Rise

Lin Songshi walked out onto the stage amid thundering applause, cheering, and chants of “WIN FENG!” There were two prizes that he needed to award. The first was the Championship Trophy for the Collegiate Cup. The second was the MVP award. When Lin Songshi walked out onto the stage, he already had the Championship Trophy in his hands. He held it out to the crowd to hype them up even more, and they responded with even louder cheering and applause.

And as the cheering of the crowd reached a crescendo, Lin Songshi delivered the Championship Trophy into the waiting hands of Chu Fang.

Chu Fang accepted the trophy and made a respectful bow. “Thank you, Mr. President.”

Chu Fang wanted to jump up and down with the trophy held high. He wanted to scream and cheer. But he had to contain himself and remain somewhat stoic. The person standing in front of him was Mr. Lin Songshi, the President of the Chinese Esports Association. The highest authority in the Association and the most respected. Even Chu Fang’s boss, Fang Hao, needed to be respectful in front of Lin Songshi.

The respect that Lin Songshi commanded didn’t just come from his position as President of the Chinese Esports Association. It was hard earned through accomplishments, work, and seniority. Lin Songshi was several tiers above Fang Hao in the Chinese Esports Circles.

Lin Songshi was essentially the behind-the-scenes counterpart to One. Just as One was considered the greatest player in the history of Chinese Esports, Lin Songshi was considered the greatest person working behind the scenes. From DotA to League of Legends, Lin Songshi worked tirelessly to lay the foundation of Chinese esports and then build it up to the heights that it had reached today. It was not an exaggeration to say that without Lin Songshi’s efforts, there would be no Chinese Esports scene today.

For all of these reasons and more, Chu Fang had just as much respect for Lin Songshi as he did for Fang Hao. If not more. Which is why Chu Fang stood on that stage with the Championship Trophy in his hands, trying not to dance around with joy like a giddy school boy. Unfortunately, the struggle of containing that much exuberance was taking a toll on Chu Feng, who stood there looking like he was severely constipated in the lights of the stage and the flashes of cameras.

Lin Songshi looked at Chu Fang, who was starting to turn red from attempting to contain his joy and excitement, and smiled. Chu Fang is truly going to regret all of the pictures from this event in the morning. He smiled again as he thought about all the memes this moment would generate on the discussion boards for League of Legends. Then he warmly clapped Chu Fang on the shoulder and said, “You picked an excellent team. Well done!”

“Thank you for the kind words, Mr. President!” Chu Fang said, deeply moved by the compliment. Today could not have gone any better for Chu Fang, and he basked in the joy for a brief moment. A very brief moment. What Lin Songshi said next sucked all the air out of Chu Fang’s lungs, the joy from his heart and the warmth from his blood.