Chapter 16: Galaxy Village Team

As soon as the registration deadline passed, Feng Jingyu was the first to get her hands on the list of teams.

“The aliens’ thinking is still a bit too rigid. Not a single team thought to get creative with their team names?” Feng Jingyu said with clear disdain. “Look at this—Central Team, Painting Realm Team—you can tell at a glance which star system they’re from.” Her gaze drifted to the last two names on the list. “Galactic Village Team? Is this a team from the Galactic Alliance?”

Cen Lan, who had been buried in paperwork, looked up at Feng Jingyu’s question. “Yes, that’s our Galactic Alliance team. Back when ‘Cycle’ was climbing the charts, they helped us boost the numbers, too.”

“I heard their team has been scrimming with ours all along. Looks like they want to use the ‘Federation Cup’ as their chance to make a name for themselves. That’s great—the silent allies can finally speak up.” Feng Jingyu softly repeated the Galactic Alliance team’s name, “Galactic Village. What a wonderful name.”

A look of satisfaction flashed in Cen Lan’s eyes. “I believe that after the ‘Federation Cup,’ they’ll no longer be silent allies.”

Feng Jingyu switched off the virtual screen displaying the list.

“I believe that too.”

·

Once all the teams had passed the approval process, the StarNet quickly announced the ten participating teams and the competition rules.

However, this announcement didn’t come from Youjian Entertainment, but from the previously controversial “Interstellar Federation Esports Joint Affairs Committee.”

When alien citizens entered the official homepage, they noticed that its self-description had been updated to “Interstellar Federation Official Esports Organization.”

Youjian Entertainment hadn’t lied after all—the Interstellar Federation had indeed recognized esports as an emerging cultural field and acknowledged the authority of this organization.

When the idea of an “Interstellar Federation Esports Joint Affairs Committee” was first floated as a joke, Feng Jingyu never imagined the Federation would actually approve it. Curious, she asked Cen Lan how he’d managed it.

Cen Lan explained, “Most of the Federation’s operations are actually handled by the AI brain. Only in major events or matters concerning the Federation’s survival do the three administrators step in. As long as the process is followed, the AI will approve it.”

“Follow the process?” Feng Jingyu blinked.

“Unique authority, and the right level. Earth is the birthplace of esports, and this is a Federation-wide competition—the AI naturally wouldn’t reject it.” Cen Lan smiled. “Our application followed the Federation’s rules to the letter. There was nothing wrong with it.”

Feng Jingyu gave a thumbs-up. “Impressive.”

·

Given the nature of the competition and the teams involved, a knockout format was adopted.

The ten teams were divided into Group 1 and Group 2, five teams each. Opponents were drawn by lot, with one team in each group getting a bye and advancing directly to face the winner in the group final.

Group matches were single-elimination. The grand final was best-of-three, with each match not to exceed thirty Earth minutes—if time ran out, both teams would lose.

After reading the announcement, the alien public was in an uproar.

[Each match can’t exceed thirty Earth minutes?! What can you even do in such a short time?!]

[Earthlings really do play fast. I’ve watched their high-level games—they usually end in about twenty-five Earth minutes.]

[Is the time pressure really that intense?!]

[It really is. That’s why whenever I watch Earthlings play, I unconsciously hold my breath. It’s so tense, so thrilling. Lose focus for a second, and the game flips instantly.]

[Heavens, why do Earthlings love speed so much? Wouldn’t it be better to slow down? I like taking it slow, watching my hero grow bit by bit—it’s so satisfying.]

[Thirty Earth minutes? Heroes on both sides haven’t even fully developed, the economy isn’t maxed out, and you can still fight like that?]

[You can. Earthlings can start fighting at any moment. Don’t forget, at its core, this is a tower-pushing game. As long as the towers are down, you win. You don’t have to wait for everyone to max out before pushing.]

[I still don’t get it…]

[The real confusion is yet to come. Why is there a hero ban phase? Why can’t I pick any hero I want? Why can the enemy stop me from choosing my favorite hero?]

[Of course, it’s to make the matches more exciting.]

[But I only know how to play a few heroes. If I can’t pick them, how am I supposed to play?]

[Well… you just have to tough it out.]

·

The alien teams who had signed up looked at the rules and exchanged bewildered glances. They’d only joined for the fun of it—was it really necessary to make things so tough?

Unfortunately, there was no room for protest. All they could do was seek out friends who’d played against Earthlings and try to glean some experience.

Who would have thought that, at the mere mention of Earthlings, these people’s faces would change dramatically, none of them willing to discuss the details of their matches? One even grew agitated, repeating that playing against Earthlings was a nightmare and that they never wanted to encounter Earthlings in-game again.

When this conversation spread, the alien team members panicked even more. Were Earthlings really that terrifying?

Finally, a member of one alien team cautiously went to the Earth team’s official homepage and asked if they could share some match footage.

The Earth team was refreshingly straightforward. They simply posted a whole string of video links on their homepage.

Overjoyed, the alien teams watched the footage intently—only to fall into a deep well of self-doubt.

Teamfights at level 2? First blood right at the start? And the speed at which they completed their builds was just absurd!

How were they supposed to play against that?

But they’d signed up, so even if they had to crawl, they’d see the tournament through.

Convincing themselves to keep watching, they discovered that there was actually another alien team that had played against the Earth team.

That team was none other than the Galactic Alliance’s joint team from Earth’s own galaxy—the Galactic Village Team.

·

The Galactic Village Team seemed like a beacon of hope for the alien teams, lighting up their dim prospects. If they didn’t dare face the Earthlings, they could at least play against the Galactic Village Team.

They were all long-lived species—natural allies.

So the alien teams all reached out to the Galactic Village Team, asking for guidance and training.

The Galactic Village Team responded quickly: they were happy to coach, but warned that no one should expect to see much improvement in such a short time.

With that warning in mind, the alien teams threw themselves into intense practice under the Galactic Village Team’s guidance.

At first, they couldn’t adapt to such high-intensity, monotonous training at all. But whenever they thought about possibly being wiped out in a single push during the tournament, the shame was too much to bear, so they gritted their teeth and pressed on.

Even if they lost, they wanted to lose with dignity.

·

While all the teams were preparing for the tournament, the Spring Festival of Earth Year 5206 arrived.

This year, Youjian Entertainment had come up with something new. They launched a special variety show called “Celebrate Spring Festival with Earthlings.”

The show was hosted by Yu7, who had just wrapped up his concert tour.

From Lunar New Year’s Eve through the seventh day of the new year, they would demonstrate how the Spring Festival was celebrated on Earth. Meanwhile, Interstellar Express had released a seven-day Spring Festival gift pack, containing all the essentials for the holiday. Those who bought the pack could use its contents to celebrate the festival in sync with Yu7.

Anyone who wanted to experience Earth’s Spring Festival, or who shipped the CP, bought the gift pack without hesitation.

This sent Interstellar Express’ sales to a new peak.

·

Central Star System—Institute of Interstellar Literature.

“Teacher, look what I bought!” Shu burst excitedly into the office of Wordweaver Star Anchor.

Wordweaver Star Anchor, for once wasn’t reading. It seemed she’d been waiting for Shu’s arrival.

Seeing Shu’s exuberant expression, she smiled. “A New Year’s gift pack?”

The smile on Shu’s face didn’t diminish in the slightest; he was still radiating joy. “Of course you guessed it right, Teacher. It took a lot of effort to snag one—and I got one for you, too.”

Wordweaver Star Anchor said with some regret, “It’s rare that you managed to get one, but I think you won’t need them for much longer.”

Shu was incredulous. “Why, Teacher?! I waited all day to get these.”

Seeing Shu look as if the sky had fallen, Wordweaver Star Anchor finally broke her composure and laughed.

“Yuhui is taking us to Earth to celebrate the New Year in person. Naturally, your gift packs won’t be needed.”

“To Earth?! To experience the New Year firsthand?! That’s wonderful!!” Shu was overjoyed, but then something occurred to him. His tentacles quickly linked to his terminal. “I’d better buy tickets right away. It’s so hard to get a ticket to Earth these days.”

“I’ve already bought the tickets,” Wordweaver Star Anchor said. Then, after a moment’s thought, she added, “Give me those two gift packs. I’ll give them to some old friends.”

Shu hurriedly took two red cloth bags emblazoned with the character “Fu” from his folding space and handed them to Wordweaver Star Anchor.

“All right, go pack your things. The ship leaves at ten tomorrow morning.”

“Long live Teacher!” Shu cheered, then suddenly remembered something. “Teacher, ten o’clock tomorrow morning—is that Interstellar Time or Earth Time?”

“Of course it’s Interstellar Time. If it were Earth Time, we’d have already missed the ship.”

“Then I’ll be off. See you tomorrow, Teacher.” Shu left, still brimming with happiness.