The moment of victory was met with thunderous cheers within the arena, as the fans chanted in unison, "Encore match, encore match, encore match!"

It was like an "encore" at a performance, signaling that the audience hadn't had their fill and wanted the players to put on an impromptu additional match.

After defeating Lu Chang in the last match, everyone's expectations for Chen Gu had indeed risen, and his performance with Combat Rooster today didn't disappoint. But the victory came too quickly—everyone hadn't had their fill.

The manager for today's matches gave a wry smile and shook his head. How easy could it be to set up an encore match at this time? Where could he find an opponent? Any renowned and skilled player, who would be willing to compete? Encore matches only entail appearance fees without points, and to those star players, the fees don't even count as pocket money. There's no benefit in winning, and losing… of course, only has downsides.

But the calls from the fans outside were growing louder, already affecting the subsequent matches. The players about to go on stage either good-humoredly shook their heads with wry smiles or secretly gritted their teeth. They were all aware that the upcoming matches would be tough—Chen Gu had set the bar too high right from the start, whetting the audience's appetite to a level not easily satisfied.

Seeing no response from the Alliance, the audience would normally just sit down and let it go. In ordinary matches, audiences often clamored for an encore, hoping to see an extra match for free, but the Alliance would have to cough up real money for it.

So, many times, after a noisy demand for an encore went unanswered by officials, the clamor would simply fade away. Fans wouldn't push too hard, understanding that the Alliance couldn't afford encores for every match.

But today, with an official response slow in coming, the viewers wouldn't accept it. They truly hadn't had their fill and had exceptionally high expectations for the encore match.

The entire audience stood up, clapping their hands and chanting in unison, "Encore match, encore match, encore match..."

The event manager broke into a cold sweat and had no choice but to announce over the broadcast system, "We are currently arranging an encore match. Please continue to watch the following main events for now."

The crowd cheered at this, finally relenting.

Chen Gu left the stage smoothly. Indeed, the audience's interest in the subsequent matches was clearly lacking, and the atmosphere grew quite cold at one point.

Backstage, the event manager was hurriedly phoning players. However, none of the star players who happened to be on Capital Star were willing to come. They had watched the match and, frankly, weren't confident they could defeat Chen Gu.

As for non-star players, few were willing to come either. After all, who would want to get beaten up for nothing?

The manager slumped in his chair, feeling doomed. Once all the main events ended, the disappointed audience would likely cause a significant disturbance. The Alliance certainly wouldn't consider his difficulties and would undoubtedly use him as a scapegoat.

Just at that moment, his assistant suddenly remembered, "Boss, that person… Have you forgotten? He's sure to agree!"

"Who?" the manager asked. Then, he suddenly remembered. "You mean him?"

The manager thought for a moment. This is probably inappropriate… But he immediately grabbed the phone and called the person. At a time like this, who cares about appropriateness? I just need to get through this crisis!

Before the last of tonight's seven main events, Chen Gu received a dossier on his opponent for the upcoming encore match.

"[Infamous Player] Sisizaro?"

This man was notorious in the Alliance. Alcohol abuse, promiscuity, insulting reporters, assaulting referees, and more—in his four or five years in the Alliance, he'd accumulated quite a record of misdeeds.

Last season, after a defeat in a team match, he had barged into a teammate's home with an illegal weapon. He did this because while he had won his part of the match, his teammates had all lost, and he felt these "useless teammates" had dragged him down.

Afterward, he faced severe punishment: he spent half a year in jail, was kicked out of his club, fined ten million Starshields, and was banned by the Alliance for a long time.

His ban was lifted only last week, allowing him to return. However, he had already missed the registration period for the new season. This meant that, under normal circumstances, he would miss the entire season. He currently resided on Capital Star.

[Infamous Player] Sisizaro was very talented. He was originally selected in the first round as the fourteenth pick, an extremely high ranking, and his subsequent performance had always been impressive. If not for that, the Alliance would have shown him the door much earlier.

Now jobless and fined ten million Starshields, Sisizaro was truly destitute. The five hundred thousand Starshield appearance fee for an encore match, an amount Sisizaro would normally scoff at, was now desperately needed to address his pressing financial situation.

As Chen Gu received this information, a holographic projection above the arena also displayed the arrangement for the encore match.

Seeing that the opponent was Sisizaro, the entire venue erupted in thunderous cheers.

[Infamous Player] had a terrible reputation among fans. They deeply despised him and couldn't wait to see him taught a harsh lesson.

Consequently, the seventh main event, originally intended as the grand finale and featuring a star player, garnered little attention. Everyone was too busy eagerly discussing the upcoming final encore match!

The star player entered the stage with a resigned expression, promptly and neatly defeated his opponent to earn points, and then left the arena to Chen Gu and Sisizaro.

Still, it had to be said, [Infamous Player] truly lived up to his name. While the host was introducing both players on stage, Sisizaro suddenly rushed out from nowhere, snatched the microphone from the host's hand, and shoved the elderly host aside.