Chapter 142: Amplifying the Taunt

The live stream had been running for a while, yet Jiang Zheng had not played a single match.

Since the broadcast started, not a single opponent had shown up; no one came to play against him.

He sent a message to Lin Yu to ask: "Are the professional players busy with something today? Why is there nobody here?"

Over there, Lin Yu replied: "I haven't heard of anything going on. Could it be, just possibly, that they are all scared?"

Jiang Zheng pressed his lips together as he looked at this message, feeling a heavy weight in his chest.

His system task still showed no completion prompt. If no professional players came forward, his task might genuinely fail.

The possibility Lin Yu mentioned was not entirely out of the question.

However, Jiang Zheng felt it wasn't purely out of fear.

For some professional players, there might be a hint of apprehension, seeing as Jiang Zheng's track record was solid and indisputable.

That did not mean every professional player was afraid; there were likely other reasons at play.

Jiang Zheng began to issue taunts once again, hoping to leverage the power of provocation to draw some hostility.

The strategy worked. Shortly after his taunts, a member of a tier-one esports team stepped up to challenge him.

In their match, Jiang Zheng secured the victory.

While the audience showered him with praises, they also regarded it as something quite ordinary.

After winning so many times, it no longer seemed particularly astonishing.

Once the match concluded, Jiang Zheng resumed his mocking, further provoking the remaining professional players.

His words quickly spread through other people's mouths, becoming more and more exaggerated with each retelling.

Most professional players rarely had time to watch live streams; they were busy with intense training, leaving very little genuine leisure time.

Even so, these remarks quickly reached their ears.

In modern society, information traveled rapidly; unless one was completely cut off from the world, receiving external news was effortless.

Jiang Zheng's words left them boiling with rage, and many were itching to go and trade blows with him.

At the same time, they knew that stepping up would only result in public humiliation. No matter how furious they were, poor skills could not bridge the gap.

Meanwhile, players from the top-tier teams remained motionless.

It was not because they felt no emotion, but rather because they carried heavier burdens and could not act rashly.

Winning would be fine, but if they lost, the consequences would be unimaginable.

In an official professional tournament, they feared no opponent; but against a non-professional player, and in a solo match at that...

This game placed heavy emphasis on coordination.

In professional arenas, solo showboating was always the exception, with team synergy forming the vast majority of gameplay.

Playing against Jiang Zheng carried too many risks, and they were unwilling to take them.

Therefore, despite feeling anger over the taunts, they could only pretend not to hear them.

Jiang Zheng amplified the scale of his mockery within the live stream. He was no longer targeting a specific individual or team; he was mocking all professional players collectively.

One had to admit that in a digitally connected society, the speed of information dissemination was absurdly fast.

Professional players overseas caught wind of these provocations as well.

This filled them with intense fury, arguably even greater than that of the domestic professionals.

As Jiang Zheng accumulated more victories in his streamed matches, his renown steadily grew. Following his win over the tier-one team player yesterday, his reputation had begun to quietly bleed across international borders.

Domestic tier-one teams were by no means inferior when compared on the international stage.

Naturally, while he had gained some measure of fame, it had not yet caused a major upheaval.

In the eyes of many foreign professional players, this was merely internal drama within the Chinese professional gaming circle. They preferred to watch from the sidelines as spectators without getting involved.

However, they did not get to watch the spectacle for long before the fire reached their own doorsteps.

Jiang Zheng had mocked them right along with the others.

………………

Wayne Allard was a globally renowned professional player, widely acclaimed as the God of Top Lane.

The team Allard belonged to was formidable, having once surged into the top four. Although they stopped short at third place, their formidable strength was undeniable.

This was a veteran team, and Allard served as its main pillar.

Relying on his mastery of the top lane, he had previously led the team to numerous victories.

Many professional players preferred not to clash with him head-on, with the vast majority choosing to avoid his sharp edge entirely.

Allard, who was in the middle of a practice scrim, suddenly heard about Jiang Zheng's taunts.

"F***, who does he think he is? Winning against a few pro players and he's howling like a baboon," Allard cursed aloud.

"Allard, calm down. A guy like this just wants to grab attention through these stunts. Look at how his follower count in China keeps climbing; there's no need for us to pay attention to someone like that," Allard's teammate advised.

"Lenny, I can't swallow this insult. His tone is far too arrogant; I want to go and teach him a lesson," Allard said.

"Don't be impulsive, Allard. We're in the middle of training right now. If the coach finds out, we're done for," Lenny replied.

Allard patted Lenny on the shoulder and said, "My dear Lenny, I'm sure you'll help me out. Once I go win against that arrogant kid and collect the prize money, I'll treat you to a whole day at the bar."

Upon hearing this, Lenny felt a mixture of resignation and temptation.

Why were they working so hard in training? Wasn't it all for money?

"I can cover for you, but after it's done, I want half of the prize money," Lenny said, licking his lips.

"You're too greedy, Lenny. Ten thousand US dollars at most, not a penny more," Allard stated.

"Deal!" Lenny said with a smile.

Ten thousand dollars was no small sum. Besides, he didn't have to do much, and getting that much was already plenty. As for demanding half, he had merely thrown it out there without seriously expecting it.

"Then I'm off," Allard announced, and left the room.

Once outside, Allard muttered under his breath, "F***, what a greedy pig. F***! F***!"

…………

"Director, a lot of people from overseas want to play matches against Jiang Zheng. What should we do?" Lin Yu asked.

"What do you mean, what should we do? This is a great thing! Since no one locally is stepping up, let the foreigners do it," the director replied.

Lin Yu hesitated slightly. "But what if Jiang Zheng loses?"

"So what if he loses? What's the big deal? Why are you hesitating over this?" the director frowned and asked.

"Director, have you considered this? If Jiang Zheng doesn't lose to domestic professional players, but ends up losing to foreign ones, people will inevitably say our domestic pros are useless," Lin Yu said.

The director looked at Lin Yu, finally grasping his underlying concern. After a moment of silence, he asked, "You even have the bandwidth to worry about this?"

Lin Yu lowered his head without speaking, effectively confirming it.

"Drop those pointless concerns. Right now, what you need to do is handle the arrangements and build the stage for them. As for the rest... stop overthinking it," the director instructed.

"Director..." Lin Yu started.

"Go on! Did you not understand me?" the director scolded sharply.

"Understood," Lin Yu replied, a sense of helplessness washing over him.

He went off to make the arrangements. After all, since they were matching against foreign professional players, the necessary publicity still needed to be rolled out.

At the same time, Lin Yu needed to notify Jiang Zheng.