The swift and decisive Team Leader Zhang didn't waste too much time.
After everyone passed through customs and border control, they arrived at the luggage area and waited for their luggage to be collected. Then, he gathered the God members together and explained the situation without holding anything back.
For a moment, the atmosphere became a little quiet.
Ceng Rui, Li Shiyi, Tang Bingyao, and the others looked at the members of Club God with worried expressions.
Indeed —
This kind of thing … no matter who it was, it would be difficult to face and accept it with a normal heart.
Just losing the finals and losing the championship trophy was enough to deal a huge blow to any professional esports player. Not to mention, just when they were barely able to pull themselves together, their own backyard was on fire.
For a professional esports player, losing on the field was no doubt a heavy blow.
But what was even more depressing was the criticism and reprimand from the fans after the match.
The wording of the article "Number One Seed or Number One Sinner" was vicious and insidious, almost to the point where anyone would be enraged by it. The current popularity and influence caused by it couldn't be ignored. It didn't take much to guess that the direction of public opinion had become increasingly disadvantageous to the God Club under the influence of this article.
And in this storm, the first to bear the brunt of it was …
That was the mentality of the God club members.
In front of the luggage area, the atmosphere was quiet. No one spoke.
Next to them were the coaches and other staff members of the club's coaching team. They gritted their teeth and tapped on their phones, seemingly retorting and reporting in the comments section. Team Leader Zhang looked at his team members in front of him and slowly spoke again.
"That's the situation."
"If you have any thoughts or grievances, feel free to speak up now."
It was better to let it out.
As an experienced team leader, he knew that rather than letting his team members keep their negative emotions to themselves, the best choice was to face the problem head-on and think of a solution together.
Finally, a voice rang out from among the team members. It was a member of Team Two.
"Actually … it's nothing."
Everyone looked towards the source of the voice.
The member of Team Two couldn't help but shrink his head when he was stared at by so many eyes. He then straightened his back.
"In any case, I think it's fine."
Ceng Rui, Tang Bingyao, and the others were slightly taken aback by his answer.
Ceng Rui couldn't help but ask.
"Did you read that article?"
"I saw it."
"Don't you think that guy is going overboard? He's just defaming you for the sake of defaming you. He even pretended to be a fan of yours —"
The members of Team Two nodded. "It's too much, but didn't you say it yourself? They're just doing it for the sake of it. Isn't it a waste of effort to get angry with them? Besides … what they said isn't completely wrong. We did not play well, and we did let down the national server's expectations. This is our own problem, and we should reflect on it."
An unexpected answer.
Ceng Rui opened his mouth. "But, but —"
The member of Team Two shook his head and continued talking.
"Moreover, Senior Number One has said before that we don't have the right to complain here. In the new season next year, there will be an even heavier burden waiting for us."
"Instead of wasting my time here with these haters and wasting my energy on one or two articles, I'd rather hurry back to the base, review the final, and start training. Time is of the essence."
He finished his speech in one breath without pausing.
The other members of the God Club looked at each other and nodded slightly in agreement.
Morning Star looked up at his team's chief leader and slowly said,
"That's also … what we all think."
Looking at Morning Star, and then at the members of his club in front of him, Leader Zhang's face showed a little smile.
"Good!
"This is the attitude that the members of God- Hand of God should have!"
A problem that was supposed to be tricky and difficult to solve seemed to have unexpectedly floated past.
The members of the God Club took their backpacks and suitcases on the rotating tracks. Looking at this scene, Ceng Rui couldn't help but ask Leader Zhang,
"Brother Zhang, is this the end of it?"
"Over?"
Leader Zhang raised his eyebrows and answered decisively without hesitation,
"Of course not."
As he said this, he looked at his team members again. A hint of relief flashed across his face, but it was quickly replaced by coldness.
"These clowns don't need our team members to worry about them."
"Trifling matters …"
"Our club will take care of them!"
His voice was loud and clear. This was the first time the chief leader of the God Club had such a sharp tone in his voice.
…
If there were only one or two articles like this and one or two authors like this, then they would indeed be nothing more than clowns.
But if someone really paid attention, they would be able to detect something amiss from the current situation.
The momentum … was too fast.
The hype was too high.
Even if this year's World Finals was the focus of the entire internet, the number of posts that appeared in groups, as well as the rhythm and methods used to create public opinion, were clearly not something that ordinary players could do.
"Someone is pushing it from behind the scenes."
Old Mi put down his phone and said in a deep voice,
"And … it's not an ordinary person. This kind of method and operation is definitely not simple."
Several official LPL commentators were on the same flight as the official headquarters' film crew and staff, returning to China a little later than the members of the God Club. At this time, the plane had just landed at Pudong International Airport. Before they got off the plane, the commentators had already seen the chaotic situation on their phones.
When Old Mi said this, Fei Yan, Mo Sheng, and Su Xue couldn't help but tense up.
Mo Sheng asked tentatively.
"Mi bro, you mean …"
Old Mi nodded with a solemn expression.
"Someone can't bear to see us do well.
"They want to take advantage of us while we're down."
Fei Yan had an incredulous look on her face. "But … if it's the local media, no matter how much they're trying to attract popularity, they shouldn't be this overboard."
To put it bluntly, they were all in the same boat.
If the current situation continued to worsen, it would greatly damage the entire ecosystem of esports. Once the ecosystem of esports was destroyed, the esports media that relied on it for a living wouldn't be able to get anything out of it.
Mo Sheng suddenly looked at Old Mi with a look of shock.
"It's not in China?"
Old Mi nodded slowly.
"If my guess is correct, it shouldn't be."
Su Xue couldn't help but feel anxious. "Then, what do we do now? Are we just going to watch them stir up trouble online? Is there nothing we can do? "
Old Mi's expression was solemn.
"They're doing this on a large scale. They're well prepared."
"We have to take into consideration our identities as commentators. There are limits to what we can say. Plus, if we speak up as individuals, we might not be able to do much."
Mo Sheng couldn't help but say, "But we can't just watch, can we?"
At that moment.
Old Mi's phone suddenly rang.
He instinctively looked down at the notification on his phone screen. His eyes suddenly lit up.
"You guys … wait!"
*****
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