Vol 1 Chapter 21 (1/2)

G.o.d's Left Hand - Book 1: Chapter 21

97 was just joking but it caught Ai Jing’s interest.

They ended up going to an internet cafe.

Because the city was one of the WCG tournament stops, the internet cafe was also infected from the excitement; there were heated contests going on there.

There were always two camps inside any internet cafe in any city, those playing MMOs[1] and others playing compet.i.tive games.  When Ai Qing walked in this internet cafe, there was a small scale tournament going on to celebrate the occasion.

Her sister excitingly looked at the scoreboard.  “Heh, it’s DotA, heh, there’s CS……”

The owner of the cafe was especially interested in the twin sisters.  After he heard what Ai Jing had said, he said immediately with a smile,  “How about you two come and give it a try?”

Ai Jing nodded and turned around to look at Grunt behind her.  “Will you play with me?”

Grunt’s eyes started to have a trace of a smile inside the black frame of his gla.s.ses.  “No problem.”

So, this guy, who overslept and forfeited the compet.i.tion at Guangzhou stop, agreed without hesitation to seriously play a game with a bunch of teenagers in a unknown internet cafe in Chengdu.

“Grunt.”  He told the owner his name.

Then…...half of the internet cafe turned quiet.

Those who were still noisily playing were the ones who were playing online games like JX Online III, Fantasy Westward Journey, or World of Warcraft.

The others were esports enthusiasts who simply couldn’t believe Grunt, ranked among the top three in China for Starcraft II, would show up in this cafe.  The owner obviously was an esport fan and his eyes shone with excitement.  “You’re here for the Chengdu stop compet.i.tion?”

Grunt didn’t respond.

Because of him, a lot of people signed up to play and they fought to be on the same team as their idol.

Ai Qing pulled up a stool and sat with Dt in the corner.  She watched the bustling scene and whispered.  “Do you want to join the fun?”  Dt shook his head as if he wanted to avoid it like the plague.  Ai Qing was greatly amused by his reaction.  She looked around and asked him casually,  “Why did you choose Warcraft III this time?  So you can challenge the best players in China?”

“I didn’t know what to choose.”  He answered frankly.

“DotA is outdated.”  Ai Qing also lamented.  “For people who like team games, except CS, there really isn’t any game that’s lasted forever.”

TL: Just wait till you hear about LoL, Ai Qing.

Warcraft III was China’s strongest event and though Starcraft II still wouldn’t become the official event in 2010, with just the name “Starcraft” it will probably become the dominate game for the next five years.  She, however, still favored team games; several people coordinating together, elusive war strategies……

It was a light-hearted compet.i.tion; there were all kinds of sounds in the cafe, excited cries and curses from young kids.

She tilted her head and peeked through the gaps among all the spectators.  She saw Grunt, with cigarette in mouth, easily taking down players from the opposite side and didn’t show a thread of mercy.  Ai Jing was jittery at first, probably because she was beaten so badly last night, but with Grunt’s protection and help from time to time, she became more confident and enjoyed the game immensely.