The Push

Jia Hao knocks on Jun Mùchén's door and says:

"Hey Jun Mùchén, I need to go back to the cafe, then we have a Little 1vs1 Tournament this evening. If you want, you can have a look. See you later."

Right as Jia Hao finishes, he walks out of his apartment and closes the door behind him. Jun Mùchén sits down on his bed, pulls out his phone, and sends his Mom a message that he has arrived safely in A City.

After he sends the message, he looks outside the window and thinks, maybe I will take a look at the 1vs1 tournament then. It's been a while since he saw anyone play Kudos. After thinking about it for a short time, he stands up, puts his phone into his pocket, and opens his room's door.

Jun Mùchén grabs his shoes and puts them on. Afterwards, he walks down the stairs to the Netcafe.

As he heads down the stairs, the sound of cheering and chanting grows louder and louder. When he reaches the Netcafe, he looks around and sees a crowd of people standing in front of a big screen in the right corner of the cafe.

After he spots them in the corner, he walks over to them. As he gets closer, a staff member working at the Netcafe walks up to him and says very calmly to Jun Mùchén:

"I'm sorry, but could I see your ticket, please?"

Jun Mùchén looks at him very confused and says:

"Ehhh, I don't have a ticket, but Jia said I can just come and watch."

The employee answers very calmly and politely:

"Regardless of who said you can come, it doesn't matter. You need a ticket to join and watch."

Meanwhile, Jia Hao spots Jun Mùchén talking with one of his employees. He walks over, looks at Jun Mùchén, smiles, and says to his employee:

"Zi Rui, what is going on here?"

Zi Rui immediately turns around and says:

"No, there is nothing going on here. Just a guy who doesn't have a ticket."

Jun Mùchén looks at Jia Hao and says, confused and a bit angry:

"You told me I can come and watch. You never said anything about a ticket."

Immediately after Jun Mùchén says that, Jia Hao starts laughing, puts his hand on Zi Rui's shoulder, and says to him:

"Zi Rui, he can come in. It's my friend who is visiting me."

Immediately as Jia Hao says that to Zi Rui, he turns towards him, bows down, and says:

"I'm incredibly sorry. I didn't know you were the friend my boss talked about. I'm sorry, I'm sorry."

As Jun Mùchén sees Zi Rui bowing down, he says, a bit ashamed:

"Everything is alright. Please stop bowing down."

Right after Jun Mùchén says that, Jia Hao says to Zi Rui that everything is alright. Afterwards, Jia Hao and Jun Mùchén walk towards the crowd. As they get closer, Jia Hao gives Jun Mùchén a mask.

As Jun Mùchén sees the mask, he looks at Jia Hao and says, very confused:

"Why do I need the mask?"

Jia Hao smiles and says, laughing:

"I don't know, but maybe you are a world champion and Worlds MVP—the people that follow Kudos, and especially the ones that follow the Esport."

Right after Jia Hao says that, Jun Mùchén grabs the mask, puts the mask on, and says:

"Okay, if you say so. You know it better than I do."

After he says that, he starts looking around and sees a handful of people wearing all different kinds of team jerseys, but he doesn't know any of the teams.

As he turns around to ask Jia Hao what teams those are, he sees him walking up onto a little stage under the big screen with a microphone in his hand. Shortly after Jia Hao walks onto the stage, he says with a loud and happy voice:

"Hello and welcome, everyone, to the first ever Purple Cat Netcafe's Kudos 1vs1 Tournament!"

As he says this, all the people standing around the stage start cheering and clapping.

After he welcomes everyone to the tournament, Jia Hao starts calling everyone to enter the tournament. As he calls the last name, he says with a big smile on his face:

"But now, as maybe some of you noticed, there is one person missing. He just signed up now, so let's give a warm welcome to Jun—a good friend of mine."

As Jia Hao finishes his sentence, he points at Jun Mùchén and smiles. Immediately as he points, everyone turns around and looks at Jun Mùchén.

Jun Mùchén stands there in shock. He just thought that he was going to watch the games. He wasn't planning to play Kudos at all—he hasn't touched it ever since he retired from competitions.

After Jia Hao announces the first matchup, he walks over to Jun Mùchén, who is still in shock and angry at him. Immediately as Jia Hao is standing there, Jun Mùchén punches him in the stomach and screams angrily:

"What do you think you are doing? I just came down to watch the tournament. How can you just sign me up?"

Jia Hao doubles over, clutching his stomach as he laughs, then winces and says with a strained voice:

"I know, I'm sorry! But your Mom told me to sign you up. But let's talk later—the first match is about to start."