Chapter 282: I'm Okay
There were a lot of universities looking for a spot at the main tournament of the Winter Collegiate Cup. And only a limited number of spots. But to give everyone a chance, the tournament went through local divisions in seven different regions before moving on to Regionals. To fit all of this into the schedule, the tournament officials were forced to move through the different phases at a very high speed. Only days after the local divisions ended, the numerous university teams gathered together to play the first round of Regionals. The format was a 32 team bracket which played down until there were only four teams remaining.
It’d take a few days to get through the first round of Regionals, but that didn’t stop every team in East China from attending Day 1. This was a rare opportunity to watch their potential future opponents play. They could see the team dynamics off the Rift, as well as how their rivals played together on the Rift. From how they argued inside their soundproof booths to how their Champions moved in the game.
There were two teams in the East China Regionals that were so much better than the competition that their spot in the main tournament was almost guaranteed. They were Zhejiang University and Fudan University. This made the fight for the other two spots at the main tournament that much more frantic. But in this edition of the Collegiate Cup, it didn’t stop there for East China. Rumours had started spreading that there was another team that was distinguishing itself from the competition, stepping up above everyone else. They were voted online as most likely to clinch a spot at the main tournament! And it was a team no one expected; the high schoolers from Team Shanghai!
The footage of the local divisions had made its rounds around the various competing universities. Everyone had seen how Team Shanghai had two girls on their roster, and how they stomped on their opposition in their local division. It was this combination that confused the university teams here today. They didn’t really know what to expect from Team Shanghai. So in an effort to be ready for anything, they all paid special attention to Team Shanghai on Day 1 of the East China Regionals.
The venue for the East China Regionals was similar to the one at the East China Medical School, where Team Shanghai had played its first two rounds. University students and League of Legends fans had gathered on the stage and were watching the first series of the day with one eye and the players from Team Shanghai with the other.
“You see them sitting there? What do you think?”“I don’t know… I saw the replays but it’s just hard to believe it was them. Ya know?”“It’s going to be really damn annoying if they are that good… That’s another spot gone!”“We got lucky to get this far. But, uch, I really wanna make it to the main tournament now…”“Fat chance with Fudan and Zhejiang taking two of the spots.”“And Team Shanghai… Those kids over there. I really wonder if they can replicate their performance from their local division. They were bloody good!”“Let’s hope not. Let’s hope not.”
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The players from Team Shanghai sat together at the front of the venue, close to the soundproof booths. They were looking around, catching almost everyone in the venue looking at them rather than at the large LCD screen displaying the first series. It was very off putting and Zhang Hao especially made more than a few comments about it, complaining that it felt incredibly creepy to have everyone staring at them. He finally had had enough of it and turned to look at the others. He said, “I really want to win this. That’ll make them stop looking! I hope—”
“Don’t worry!” Lin Feng interrupted, laughing. “We’ll win this! I’m really good at carrying too! The mid lane is mine!”