Chapter 389: Interview
At 9:47 AM Pacific Time on November 6th, the international flight from Seoul to San Francisco landed in San Francisco, twelve minutes behind schedule.
The pre-arranged car took the group to the hotel to settle in.
The members of LESSERAFIM shared rooms, two per room, while Jiang Shu had a room to himself.
Spectator Group (12)
Shu: The person in charge of T1 sent a message inviting us to meet the players. Please pack your things; we'll gather in the lobby at 10:30 AM. @All members.
Following this, there was a series of 'received' messages.
At 10:30 AM, the group punctually boarded the bus heading to the T1 players' training base.
Originally, Jiang Shu hadn't planned to meet the T1 players, as the match was approaching, and he didn't want to disturb their performance.
However, Li Lishi said it was fine; the players had mostly been maintaining their form through solo queue recently, and their tactical preparations were largely complete.
After all, a week had passed since the semifinals, so everything that needed to be prepared was ready.
Since the other party had said as much, Jiang Shu naturally didn't say anything further.
The bus stopped outside the training base, and as Jiang Shu led the LESSERAFIM members off the bus, they saw Li Lishi and the T1 coaching staff who had come to greet them.
"Chairman Jiang," Li Lishi greeted with a smile.
"Li Lishi, you're too kind. We could have just met inside," Jiang Shu said with a smile, shaking hands with Li Lishi. Their statuses were relatively equal, so bowing wasn't necessary; a handshake was more appropriate.
"Hahaha, Chairman Jiang traveled all the way to North America to watch the match live. How could I wait for you inside?" Li Lishi said with a laugh.
He then turned his gaze to Kim Minju and the others behind Jiang Shu.
"These are the LESSERAFIM members, aren't they? Several familiar faces here."
Hearing Li Lishi's words, the six members of LESSERAFIM quickly bowed to Li Lishi.
"You still remember them?" Jiang Shu asked, somewhat surprised.
"I signed off on IZONE recording their variety show at our T1. If I remember correctly, among the IZONE members, Sakura showed the most improvement."
Sakura looked at Li Lishi in surprise, not expecting him to remember such a thing.
After the IZONE group variety show concluded, their training at T1 came to an end, and Sakura's Korean server Platinum II rank placed her first among the IZONE members' final ranks.
After a brief introduction of the coaching staff, the group entered the training base.
"This won't disturb the players' state, will it?" Jiang Shu asked again along the way.
"No, the kids are all awake. They'll have lunch soon and then head to the arena. It's a good time to meet you all," Li Lishi explained.
Jiang Shu nodded upon hearing that.
Soon, the group met the T1 members, the legendary ZOFGK roster, who would go on to achieve two championships and one runner-up finish.
"Chairman Jiang!" Choi Woo-je came before Jiang Shu and bowed deeply to him.
"You've done very well," Jiang Shu praised with a smile.
"I will work hard to win the championship!" Choi Woo-je said earnestly, looking at Jiang Shu.
"Go for it. I'll be waiting for your good news," Jiang Shu said, patting Choi Woo-je's shoulder encouragingly.
The accompanying photographer documented the interactions between Jiang Shu and Choi Woo-je, and between LESSERAFIM and the other T1 players.
"Shall we take a photo?" Jiang Shu suggested.
Jiang Shu stood in the center, with LESSERAFIM members on his left, T1 players on his right, and the T1 coaching and training staff behind them.
Click.
The moment was captured.
"Shall we eat with the players?" Li Lishi suggested. "After lunch, we'll get ready to head to the arena."
"Sounds good," Jiang Shu readily agreed.
...
Chase Center, San Francisco.
Jiang Shu and the LESSERAFIM members arrived and took their pre-arranged seats, while the photographer communicated with Riot Games, obtained permission, and blended in with the photography team.
At this time, T1 had already gone backstage to prepare for their upcoming stage appearance.
As soon as Jiang Shu sat down, he saw a staff member walking towards them.
"Hello, are you Mr. Jiang Shu?" the staff member asked Jiang Shu in English.
"Yes, what is it?"
"I'm an official from Riot. We'd like to interview you, if that's alright?"
"Yes," Jiang Shu agreed after a brief thought. "Do I need to come over?"
"No, our host and photographer will be here shortly." The staff member nodded to Jiang Shu and quickly left.
Within a few minutes, Jiang Shu saw a tall woman in a high-slit long dress and a Black man carrying a camera approaching together.
"Hello, Mr. Jiang Shu, I am..."
"Our interview this time is live. If you mind, we can change it to a recorded broadcast."
"No need, let's just start," Jiang Shu said to the woman in front of him, glancing at a few East Asian faces secretly gathering closer.
"Alright! First question, Mr. Jiang, which team are you here to support?"
"T1."
"Because of player Zeus?"
"Yes."
"Then, who do you think will achieve ultimate victory in tonight's finals and lift tonight's trophy?"
"Personally, I hope T1, with Zeus, wins the match, but based on my understanding of the current schedule, frankly speaking, DRX has a greater chance of winning."
"Oh? Rational supporters like Mr. Jiang are quite rare."
"Esports cannot be won with just passion. Besides, emotion and rationality are not in conflict," Jiang Shu smiled. "Of course, compared to rationality, I prefer it when the emotional choice is correct."
Several more questions were asked, and this pre-match interview concluded.
After this group left, those few East Asian faces, the sneaking guys, came over.
"Hello, Chairman Jiang, I am an LCK host..."
Upon hearing this, Jiang Shu looked at the person in surprise.
From LCK, huh.
"Are you also here for an interview?" Jiang Shu asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Yes, we represent LCK Official and would like to interview you. Do you have time?" Compared to the Riot official host, the LCK host was undoubtedly much more respectful.
The former respected Jiang Shu but was not submissive. The latter was completely respectful + fearful.
"Yes, live or recorded?"
"Text-based interview, but if possible, we prefer live broadcast," the host said, quickly adding, "It's okay if not!"
"It's fine, live broadcast," Jiang Shu said casually. For him, it didn't matter whether it was live or recorded.
"Thank you so much!" The host was overjoyed, not expecting Jiang Shu to be so accommodating, and quickly bowed in thanks.
Perhaps in her surprise, she didn't notice, but a large expanse of her chest was fully visible to Jiang Shu.
However, Jiang Shu was clearly not a novice; he merely glanced and then averted his gaze.
The female host was indeed very beautiful, but no matter how beautiful, could she compare to the ones behind him?
"Let's begin."
"Yes!"
