The variety show moved surprisingly fast. Half a month later, they sent You Zhi an invitation and informed him of the recording schedule, though the participants themselves knew nothing about who else would be there.
The production team repeatedly stressed that the entire show would be unscripted, relying completely on the esports players and celebrities to create entertainment on their own.
You Zhi was not worried at all. “With me there, there’s no way the show won’t be entertaining.”
Yan Fan now dared come to the red-light district too. With Jiang Ye there, he could protect them.
He swirled his drink. He had just chatted with an A for a while before coming back. “Exactly. Our Brother Zhi is a Drama Queen.”
You Zhi clinked glasses with Yan Fan. “Of course.”
“I’m not worried about you recording the show,” Jiang Ye said, raising a brow. “What worries me is your postpartum stress flaring up. What if you can’t get to the hospital in time?”
“It’s fine. Doesn’t this thing come on a regular schedule? I’ll just ask the organizers for leave when the time comes,” You Zhi said. “Besides, there are doctors at the base too.”
“If anything happens with your body, contact me immediately. There’s a lot about ABO physiology you don’t understand. Don’t sit there guessing by yourself. Tell me right away,” Jiang Ye said.
You Zhi gave a lazy hum.
“Remember to bring your suppressants. Don’t forget them again,” Li Yuan reminded him from the side, patting Yan Fan on the shoulder. “When the time comes, you pack his luggage for the base. He’s definitely going to forget half his things.”
Yan Fan nodded. “That’s what I was thinking too.”
You Zhi touched his gland. “I’ve already graduated now. I can accurately apply all kinds of ABO physiological knowledge. Stop worrying blindly.”
“I’m worried you’ll lose your temper and curse at a player, then they’ll use pheromones to suppress you,” Li Yuan said.
You Zhi took a casual sip of alcohol. “Suppress me? Who can suppress me? They dare? Even if the pain kills me, I’ll cripple what’s between their legs before I go.”
Jiang Ye laughed. “Protect yourself.”
“Got it.” You Zhi gave them a salute.
—-
When recording began, the first two episodes would consist of team preliminaries. Fifteen contestants would take part in an initial selection match, playing five versus five in three groups.
After that, You Zhi and the other two coaches would also compete one-on-one, then choose their players.
The preliminary matches were livestreamed.
You Zhi and the other two coaches first went to the observation room. The contestants would compete onstage while the coaches evaluated their performance.
Inside the observation room, their voices were completely altered and only their silhouettes were shown to the contestants.
But viewers in the livestream could see the observation room directly.
You Zhi and the other coaches sat in the observation room wearing headsets.
Comments:
[Holy shit! You Zhi is actually here! He’s on a variety show!]
The production had kept the cast completely confidential.
[Bai Chumin is here too! Does that mean Team FE is here too?!]
[I thought this was just some small esports variety show! It’s full of hidden dragons and crouching tigers!]
Half an hour after the livestream began, the number of concurrent viewers passed one million.
The first to enter was Team FE.
The director switched camera angles while introducing the team. “Team FE has participated in major world-class tournaments and won the 26th Hangzhou domestic tournament.”
“This is your team?” You Zhi pressed his headset and asked.
Bai Chumin nodded.
Chen Mianhe said, “We ran into this team during the autumn season. They’re pretty strong.”
Chen Mianhe was the third team coach participating in the esports variety show alongside them.
“No, Captain Chen, don’t flatter us. They’re terrible,” Bai Chumin said.
Chen Mianhe was still about to exchange a few polite compliments with Bai Chumin.
You Zhi could not be bothered performing with them. He pushed his hair back and said flatly, “They participated in a world-class tournament and got eliminated in the first round. As for that 26th Hangzhou championship, if I remember right, it was one of the weakest editions in history.”
The comments filled with laughter.
Chen Mianhe froze and watched Bai Chumin’s expression.
You Zhi really was not giving Bai Chumin even a shred of face.
But Bai Chumin merely laughed helplessly. “…You Zhi, so many people are watching. Stop tearing down my stage.”
[HAHAHAHA Daddy Zhi, why are you telling the truth?!]
[I love someone who actually acts alive!]
[Player quality has been awful these past few years. I came to hear criticism, not watch you flatter each other!]
Next came the team sent by the AL base. Apparently it had been formed temporarily and had never entered an official tournament, but they had challenged a first-tier team not long ago and actually won. The clip had been fairly popular online recently.
“This team is all kids,” You Zhi said.
“New team,” Bai Chumin said.
At that age, they were obviously trainees who had only just broken through. The company had probably sent them onto the show for experience.
The five people who entered afterward were all celebrities. You had to admit they were genuinely good-looking and their body management was excellent. Standing there, you could tell at a glance who the celebrities were.
You Zhi did not pay much attention to their names. He was not very good at remembering names, and these people all looked somewhat similar. On top of that, they were a group of ABs, which made him even less interested.
“Next is our final contestant: controlling shareholder of Shen Entertainment, currently popular Best Actor, male lead of films totaling tens of billions at the box office, three-time consecutive winner of the national Best Actor award—Shen Zichen!”
You Zhi swallowed the yawn he had been halfway through. He had started getting sleepy once the celebrities began entering, but when this guy appeared, he finally woke up a little.
Mainly because this man’s résumé prefix was much longer than everyone else’s.
Also, the moment he appeared, You Zhi’s ears went temporarily deaf inside his headset from the screams echoing across the venue.
An entire stadium erupted in screams loud enough to seem capable of lifting the roof. Every giant screen around the arena showed the man walking in.
To match the gaming atmosphere, Shen Zichen wore casual motorcycle-style clothes. His long, narrow eyes were cool and distant, but when he lifted the corners of his lips, he looked effortlessly at ease.
He greeted the audience on all four sides, bowed, then took the microphone from the host.
“Hello, everyone. I’m contestant Shen Zichen. Please take care of me,” Shen Zichen said.
Standing among the many contestants, Shen Zichen was exceptionally eye-catching. Whether in height or body proportions, he stood out sharply, and there was almost nothing anyone could criticize about his face.
As soon as he took the stage, the other celebrities hurriedly bowed.
“Hello, Teacher Shen.”
“Teacher Shen.”
Some simply froze. One contestant nudged another with his elbow. “Holy shit, why is he here…”
Then they forgot their microphones were still on, and their whispered conversation went out over the sound system. The audience burst into laughter.
Shen Zichen was a senior figure. The moment he stood there, everyone present had to call him “Brother,” and they automatically yielded the center position to him.
In the comments:
[I’m going insane! That’s Shen Zichen!]
[So this is the legendary dream A of every O in the country?!]
[I-I-I dreamed about him last night!]
The livestream viewer count instantly surpassed ten million. Number one trending topic: #Shen Zichen Joins Esports Variety Show#
In the observation room:
You Zhi’s first thought was: This guy is so handsome he looks like he belongs in a different dimension from everyone beside him. He makes the other celebrities look like random pedestrians.
You Zhi exchanged a glance with Bai Chumin and Chen Mianhe.
“No, I need to get serious.” Bai Chumin rubbed his hands together. “I’m a Shen Zichen fan. I’m picking him. I’m going to beat you two.”
Chen Mianhe straightened up as well. “What a coincidence. I want him too. I’m also his fan.”
The corner of You Zhi’s mouth twitched. He tossed a mint into his mouth. “Seriously? You two old foxes just want the publicity.”
The two foxes looked at You Zhi without speaking.
You Zhi crunched the mint and cleared his throat. “I’m his fan too. I want him too.”
[Daddy Zhi exposed the truth in one sentence!]
[Whichever team gets Shen Zichen is definitely getting twice the camera time!]
[I don’t care! I came to watch Daddy Zhi!]
At the start of the program, contestants had to compete in individual-placement matches, drawing lots freely to form teams.
The first group consisted of two FE players, one AL player, and two celebrities.
Halfway through the game, the deep furrow between You Zhi’s brows had not relaxed once.
[Hahaha, look at Daddy Zhi’s expression. I’m dying!]
[Daddy Zhi: What the hell are these people doing?!]
Before You Zhi could speak, Bai Chumin, as FE’s original coach, roasted his own team first. “What the hell are they playing? Worse than the celebrities. Tsk.”
“So you know it too. I spotted the problem last time. Your jungler doesn’t know how to control tempo. Every time you win, it’s because he blindly stumbles into a lucky break. He can’t even calculate the most basic timings. He isn’t practiced at tracking the exact second jungle monsters respawn.” You Zhi held a scoring board and rated the match.
“That AL player is pretty good. He’s top lane, right? What was his name?” Chen Mianhe asked.
You Zhi spun his pen. “Qi Min. He’s pretty good. Knows how to initiate a team fight.”
Bai Chumin nodded.
Final scores for this group:
You Zhi gave the jungler a C-, gave Qi Min’s top lane a B+, and gave everyone else a C.
Bai Chumin showed absolutely no favoritism toward his own FE players: two Ds, everyone else Bs.
Chen Mianhe was an experienced coach and did not deduct as harshly. His grades were fairly standard, all C or above.
“Someone’s face has gone dark,” You Zhi said, glancing at the arena screen as a reminder.
The two FE players had completely darkened expressions. Not only did they look unhappy, they yanked off their headsets with obvious force. The host tried to smooth over the atmosphere, but neither said a word.
Comments:
[What are they putting on airs for? They played badly. Was that even human gameplay?]
[And they call themselves professionals. I’m going to puke.]
The next match had one FE player, two AL players, and two celebrities.
Overall, the match was average. One jungler named Ji Yanzhi, a celebrity contestant who seemed to be the leader of an idol group, performed unexpectedly well. His tempo was on point too.
You Zhi nodded and gave him a B+.
The final match had two FE players, two AL players, and one celebrity.
That celebrity was Shen Zichen.
[AAAAAH I get to watch Brother Shen play games!]
[Who understands?! A gentle, aloof STEM-type man playing games is too much!]
Shen Zichen took his place, put on the headset, and tested the equipment.
The game began.
Shen Zichen charged straight under the enemy tower and donated first blood.
Observation room: ……
Comments: ……
Shen Zichen, an ADC, wandered into the enemy jungle and got brutally slaughtered.
Everyone: ……
Shen Zichen ran in the wrong direction and got brutally slaughtered again.
The pen in You Zhi’s hand fell to the floor. He covered his forehead and sighed.
The comments were going wild.
[HAHAHAHA I’m dying! Did Shen Zichen come here just to mess around?!]
[Okay, I can tell now. He genuinely doesn’t know how to play, hahahaha.]
[First time playing, right? Just saying, if you don’t know how to play, you are allowed to not come on an esports variety show.]
[Without Shen Zichen this show would flop into obscurity. He alone is carrying the entire program’s traffic, okay?]
You Zhi’s head hurt. “What the hell is this gameplay? You can tell from the mechanics alone that he definitely never touched games before.”
“It’s understandable. Otherwise, who would bring in the sponsors?” Bai Chumin covered his mouth, moved his mic aside, and spoke quietly.
You Zhi lifted a brow. True…
After all, this was a variety show, not a professional tournament. If they could get Shen Zichen onto a team, the exposure would definitely increase. But this bastard’s skill was way too awful.
You Zhi’s head hurt.
The match ended.
Shen Zichen sat back down and ignored the whispered evaluations around him. Instead, he lifted his gaze toward a child sitting in the stadium stands.
The child wore a tiger hat, had stickers on his face, and held up a banner. Even standing, he was not as tall as the pillar beside him.
The child strained to raise the banner high. “Mr. Shen is the best!”
Shen Zichen’s eyes softened for an instant.
Final scores from the observation room:
The other two coaches, unsurprisingly, both gave Shen Zichen a D-.
When it came to You Zhi, he gave the other players Bs and Shen Zichen a C-.
You Zhi turned on his mic. “I’m not being professional here, so let me say that first. His skill really is only worth a D-. But I genuinely think Best Actor Shen looks very good, so visually he’s still pleasant to watch. And since he humbled himself enough to come onto this program and worked so hard to bring everyone this much joy, that deserves a C-.”
[Low EQ: He plays like trash. High EQ: He brought everyone lots of joy.]
[Honestly, Daddy Zhi really knows how to adapt, hahahaha.]
[You Zhi’s whole thing is knowing when to bend and when to stand tall.]
Shen Zichen truly did not know how to play. He had only come onto this gaming show because of Cub. But he did not think being mocked for not knowing how to play was anything shameful.
He had come to learn, and he accepted every negative evaluation.
He sat below the stage, leaning against the back of his chair with his fingers interlaced, eyes raised toward the giant screens around the stadium showing the observation room.
The mentors in the observation room—the team coaches—were temporarily kept anonymous. From the contestants’ perspective, they could only see each coach’s dark silhouette and hear voices altered by a voice changer.
The host handed Shen Zichen a microphone.
Shen Zichen showed no embarrassment. He remained completely composed and smiled faintly at the camera. “It really is my first time playing this game. I came here to learn how to play it well. I accept every evaluation, and I also accept Mentor Number Three’s compliment regarding my appearance.”
[This man! Why is he still so handsome even when he embarrasses himself?!]
[That sincere attitude earns so many points!]
[Speechless. Why invite someone who can’t even play?!]
[Person above! Do you know where the sponsorship money comes from?! Without Shen Zichen, Episode One wouldn’t be filmed in a stadium—it’d be in some shabby studio with a leaking roof!]
Director: “The contestants have completed their matches and received their scores. Next, the three team coaches will compete.”
“A three-person Fog Mode PK. The winner will have first pick of two teammates. Once each coach has selected four team members, the four will form a five-person squad with their coach. The remaining three contestants will become substitutes.”
“Next! Please welcome the team coaches onto the stage!”
