Rise

Su Xue stood there, phone still in her hand and halfway up to her face, looking shocked. The silence stretched on as everyone waited for her to tell them what happened. But she said nothing. Eventually, Lin Feng got up from his bed and asked, “Su Xue, what happened? What did Huya call you for?”

Su Xue had a complicated expression on her face. She looked at Lin Feng and opened her mouth to explain. And then closed it again. Then she shook her head to clear her mind. Finally, she answered. “Hm… I’m not going home with you guys tomorrow. That call was from Huya… One of the executives that works there. I’ve mentioned him before to you guys, right? Zong Yao. He… Well. He…—”

“Su Xue, did he ask you to do something inappropriate? We won’t stand for that, and you don’t have to worry about Zong Yao either! The Shanghai Esports Association is no paper tiger! Tell me if you need help!” Chu Fang cut in. He’d noticed how distraught Su Xue was and started to get concerned.

Su Xue looked at Chu Fang for a few seconds. Then she laughed. “No, no, no. Guys! It's nothing like that! This is really good! Oh god! I’m so, so, so sorry guys! I couldn’t believe what just happened and I needed a minute to process it all. Mr. Zong Yao is a really nice person! He called to tell me that everyone loved my shoutcasting! So much so that they want me as the shoutcaster for two more matches tomorrow!”

Zong Yao explained the entire situation to Su Xue on the phone. Right after asking her to be the shoutcaster for two more matches. But she was so stunned and thrilled by the unexpected news that she couldn’t understand it at the time. During the Round of 16 match today, Huya had run multiple surveys to find out which shoutcaster the viewers liked best. And Sue Xue had won by a landslide! Over 68% of the viewers who participated in the survey had voted for her! Zong Yao had also told her some of the comments left by participants in the survey.

“If Evening Snowfall is shoutcasting, I’m watching!" “Evening Snowfall is the real dark horse talent discovered in this tournament!” “Best shoutcaster was definitely Evening Snowfall! Kappa! Kreygasm!” “EveningSnowfall Pogchamp! She was great! Man, today’s matches were exciting, but she managed to hype me up even more. Seeing her getting so excited on the desk… BibleThump!” “EveningSno’s got a great personality. Great face too! And she knows the game!”

Zong Yao had obviously selected the most positive and nicest comments. But the rest of the responses were along the same lines. The audience loved Su Xue! Her unique shoutcasting style, drawn from her experience as a streamer, had resonated with something in all of the viewers. Her sheer popularity was an unexpected development though. Huya TV’s management reacted quickly though, and decided to let Su Xue be the shoutcaster for two more matches. Then they asked Zong Yao to get in touch with her to confirm that she’d be there.

All of Team Shanghai cheered when they heard the good news. The victories kept rolling in today. An Xin walked over to give Su Xue a hug and said, “Congratulations! This is such great news! You’re going to be amazing tomorrow!”

“Phenomenal work, Su Xue! This is going to take you up to a whole different level!” Zeng Rui called out. And then he let out a little chuckle. “Heh-heh! I guess this means… you’re Huya’s little pogchamp now heh-heh!”