It was a WhatsApp message from Stanley. “Good luck for today’s match. I’ll be there to watch you.”
After replying to Stanley with an ‘OK’ , Xyla sat at her desk. She turned on her computer, but she didn’t immediately get to work. Instead, she opened Twitter and Instagram to check the list of trending topics for today.
Xyla, Stanley, Josh Batton, and Shawn Gilbert’s names were still on the list. Apart from news about them, Xyla also saw ‘#Team XS and Team IM’s grand finale#’ on the top ten list of trending topics.
There was the word ‘sizzling’ at the end of the hashtag. Xyla clicked on it excitedly. She immediately saw some messages from verified e-Sports accounts regarding this season’s grand finale between Team XS and Team IM at five o’clock this afternoon. e-Sports fans in the stadium were all predicting the winner of this match. Most of them placed their bets on Team IM winning.
“Although Team XS is strong because it has Xyla Quest this year, I think Team IM stands a better chance. They’re the number one team in the game.”
“Xyla might be good, but surely nobody thinks she and Levi can possibly beam Team IM’s bottom lane, right?”
“You guys don’t have to think too much of Xyla. Perhaps, she’s only good with a few heroes. If her usual heroes are banned today, she might be done for.”
“It looks like the match might end up with Team IM winning all three games against Team XS.”
“I disagree. I think Team XS stands a better chance. Things have changed since Xyla joined them.”
“How dare you compare them to Team IM, the best team in the game? Have you gone out of your mind just because they made a little progress?”
After skimming through Twitter, Xyla went over to League of Legends’ main page. There, she could see that most people still believed Team IM would more likely win. They all predicted that Team XS would at most win one out of four matches. Fans of e-Sports had always been very straightforward.
Xyla had gotten used to this a long time ago, but she wasn’t affected by that so much on the inside. She still felt quite confident about the match later. In recent days, Xyla and her team had been getting along very well, and they had also established a good rapport with each other in the game.
However, whether they would win today depended on their level of cooperation during the match.
***
At five o’clock in the afternoon, the League of Legends grand finale of the season between Team XS and Team IM commenced in the stadium.
There wasn’t a single vacant seat in the stadium that could fit 20,000 people. The number of viewers on live broadcasting platforms each exceeded 20,000,000. Since Xyla had recently become very popular on the internet, she attracted many fans who never used to watch e-Sports tournaments.
Soon, the host went on stage and delivered a passionate opening speech. After that, players from both teams went on stage to greet the audience.
Xyla had on very light makeup. Her hair was pulled back into a high ponytail, and her bright forehead was showing. When the stage lights shone upon her, she seemed to glow brighter than the rest. Meanwhile, other players from Team XS around her had also gotten new hairstyles, and they had on light makeup as well.
At one glance, Team XS looked prim and proper in general. They were all pleasant to look at. Nearby, Team IM didn’t seem to be too shabby. Alex alone made the entire team seem much classier.
The crowds were going wild off-stage…
They continually waved glowing placards with each player’s name on them while they cheered the players on with all sorts of phrases like ‘you’re amazing’, ‘you’re the best’, ‘go get them’.
Among these players, Alex and Xyla had the largest number of fans. It seemed that most of the placards had the two of their names on them.
Right then, Stanley sat in the first row of seats in a low-profile manner as he watched Xyla basking in attention on stage. He was wearing a neatly ironed white shirt, coupled with formal black pants. His sleeves were slightly rolled up, and three of the top buttons on his shirt were left open. A few love bites were somewhat visible around his neck, and it made him look both cold yet desirable.
While they sat around Stanley in a circle, every bodyguard had a serious facial expression on their face. With Stanley’s extremely good looks, he was able to draw many people’s attention.
Very soon, the match began.
The broadcasting director was smart enough to offer Xyla and Stanley each a few seconds of screen time.
