Chapter 1 You Planned This All Along?

"You… you planned this all along?" Chen Guo finally understood everything. And she understood some of the details without Ye Xiu even explaining.

Lord Grim joined Yizhan Guild, that was a fact. But as for joining Yizhan Team, Yizhan Team had never said so. Everyone just naturally assumed it.

And now, Yizhan Team openly clarified this, not mentioning Lord Grim, but instead saying Ye Qiu. This was the most ingenious part. This back and forth flip-flop would definitely confuse those who didn't know the truth. They would probably subconsciously think: Lord Grim was not Ye Qiu after all.

"More or less. Actually, it's mainly helping Zhan Lou Lan and them with the announcement. I'm just making a cameo," Ye Xiu said.

"What kind of cameo is that? You're getting more attention than the team!" Chen Guo said.

"That's how you borrow people or events to hype things up. Everyone's attention sways like that!" Ye Xiu said. Just then, his QQ rang. It was Zhan Lou Lan seeing that he wasn't in the game and trying to talk to him on QQ.

"I'm here!" Ye Xiu replied. "How did the press conference go?"

"Hahaha, it was wonderful. Those reporters, as soon as they heard we were holding a press conference, they came so quickly! They were ready to ask questions about you during the free questioning session. But when the spokesperson solemnly said that Ye Qiu had absolutely not joined Yizhan Team, their expressions were priceless! One was more interesting than the other!" Zhan Lou Lan said, and directly sent a few screenshots. They were all of the reporters looking dumbfounded.

"Indeed wonderful," Ye Xiu said, appreciating the images.

"Hahaha." Zhan Lou Lan was obviously very happy. The climax of both sides' plans was here. After that, there was nothing to say about the free questioning. The reporters were obviously super concerned about this issue. After asking some polite questions about Yizhan Team, they couldn't wait to ask about this matter.

The spokesperson of course solemnly reiterated it again. And when asked about Lord Grim's identity, they answered with, "A secret weapon, no comment."

"Why is Zhan Lou Lan cooperating with you so much?" Chen Guo asked, puzzled.

"Helping his team get popularity. Why wouldn't he cooperate?" Ye Xiu said.

"But if he uses Ye Qiu's identity, he can get even more attention and maybe even attract a group of supporters, right?" Chen Guo said, which made sense. Although after the previous reports, there were mostly curses for Ye Qiu online, there were also many players defending him. These were obviously Ye Qiu's die-hard fans, who unconditionally supported everything about their idol.

"But the truth is, I haven't joined them. That's a fact that will be exposed sooner or later," Ye Xiu said.

"But doing this now is obviously being deliberately mysterious. Lord Grim is you, that will be revealed sooner or later. This approach won't win you much goodwill, right?" Chen Guo said.

"It's different. This is just a publicity trick, and there will be many opportunities to resolve it slowly. As for directly saying that I joined Yizhan Team, that's deceptive publicity, which attracts more hatred from players and is harder to resolve. Zhan Lou Lan also wants to establish himself in the alliance for a long time, so he doesn't want to have such a stain," Ye Xiu said.

"Oh…" Chen Guo listened, understanding but not quite. There wasn't a single battle in the game today, but these waves of news were so exciting, making people feel more stimulated than fighting. Chen Guo now deeply believed that competition in the professional scene was definitely not just about controlling characters to play matches on the field.

"Are you still gaming today?" Chen Guo asked.

"Not for now! Let's see how things are after these reports," Ye Xiu said. After the Spring Festival, Ye Xiu's schedule was gradually moving towards a normal person's. He used to stay up all night because he had to work the night shift. Now that he could play games all day, it didn't matter to him whether he played during the day or at night. Under Chen Guo's frequent urging, he was also trying to move towards a healthier lifestyle.

The release of the new news naturally stirred up another huge wave.

All the players' thoughts were pretty much the same as Chen Guo's. Just reading these news on this day was giving them heart attacks with all the ups and downs.

Just when it was confirmed that Lord Grim was Ye Qiu, Yizhan Team clarified that they hadn't recruited Ye Qiu.

As Chen Guo thought, all the players immediately felt that Lord Grim wasn't Ye Qiu after all.

If Lord Grim wasn't Ye Qiu, then there was no need to discuss the name Ye Qiu at this time. Therefore, Lord Grim became the "mysterious man" again. Who was he? Everyone started guessing again. This Lord Grim had defeated Huang Shao Tian and had been highly recognized by pro players, who all believed that only Ye Qiu could reach that level. But he wasn't Ye Qiu. There were only so many pro players in the circle. So, was this person really a newcomer to the pro scene, a hidden master who had only cultivated in seclusion before?

And the major clubs were stunned when they saw this report in the evening.

Some clubs, like the players, immediately thought that Lord Grim wasn't Ye Qiu after all. They were immediately very annoyed. If he wasn't Ye Qiu, why didn't they try to recruit him? If this Lord Grim was Ye Qiu, where did the news come from in the first place? Did all of their own pro players misjudge him? In the end, no one had personally seen Ye Qiu control Lord Grim.

But some things were completely certain. Like Huang Shao Tian, Liu Hao, Han Wen Qing, Wang Jie Xi. These people had directly spoken to Lord Grim in the game as Ye Qiu, so of course they were sure of this. Now that they saw Yizhan Team's press conference, they were a little confused.

"They actually told such a big lie! They're too bold!" Huang Shao Tian was stunned, and was about to go on QQ to ask Ye Xiu.

Yu Wen Zhou, however, quietly thought for a moment and said, "Perhaps, this isn't a lie."

"How is it not? Lord Grim is of course Ye Qiu, oh, wait…" Huang Shao Tian was also a meticulous person. Looking at the spokesperson's statement in front of him, he immediately realized it as well.

"See? Yizhan people never said Lord Grim isn't Ye Qiu," Yu Wen Zhou said.

"Indeed!" Huang Shao Tian recalled Yizhan Team's publicity from beginning to end. From the beginning when they announced Lord Grim's joining Yizhan Guild, they had never associated the two names Lord Grim and Ye Qiu.

"It's a beautifully planned hype!" Yu Wen Zhou said.

"If it's hype, wouldn't exposing Ye Qiu's identity be better?" Huang Shao Tian said.

"Didn't you hear their solemn statement? Ye Qiu didn't join their Yizhan Team," Yu Wen Zhou said.

"Uh…"

"The team and the guild in the game are two different things," Yu Wen Zhou said.

"Sure enough, cunning enough," Huang Shao Tian said.

"Unless it's like us, who can be sure that Lord Grim is Ye Qiu, I'm afraid not many people can see through the meaning here," Yu Wen Zhou said.

"But we can't come up with convincing evidence," Huang Shao Tian said.

"We don't need to," Yu Wen Zhou said. "Right now, the most embarrassed should be Jia Shi. It's a good thing they made such a serious statement this afternoon."

"Heh heh heh, it's just a little embarrassing. There's no substantial loss. The statement in the afternoon showed that even if they knew Lord Grim was Ye Qiu, they would still have a professional attitude. A professional attitude means that they are now competitors, and they should do whatever they should do, right? Now that the other side isn't Ye Qiu, they can naturally do whatever they want. Even if they clarify it in the future, it doesn't matter. Don't you know?" Huang Shao Tian said.

"That's true, but they tried to create some unfavorable remarks against Ye Qiu through this incident. That news blocked them," Yu Wen Zhou said.

"Poor them. They probably don't have any convincing evidence to point out that Lord Grim is Ye Qiu," Huang Shao Tian said.

Yu Wen Zhou and Huang Shao Tian had analyzed Jia Shi's situation very well. As a result, Jia Shi's own people didn't react as quickly as the two of them.

They were also the people who confirmed that Lord Grim was Ye Qiu. After seeing this statement, they were extremely angry at Yizhan Team and Ye Qiu for concealing the truth, completely forgetting that their statement in the afternoon was the one that confused black and white.

After a lot of condemnation, it was Wang Sheng, the experienced news publisher, who, like Yu Wen Zhou, saw through the wordplay.

But, as Yu Wen Zhou and Huang Shao Tian analyzed, they were helpless. They couldn't find any way to prove that Lord Grim was Ye Qiu!

Then, upon further reflection, there was no need to take the matter of whether Lord Grim was Ye Qiu seriously here and expose the other party's publicity scheme, which did not seem to benefit them. Yizhan Guild attracted a lot of attention by going back and forth, which was indeed enviable. But jumping out to compete with others while they were doing publicity was not destruction, but rather helping them with their publicity.

Although Jia Shi could attract some attention in this way, Jia Shi was an old powerhouse. If they wanted to hype themselves, they had to find someone of equal status. For Jia Shi to fight with a new team, Jia Shi was lowering its own status, while the new team was raising its own status by using Jia Shi. If Jia Shi couldn't weigh these things, it would have been a waste to be in the alliance for so many years.

So in the end, Jia Shi could only grit their teeth and swallow it. Watching the forum hotly guess who this "mysterious man" was, while they knew the truth but couldn't say it, was also quite painful.

"We can't give them the opportunity to hype themselves. This may be a trap set by the other party for their own hype," Wang Sheng, the expert, said earnestly.

"Well, but we can't let them think we're fools. Release another statement and emphasize the statement we made before, saying that it is still valid," the manager finally decided.