Chapter 157: Trial at a Professional Esports Team

However, the tryouts might involve some scrims and team privacy related to tactical systems, so although there would be filming, it wouldn't be broadcast as a reality variety show. At most, a video program would be launched on the Shark Platform as promotional material for the AC Esports Club and the participating streamers.

The participating streamers were Haoran, specializing in the clash lane; Yuyi, specializing in the jungler role; Maoyao, specializing in the mid lane; and Xiaoyu, specializing in the farm lane.

These were top-tier streamers with decent broadcasting charisma and rapid fan growth.

The Shark Platform had invested heavily in this event. During the tryout days—lasting at least a week—these streamers would barely have any time to stream peak matches. Not playing peak matches meant a high likelihood of being surpassed by other streamers.

Boarding the plane, everything went smoothly.

Landing in Rongcheng in the afternoon, the AC Esports Club was precisely located in Rongcheng.

Stepping out of the airport, Lin Hao boarded the AC Club's bus.

"Welcome, Mr. Haoran, to our tryouts. I am Zhou Yu, the head coach of AC. Just call me Old Zhou."

To Lin Hao's surprise, AC's head coach, Coach Zhou, had personally come to pick him up at the airport.

This gesture made Lin Hao feel somewhat flattered.

"Coach Zhou, I've heard so much about you!"

Lin Hao shook hands with Zhou Yu.

"I heard that Haoran just claimed the top spot on the peak leaderboard a few days ago!" Zhou Yu smiled. "Congratulations, congratulations."

Actually...

This event wasn't as simple as just a routine tryout.

The Spring Split was currently underway, and it was hard to tell whether the AC team could even make it to the playoffs. The team was tightening their training and integrating their systems—where would they find the time to take on this event and play house with streamers?

They were definitely thinking of seeing whether they could absorb some fresh blood from among the streamers.

One had to realize that many top-ranked peak streamers were very young, and those capable of reaching the peak rankings through sheer mechanics were naturally formidable.

What was needed was a bit of chemical reaction. Zhou Yu, the head coach of the AC team, wanted to test whether these streamers, once integrated into the AC team and combined with his own players in scrims, might trigger that crackling chemical reaction.

Such reactions were unpredictable and were what professional team coaches looked forward to the most. Sometimes, if five players shared similar playstyles—or "birds of a feather"—it was easy to achieve good results, much like the ES team from last year to the present.

In other cases, playstyles and philosophies might differ, and under such circumstances, even assembling a starting lineup of five all-star galactic battleships could result in something that looked impressive but was useless in practice.

Zhou Yu held precisely this mindset.

Especially regarding Lin Hao, the streamer who had rapidly risen to prominence on the Shark Platform. His swift ascent to the number-one peak rank and formidable strength had recently drawn the attention of many figures within the professional circle.

The club was very close to the airport. After a journey of about ten minutes, the bus arrived in front of the gates of the AC Esports Club.

At 5:00 PM, several young men were waiting at the entrance.

Lin Hao stepped down from the bus.

"You must be Brother Haoran, right?"

"Brother Hao, nice to meet you!"

"The AC team is still in the middle of a scrim, so we came out to pick you up first."

Lin Hao walked over and was instantly surrounded by the young men.

After mutual introductions, Lin Hao learned that these were his colleagues from Shark: Yuyi, Maoyao, and Xiaoyu.

"The tryouts only start tomorrow. Let's go out and grab a bite together tonight, Brother Haoran!"

"If you ask me, we might as well wait until the AC team finishes their training and all go out together."

"You're overthinking it, Brother Yuyi. The team has a strict schedule, doesn't it? They've already played long enough in this scrim, and they still have to stream on a strict schedule tonight. How could they be as carefree as us on official leave?"

Maoyao teased.

This time, their sugar daddy Shark knew they were participating in the event, and based on their average streaming hours, had relaxed the broadcasting hour requirements for the month. In other words, they wouldn't need to frantically make up for lost hours later.

Lin Hao looked at Zhou Yu with a hint of surprise.

The team members were in the middle of a scrim, yet the head coach had run off to pick him up at the airport. Did he really carry that much weight?

At this moment, Zhou Yu spoke up, "Alright, Haoran, shall I give you a tour of the club?"

Lin Hao followed Zhou Yu, and the group walked into the club.

"This is the cafeteria. The club's staff and players all dine here."

"This is the gym. In their leisure time, they come here to work out and exercise. Of course, we coaches come too, otherwise sitting down training all day will inevitably ruin your lower back."

"Here is the dormitory area, where the team members' rooms are located."

"And at the very end is the training room."

Zhou Yu led the way on a tour. In truth, it was mainly Lin Hao taking the tour; the other three streamers had arrived yesterday at the earliest or this morning at the latest, and already had a basic familiarity with the club.

Just outside the training room, they could hear overlapping voices coming from within.

"Lu Ban is dead, Lu Ban is dead, push, push!"

"We can't fight this, we can't fight this."

"The enemy Yu Ji is out of state, I'm flanking, I'm flanking, can we fight? Can we fight?"

For a moment, Lin Hao felt as though he were listening to a bunch of tape recorders working simultaneously.

The competitive atmosphere of a professional team was precisely like this. Because everyone was in a state of high tension, sometimes a piece of callout given only once might not be heard clearly, necessitating repetition and emphasis by the teammates.

Lin Hao and the others pushed the door open and entered.

The training room of the AC Club was exceptionally spacious yet possessed a minimalist aesthetic. The room was dominated by white tones, with several computer setups paired with dedicated training smartphones making up the various positions. Directly ahead of the entrance stood a massive display screen and a projector. Next to the computer near the front door sat a young man who appeared to be an assistant coach.

The players were seated around the tables, intensely engaged in a scrim.

There were also referees present in the room; these referee positions were mostly occupied by the coaches of both teams in the scrim.

Scrims were precious material—the only platform outside of official matches to spar against other teams.

Only through scrims could systems and coordination be truly forged. If it were just ordinary ranked five-stack matches, any professional team going all out could casually crush amateur players, yielding zero training value.

Professional teams placed far greater emphasis on coordination and operational execution.

Zhou Yu and the others didn't walk all the way in, choosing instead to stand by the doorway and gaze at the giant display screen in front of them.

The screen displayed the observer's perspective.

The current situation was fiercely gridlocked.

Both teams' base high-grounds were battered and in ruins, yet both squads had gathered near the Storm Overlord pit.

The AC side was currently taking down the Storm Overlord, while the opposing team's figures loomed faintly in the vicinity, clearly harboring intentions to contest the objective.

The Storm Overlord was down to a mere thirty thousand health points!

At this health threshold, it was already the critical signal to initiate a team fight, contest the dragon, or burst it down instantly!