Chapter 1

Half a year ago.

In San Francisco, USA, at a stadium with a capacity of sixty thousand people.

The venue for the Dota Esports CG World Championship Finals.

The stage was bathed in a dazzling array of lights from hundreds of spotlights, creating a mesmerizing and colorful spectacle. The rapidly changing lights made the audience feel their blood boil and their hearts race.

Tens of thousands of esports fans were shouting wildly.

The applause and cheers were like a mountainous roar, deafening and echoing throughout the entire stadium.

At the center of the stage, a giant electronic screen displayed a large "3:2" score.

This symbolized the final, heart-stopping match that had just concluded.

No!—No!—No!—

No!—No!—No!—

The chaotic and enthusiastic shouts in the stadium gradually became整齐划一, with all the esports fans shouting the same name.

"No" is the abbreviation of the English word "number."

It was the name of the winning team.

The team that had claimed the title of the ultimate champion of this year's WCG World Championship.

On the left side of the stage, the five North American players from the Glory team sat in front of their dedicated competition computers, their faces pale and their spirits low.

They had fought their way from the North American regional qualifiers to the world finals, through the group stage, the knockout stage, and finally to today's final, paying a tremendous amount of effort and sacrifice.

But they never expected—

They would still lose.

(And...)

The captain of the Glory team, a young man with golden hair, had a distorted expression of frustration. He clenched his teeth, which clicked together, and his gaze was fixed on the winners' seats not far away.

(To lose to such an opponent—)

Where the captain of the Glory team was looking, the winners' seats on the other side were eerily silent.

There was no wild celebration or jubilation that one would expect from the champions of the finals.

Upon closer inspection, the five dedicated competition computers on the left side of the stage were completely unoccupied, and the screens were black and powered off.

Desolate. Cold.

This stark contrast with the tens of thousands of enthusiastic fans shouting in the stadium was jarring.

The ultimate champion of the Dota Esports CG World Championship, symbolizing the pinnacle of glory, had actually...

Not even shown up!?

This made the five players of the defeated Glory team feel even more humiliated and resentful. The sense of defeat and shame multiplied exponentially, making their chests feel so constricted that they wanted to kill someone.

Thus, five intense, almost tangible glares filled with hatred were directed at the other side of the stage.

The first thing that caught their eyes was a bright golden nameplate, boldly and prominently placed on the table—

"No."

The page turns, and the advertisement begins.

The page turns, and the advertisement ends.