The clamor of debates, eager expectations, and restless anticipation... all the emotions that had been brewing for months finally found their ultimate release on the day the first league of legends National City Hero Championship qualifiers began.
In the early morning, as the first rays of sunlight illuminated hundreds of virtual competition zones across the nation, countless online dedicated servers meticulously set up by Riot Games came to life, humming and operating.
On the official event client, the match schedule had already been generated, with dense team names and match times, resembling the lists of medieval knightly tournaments, full of the unknown and a sense of impending battle.
At Riot Games headquarters, in the operations command center, a giant electronic screen was divided into several areas: real-time online match count, battle lists for each competition zone, server load monitoring, abnormal behavior detection logs...
The technical, operations, and referee teams were all in position, and the air was so heavy it felt like water could be wrung from it.
Qin Feng sat in the center, his gaze calmly fixed on the screen, like a general about to face his first real combat test.
At 9:50 AM, there were still ten minutes until the first round of matches began.
Across the country, the scenes of participation were diverse:
In the university dormitory where the 'Dawn' team was located, Li Hao and his teammates checked their peripherals one last time, high-fiving each other for encouragement.
"Brothers, stay steady, stick to our training!" Li Hao's voice came through his headset, with a hint of an almost imperceptible tremor.
In the internet cafe private room of the 'Breaking Army' team, Han Feng calmly scanned the opponent's information on the screen, his tone flat: "Checked them, a random team, average rank Platinum.
Finish them within twenty minutes, don't drag it out."
In the 'Border Smoke Wolves' team from a small town in the Northwest, several players took a deep breath, their expressions tense and focused; for them, every match was a fight for survival.
In countless similar scenes, hundreds of thousands of players held their breath, gripping their mice, waiting for the fateful countdown to reach zero.
Ten o'clock sharp!
Boom—!
On the monitoring screens, commands signaling the start of matches surged towards the servers like a tide.
The number of real-time online matches instantly broke through five thousand, and was still rapidly climbing!
This meant that at the same moment, over fifty thousand players were engaged in fierce combat in virtual Summoners Rifts across the country!
Inside the command center, reports from technicians came one after another:
"Server load 65%, running smoothly!"
"Network latency monitoring normal, no large-scale fluctuations detected!"
"Abnormal behavior detection system activated, no suspicious accounts found yet!"
Qin Feng nodded slightly; the start was smooth.
However, beneath the calm, undercurrents surged.
Less than five minutes after the matches began, the referee team's communication channel lit up red.
"Referee 01 reporting! In 'North China Zone - 07' room, team'Sword of Glory' complains that opponent 'Just Play Around' is using suspected cheating software, with abnormally precise movement and skill predictions!"
"Received! Immediately retrieve match data replay and operation logs for analysis!" The chief referee responded quickly.
Almost simultaneously, another report came in:
"Referee 15 reporting! In 'East China Zone - 22' room, a player from team 'Gale' disconnected due to network fluctuations, requesting a pause!"
"Pause approved! Timer started! Contact both team captains to confirm the situation!"
The massive number of matches brought an endless stream of unexpected situations.
Disconnections, equipment failures, disputes arising from players' differing understandings of rules... the referee team acted like firefighters, moving between various 'battlefields,' making quick rulings based on detailed rulebooks.
The pressure was immense, but the processes were orderly.
The official live streaming channels also started on time.
Strictly trained commentators, in pairs, began to commentate on featured matches randomly selected or filtered by popularity.
"Good morning, Summoners! Welcome to the live broadcast of the first day of the National City Hero Championship qualifiers! I'm commentator A Ming!"
"And I'm commentator You Zi! Wow, we can see that just three minutes into the competition, the various arenas are already filled with tension!
The director has cut the screen to a match in our'South China Zone,' featuring the 'Breaking Army' team against 'Chariot of Fire'!"
In the live broadcast, Han Feng's 'Breaking Army' team displayed strength far superior to their opponents.
Wang Hao's jungler invaded the enemy jungle at the start, precisely catching the enemy jungler's position, and coordinating with the laners to secure a kill, instantly opening up the game.
Their fierce offense and tacit coordination drew continuous exclamations from the commentators.
"This 'Breaking Army' team is not simple! The timing of their invasion, their support speed, they've definitely received professional training!" Commentator A Ming praised.
"Exactly, 'Chariot of Fire' seems a bit stunned, completely unable to keep up with 'Breaking Army's' rhythm.
It seems the city champion teams really do have substance!" Commentator You Zi added.
Meanwhile, on another live stream, commentators were observing the 'Dawn' team's match.
Their game was much more contested, with both sides trading blows, and the economic gap never widening significantly.
"On the 'Dawn' team's side, the mid-laner 'Dawn' player is developing well, but the top-laner'Stone' is under a lot of pressure, needing more help from the jungler'Shadow'."
"Look at this dragon fight! The 'Dawn' team initiates the dragon! The opponents are rushing over!...Ah! 'Moon Shadow's' support was instantly killed! This team fight is going to explode!"
Li Hao urgently commanded in voice chat: "Retreat, retreat, retreat! Let the dragon go! Defend the towers!"
Although they lost the dragon, they avoided greater losses.
The match fell into a stalemate.
The discussion boards of forums and communities were completely flooded with 'battle reports'.
Players couldn't watch all the matches and could only learn about the situation through text broadcasts, first-person player perspectives (allowed on some platforms), and official commentator descriptions.
"The 'Breaking Army' team steamrolled them in 15 minutes! So fierce!"
"Our'Soaring Clouds' team got a bye in the first round and advanced directly, hahahaha!"
"The'Sunset Red' team was eliminated in the first round, they're done! See you next year, brothers!"
"Is anyone watching 'East China - 105' room? That match is a bladder game, almost 50 minutes long!"
Cheers of victory and sighs of defeat intertwined in every corner of the internet.
Screenshots of match results were posted, showing perfect KDAs (Kills/Deaths/Assists ratio) from crushing opponents, and hard-fought games where defeat was still honorable.
In the afternoon, the competition entered the second and third rounds...
The number of matches gradually decreased with eliminations, but the competition became increasingly fierce.
The remaining teams, more or less, had shown a certain level of strength, and the quality of the matches significantly improved.
The technical team successfully handled several suspected cheating incidents, banned a few confirmed violating accounts, and maintained the fairness of the competition.
The referee team also gradually adapted to the high-intensity work rhythm, making increasingly decisive rulings.
By evening, the first day's schedule was nearing its end.
On the large screen of the command center, the number of real-time online matches had dropped back to a few hundred.
On the first day of qualifiers, a total of over forty thousand matches were played, and nearly half of the teams (over sixty thousand) concluded their journey in this competition.
The official report for the first day was released, summarizing the competition and highlighting several outstanding teams, including the 'Breaking Army' team which demonstrated strong dominance.
Qin Feng looked at the final data summary, his tightly strung nerves finally relaxing slightly.
The first day, though not without hitches, ran smoothly overall, with strong technical support and a lively event atmosphere.
He had successfully navigated the start of this unprecedented scale of online competition.
He stood up and said to the tired but excited team: "Everyone worked hard! The first battle was a success! But this is just the beginning; more brutal eliminations are yet to come.
Stay in shape and meet tomorrow's challenges!"
The online clamor gradually subsided, but countless hearts beating for esports did not stop.
Defeated teams were summarizing and reflecting, while victorious teams were celebrating and preparing for the next round.
The Summoners Rifts across the country, after a full day of battle, temporarily returned to tranquility.
However, everyone knew that when the smoke of war rose again tomorrow, the battles would be even more brutal.
The single plank bridge leading to the city championship, to the regional finals, and to the ultimate stage of the Capital Gymnasium, was crowded with figures eager to advance, and the eliminations had only just begun.