Terry was annoyed at the sight of Simon because of how he had performed in the arena. But as they were comrades who had done battle together, he still answered Simon's question politely. "The club has always not given commissions, right? AlmightyAlex says that every year and this year is no exception. Weren't you there when we ate together?"Simon almost didn't know what to say to his rebuttal. He looked awkward and scratched his head. "When we ate together the last time, I went out to smoke a cigarette, so I didn't hear what AlmightyAlex said. I didn't receive any news from the manager after that either, so I thought …""It's impossible that you didn't get the message. The manager was sitting right next to me, and I watched him send it to you. He even told you to come back to the private room quickly to eat." Terry snorted coldly and resisted the urge to roll his eyes at Simon. Simon was startled and took out his phone in front of Terry. But he didn't unlock the screen.
His cold words plunged the hall into a heavy silence. The Flashfocus Club members looked at each other, unsure if it would be unethical of them to enjoy the show. They were the ones who had been accused of taking money and rigging the match, but they hadn't gotten emotional about it. Now it seemed that the other side had started arguing instead. Was it because … their people had accepted money, and then … won?What was all this about?They didn't dare to speak either and could only look at each other and watch in silence. On the other hand, the CalX club was also confused. The atmosphere had been pretty good due to the playful bickering between Philip and Alexia.They'd been teasing each other about who would buy dinner and what they would have. After all, winning the competition and thinking about everyone getting a large sum of prize money made them all happy. Even if that silly online issue had occurred, they were frank about not having done it. They had won the mat
"What's up? Did I catch you off guard by showing up? Thought I was here to give you a good talking to?" The manager chuckled at Simon's reaction and couldn't resist cracking a joke. He had a good understanding of the players on the team. He understood that each of them had their quirks. After all, they weren't saints, and no one was perfect. Fortunately, the players on their team didn't have any major personal issues, so there wouldn't be significant damage to their reputation. Conversely, as he browsed through social media and observed streamers or players from other esports clubs dealing with their tumultuous personal lives, the mere thought of it gave him a headache. These young individuals appeared to be more unrestrained than the middle-aged ones, and they didn't seem to fear the consequences either. However, as long as they weren't breaking the law, he saw no reason to comment on their affairs. His only concern was that his players stayed out of trouble. Having alre
Back when they were in cahoots, BlueMushroom had thrown all sorts of threats at Simon to ensure he carried out his assigned task. But now, all Simon received was a nonchalant "What does it have to do with me?" How could it have nothing to do with him? Simon's fingers trembled as he swiped across his phone screen. The response time between messages wasn't slow; it was almost instantaneous. This meant BlueMushroom had seen all of Simon's earlier messages and was merely playing dead. With trembling fingers, Simon fired off a rapid stream of profanities, threats, and even curses. In contrast, BlueMushroom's response appeared much more composed. BlueMushroom: "Saying these things to me here won't help. You need evidence for your accusations. Do you have any evidence? As fellow league players, I won't mind the insults you threw at me today. "But if you keep insulting me, I'll screenshot the insults and send them to my club's legal department. At that point, you'll be facing t
Rebecca was recalling the nightmare she had just experienced. Even though there were no visible images from the dream, vivid scenes unfolded in her mind at that moment. The crashing waves at the pier echoed loudly, and the lighthouse beam pierced through the darkness as it swung around. What was most terrifying was the boundless deep sea and the fear of sinking as her feet could not reach the bottom. Rebecca furrowed her brows involuntarily, but her curiosity quickly waned. She was reluctant to dwell on the past. Taking another sip of her latte, Rebecca pretended as if she hadn't been lost in thought earlier. She turned to Daniel with a smile and remarked, "Being able to control one's curiosity is a sign of greater intelligence. No wonder you’ve achieved so much, Mr. Winston." Her playful smile dispelled any lingering concern in Daniel's heart. He chuckled lightly and expressed a hint of helplessness. "You flatter me, Becca." Daniel suddenly realized that the formal a
Rebecca wasn't particularly surprised about the reversal of public opinion. After all, the truth remained true, and falsehood remained false. Even if someone created a seemingly reasonable fake story to exploit information gaps, it couldn't alter the underlying reality. What truly caught Rebecca off guard was the rapid emergence of netizens fervently shipping Alex and Carissa. She was taken aback and couldn't believe how quickly everyone seemed to pick up on the scent of romance. As she marveled at this, she clicked into the fan club. It was only at this moment that Rebecca realized there were not only the new fans shipping them, but many existing fans had been secretly shipping them for a while. Yet, these fans adhered to unwritten rules like avoiding the use of real names in the fan club. Even the in-game IDs of the players were kept undisclosed. This precaution was taken to prevent any potential embarrassment if the subjects of the ship stumbled upon the fan club. It
Rebecca's eyes widened as she gazed at the message. Swiftly bringing her phone closer, she carefully read the message from Alex. Instead of a period or ellipsis, it was a clear and straightforward "Sure." Rebecca blinked and copied the message. After confirming that Alex had indeed sent the message and ensuring he hadn't retracted it, she enthusiastically replied with a question. Becca: "Alex, am I understanding this correctly? Are you really confessing? You're not joking, right? You're not just fooling around with me?" AlmightyAlex: "....." A long string of ellipses conveyed Alex's frustration. He followed it up with a voice message, and he sounded somewhat annoyed. "You little troublemaker, do I look like someone who would joke about my lifelong decision? I'm confessing to Carissa, not to you. What do you mean by fooling around with you? It has nothing to do with you. Stop messing around." Despite the scolding, Rebecca continued to laugh cheekily. Becca: "Of cou
While Rebecca and Caleb exchanged voice messages, she kept the speaker at a low volume. The surrounding tables couldn't hear, and there was no one nearby. However, as he was sitting next to her, Daniel did overhear quite a bit. Hearing Rebecca's quiet and puzzled complaint, he chuckled and said, "It might not necessarily be that he's not right in his mind. People often have a gambler's mentality. He might be betting on a situation where everyone loses, but it's advantageous for him." As previously analyzed, if CalX won the championship, following the club's policy of not deducting a share of the prize money, Simon's earnings would match the illicit gains proposed by the opponent if he secured a starting lineup position. However, the condition was that CalX must emerge victorious. Success in the competitive gaming world demanded equal effort; there was no room for a one-sided victory without exertion. Simon understood this principle well. Perhaps, after watching the semi-f