Rise

The players from Sacred Scar Cafe’s team shuffled out of the NetCow Cafe, disappointed and dejected from their defeat. Before all of them even stepped out though, Lin Feng started tearing into the take out and setting up the plates. Everyone else, still on the stage, watched as he feverishly unpacked everything from the takeout packages. They’d gotten so used to this that it no longer affected them. The rest of the NetCow Cafe team got down from the stage and joined Lin Feng. They sat down and started eating their dinner. Once they finished, they went right back up on stage and resumed the 1v1 matches against the customers.

T’was now evening, the period during which the NetCow Cafe grew the most packed and busy. And this evening, it was bustling on another level thanks to the Battle Bonanza and the 1v1s. Qian Lu fluttered about and basked in how busy his internet cafe had become. The sheer influx of customers brought some small comfort to his heart, and reassured him that the money he’d spent today had not gone to waste. People were happy, money was flowing, and the vice around Qian Lu’s heart relaxed. Just a little.

Time passed, and the Battle Bonanza hit another slow phase. No teams showed up to challenge the NetCow Cafe after the last three teams that had come together. The team continued to play 1v1s against the customers to pass the time. Then, at 8PM, two internet cafe teams showed up. The challenge was issued, and the matches were played. There was nothing surprising or interesting about them. Lin Feng and the others loaded in, and proceeded to methodically and ruthlessly eliminate both teams. There was no fanfare or fuss from the team as they swept away both challenges 2-0. But the NetCow Regulars were another story entirely. With every victory, they found new wellsprings of energy to cheer even louder for their team!

Every single team that had come to challenge the NetCow Cafe thus far had left with their heads hung low and the taste of bitter defeat. None of the teams that had come in so far had recognized Lin Feng and the others. They had no idea who they were up against. Every single team that had challenged Lin Feng and the others left wondering how and why a group of high schoolers were so insanely good at League. And deeper than that, they wondered why a group that was so close to the level of a professional team was participating in a local internet cafe tournament.

The minutes ticked away, all the way to 9:30 PM. That was the official end-time for the first day of the Battle Bonanza. No more challengers would be arriving at the NetCow Cafe. Lin Feng and the others had ended the first day with a record that would go on to shock every other internet cafe competing in this tournament. The NetCow Cafe was currently sitting on 7 successful defenses and not a single loss. But there was another layer on top of this. NetCow Cafe’s team achieved a clean sweep in every best of three series they played. In other words, the NetCow Cafe’s win rate in the tournament so far was a perfect 100%.

It didn’t take long for the NetCow Regulars and the other customers who had stayed at the internet cafe until the end of the tournament day to figure this out, and they erupted into cheering! It was such a glorious record. So much so that everyone inside the cafe was convinced they had the number 1 spot in the tournament without even bothering to look at how the other teams did. As far as they reckoned, there was no need to check. A more perfect win streak was simply not possible! And so, they continued to cheer and applaud even harder.

Even old Qian Lu was grinning from ear to ear, and he joined in on some of the celebrating. Even his miserly heart was not immune to something this joyful. What really excited Qian Lu was the momentum. Just from this one day, he could see them charging ahead. Attaining the Immovable Mt. Tai prize was no longer a dream, it was now their destination! The whirlwind nature of it all was enough to let Qian Lu forget himself for a little bit. But then he composed himself. He was, of course, the owner of the internet cafe and the one sponsoring the team. He couldn’t simply believe that his team was the best in the tournament like the customers. Qian Lu knew he had to do his due diligence, and carry out his responsibilities as team owner! He walked up onto the stage and pulled up the webpage for the Battle Bonanza tournament.

All of the statistics for the tournament were aggregated in real time as teams called in to register wins or losses. Since the record for each best of three series was reported by two parties, it was easy to validate. All of this information was published on a leaderboard webpage, allowing for anyone interested to see how teams were doing. Now, at the end of the first day of the tournament, it was easy to see which teams fared poorly and which teams had potential. The real time aggregation and leaderboard page was created in an effort to motivate teams that had fallen behind and push teams who were ahead to greater heights. It also added another layer of strategy and depth to the tournament as a whole.

Qian Lu brought the leaderboard page up on the large LCD screen above the stage, and a lull fell over the entire internet cafe as every single person scanned the page. Then, all at once, an audible gasp rolled through the building. The NetCow Cafe stood at the very top of the leaderboard for the Immovable Mt. Tai prize with their 7-0 record!