Chapter 301 All-Star Weekend

Every year on the first weekend of January, the Glory Professional Alliance gathers all the pro players together for a carnival-like party. The party features many exhibition Glory programs, especially the All-Star Game. The 24 participating players are chosen entirely by Glory fans, so they're basically the 24 most popular players of the season, making it the biggest highlight. Because of this grand Glory event, it's also known as All-Star Weekend.

All-Star Weekend has been held annually since the Glory Professional Alliance's first successful event in the third season, and each time it's hosted by a different club. This year, the eighth season of the Glory Professional Alliance, the sixth All-Star Weekend, is being hosted by Team Samsara, and Team Samsara is located in City S. When Ye Xiu heard Chen Guo suddenly say she had a business trip to City S that weekend, he was surprised at first, but then he remembered this special occasion and immediately understood.

"You're going to All-Star Weekend?" Ye Xiu asked.

"Yeah, I managed to get three tickets, aren't I amazing!" Chen Guo said proudly.

Although the competitive element of All-Star Weekend can't compare to even a regular match, for most fans, being able to watch such a lively event is worth the ticket price. So, the tickets for All-Star Weekend have always been in high demand, and buying them isn't just a matter of money, but also luck.

"Not bad, not bad," Ye Xiu said with a wry smile.

All-Star Weekend… With his status, he had been selected for the 24-player roster every year for the previous five seasons. Even this year, in the voting channel that opened at the start of the league, his vote count was consistently high, but because he retired midway, he was removed from the rankings.

For Ye Xiu, who didn't want to expose himself in public, the All-Star Game, with its highly interactive nature, wasn't something he liked to participate in. Because the All-Star Game is purely an exhibition, the rules aren't very strict. The two sides don't enter separate booths like in official matches, but compete on stage, right in front of the audience. So, Ye Xiu always hid backstage. After all, it was esports, and a computer and an internet cable were all that was needed for a match. Whether he was on stage or not didn't affect the quality of the match.

Ye Xiu was the only one who was always invited to the All-Star Game but never went on stage, and over the years, it had become a unique sight at the All-Star Game. And this year's All-Star Game would finally be missing this sight, which had even become a selling point in the promotion for the event.

Ye Xiu had finally managed to escape the All-Star Game event, but he didn't expect Chen Guo to get tickets and ask him to go with her. But since he had been directly involved in the past, and this time he would be a spectator, he thought it didn't matter, so he didn't refuse Chen Guo's kindness.

Chen Guo obviously never considered that anyone who played Glory would refuse such a business trip, so she was simply informing Ye Xiu, not discussing it with him. And she didn't notice Ye Xiu's reluctance at all, as she went to arrange the work issues at the internet cafe for the weekend when the three of them would be gone.

Three tickets, naturally for three people. Ye Xiu, Chen Guo, and the other person was Tang Rou, who already knew, but remained calm. Clearly, she wasn't as enthusiastic a Glory fan as Chen Guo.

After Ye Xiu logged into the game, he played for a while and saw Su Mucheng's Dancing Rain come online.

"Going to City S tomorrow!" Su Mucheng sent a message. In terms of technical skill, it was debatable whether Su Mucheng could squeeze into the top 24 pro players. But the All-Star Game wasn't about technical skill, it was about popularity. In this regard, Su Mucheng had always been a darling of Glory fans, and from her first day as a pro player, she had been selected for the All-Star 24 every time.

"Yeah, I'm going too," Ye Xiu replied.

"Ah? You're going too? Did they contact you?" Su Mucheng asked.

"What? Who contacted me?" Ye Xiu wondered.

"It's about this All-Star Weekend. Team Samsara wanted you to attend as a special guest, so they contacted Excellent Era. The manager even asked me if I could contact you, but I ignored him," Su Mucheng replied.

"Oh, it's not that… I bought a ticket to go," Ye Xiu replied.

"Bought a ticket… You're really dedicated!"

"No, our boss got three tickets and invited us to go," Ye Xiu said.

"Oh, you're going as spectators!"

"Yeah!"

"It'll feel very different, right?"

"Probably?"

"I want to be a spectator too."

"Get sick again?" Ye Xiu suggested.

"It probably won't work this time," Su Mucheng sent a depressed emoji. When she said she was sick for the team event, everyone knew it was an excuse, but they didn't bother to argue. This All-Star event wasn't an official match, but it was definitely an official event. Sick? You'd have to provide evidence.

"Give it a rest," Ye Xiu obviously knew that it was difficult to escape such official events without a valid reason. Ye Xiu wasn't the only one who didn't want to participate in things like the All-Star Game, but everyone had to be dragged along.

After chatting with Su Mucheng for a few words, everyone continued to play the game calmly. It was just All-Star Weekend, and they had all participated many times, so there was no need to be so surprised. Only Chen Guo, who had only watched the broadcasts before, was excited. For her, going to the venue wasn't a financial problem, but she had been too lazy to go without company. Now that Ye Xiu had arrived and Tang Rou had been cultivated, she decisively got three tickets and prepared to join in the fun.

Thursday passed, and on Friday afternoon, the three of them arrived in City S by plane. Chen Guo had already booked the hotel. She and Tang Rou shared a room, and Ye Xiu got the advantage of having a room to himself.

After a quick cleanup, Chen Guo came over, shouting to set off. All-Star Weekend wasn't just one day, it was a two-and-a-half-day event. It started on Friday night, and Chen Guo was already impatient. She dragged the two of them out the door, studying the map as they walked, but after looking at it for a long time, she couldn't figure it out. Just as Ye Xiu was about to speak, Chen Guo decisively decided: take a taxi.

As it turned out, the taxi driver wasn't a Glory fan. "Team Samsara" wasn't a landmark in his mind. After hearing it, he slammed on the brakes and repeatedly confirmed the words with Chen Guo, then asked blankly, "Do you know how to get there?"

Chen Guo was speechless. She was taking a taxi precisely because she didn't know how to get there.

"It's not far from here," Chen Guo said vaguely. It was true that it wasn't far, as the hotel she had booked was said to be near Team Samsara's club.

"How about you guys get another car? I've never heard of this place," the driver said sincerely.

Chen Guo was very depressed and was about to tell the two of them to get out when Ye Xiu leaned forward and said, "Just go along Changde Road, turn left at Zhao Jia Bridge, and it's right at the intersection."

"Oh, that place!" As soon as the driver heard that, he immediately understood and stepped on the gas, setting off.

Chen Guo turned back blankly and asked, "Where is that?"

"Team Samsara's club!" Ye Xiu said.

"Have you been there before?" Chen Guo asked, then suddenly remembered, "Oh, I forgot, even though you're a small character, you still have to follow the team back and forth, right? Have you been to all the clubs?"

"Yeah, yeah…" Ye Xiu nodded.

"Then why didn't you say so earlier!" Chen Guo said.

"I was going to say…" Ye Xiu said.

Since the car was already on the road, Chen Guo didn't bother to argue. The car drove along the way Ye Xiu said, and sure enough, it wasn't too far. But just as they were about to reach their destination, the car stopped. The driver leaned out and looked at the endless line of cars, dumbfounded. "Why is the traffic so bad?"

Obviously, the driver couldn't understand why this road was so congested.

"Can you pull over ahead and let us off?" Ye Xiu said.

So, the three of them finally pulled over and got out of the car. Looking at the long line of cars, Chen Guo wasn't depressed at all, but rather beaming. "Oh, oh! It's all because of the All-Star Game, right? It's so lively, look."

"Yeah!" Ye Xiu of course knew that was the reason. Experienced people would never drive themselves to such events. Not only would they be stuck in traffic on the way there and back, but they would also likely not find a parking space.

"Lead the way!" Chen Guo waved her hand. Knowing that Ye Xiu knew the way, she threw the map she had been holding in her hand directly into the trash can after getting out of the car.

Ye Xiu looked around. He really did know the way. He led the two of them, and they arrived in no time. Entry had already begun in an orderly manner, and squeezed into the crowd, the three of them quickly entered Team Samsara's stadium.

This esports venue wasn't much smaller than an ordinary stadium. The biggest difference was that the electronic displays hanging above the playing field were much, much more numerous.

Watching the live broadcast on TV meant following the director's camera angles. But at the venue, each participating player's first-person perspective was displayed on a dedicated screen. In addition, there were multiple selectable viewing angles, as well as the broadcast feed and some exciting slow-motion replays. Watching at the venue was truly a comprehensive way to enjoy a match.

The difference between watching Glory esports live and watching it on TV was even greater than the difference in traditional sports. For sports like soccer and basketball, watching live was all about the atmosphere. But for esports, in addition to the atmosphere, the comprehensive display mode was something that you could never get from watching the broadcast.

Especially in team matches, when five characters were fighting one-on-one in five different locations, it was really painful for the broadcast. Although they could cut to five screens simultaneously, it was impossible for the commentators to comment on five scenes at the same time, so it was hard to decide which scene to focus on.

And the current five-on-five team match was precisely to accommodate television broadcasts, which was why the team size limit had never been increased. Television broadcasts provided Glory with a lot of publicity and revenue, and a higher number of players in a chaotic battle would make broadcasting difficult, making it impossible to fully present the quality and excitement of the match.

When a business model is adopted, there are always many things to consider.

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Unknowingly, we've reached three hundred chapters! On Monday, the recommendation votes slipped again… Comrades, fire at me! (To be continued. If you want to know what happens next, please log in for more chapters, support the author, and support authentic reading!)