: [Stop messing around, Jiangsi doesn't cause trouble. If other companies provoke us in the esports scene, don't blame us for tearing you apart.]

[32L: To be honest, the second performance is going to get a lot more hype now, and I bet a lot of people from other circles will come to watch the show.]

[33L: Getting nervous, but if I perform well, I'll definitely stand out.]

……

-[ZPL Official Forum]

#Can anyone understand why Yan Zuo isn't training properly and is instead joining the fun on that talent show next door?#

[1L: This fan is already completely disoriented. If he doesn't play well next game, I'll be the first to criticize him.]

[2L: Double fan's ecstasy! I only went to check out my favorite character, but I didn't expect to see Yan Zuo suddenly appear.]

—Reply: [Which wall, that one?]

—Reply: [Yeah, that's it, I got it during the last on-site interview.]

—Reply: [I also have a crush on him...because I always feel he's somewhat similar to my bias.]

—Reply: [I understand what you mean, I think so too!]

—Reply: 【What kind of riddle are you guys playing...】

[3L: However, these past few days, because RXG's championship stickers and gun skins are about to be released, the tournament organizers have been busy promoting them, and there haven't been any matches scheduled for a few days. So it doesn't really mean training has been disrupted.]

[4L: I vaguely heard that all the teams took a few days off to promote the sale of championship stickers and weapon skins!]

—Reply: [Actually, I don't understand why the official team lacks confidence. Even if other teams play normally and don't participate in promotions, why worry about sales if they just put River's name on the promotion? They really don't know their own limitations.]

[5L: But have you guys seen the leaked trailers on the market? They're really well-made, aren't they? Even non-fans want to buy them.]

—Reply: [I heard R-God was involved in the design, so I definitely have to buy it.]

……

[108L: How did the thread veer off-topic? So, will you guys watch this talent show live?]

—Reply: [Since there are no matches anyway, I might as well watch.]

……

[349L: I secretly searched for this show, and it turns out that some of the popular contestants actually went to watch the first match! I just recognized them.]

……

[576L: Wait, why isn't anyone saying this? This is my first time watching this show, why does this Jiang Zhiyu remind me so much of River?]

—Reply: 【Are you out of your mind? You even dare to use your real name.】

—Reply: [Everyone before me was so afraid to use keywords, but the original poster is so brave and fearless kkk]

—Reply: 【What do you mean? Don't scare me.】

—Reply: [You're not the first person to have this idea. The reason no one dares to say it openly is because last time someone used JZY as a substitute and even went so far as to post it on R God's personal page, almost getting torn to shreds by R God's fans. Since then, anyone who thinks it's similar only dares to say it secretly in private.]

—Reply: [This matches my impression of R fans...the most die-hard group in the world...]