Nirvana Top Laner, Reborn Tokyo Girl

Chapter 226, Section 223: I am a Japanese celebrity.

Yuna Shimamura's influence truly extends far beyond the competition.

Although she herself has some insight into the fact that her current level of stardom may far exceed her imagination.

But in her view, she is only as well-known as famous players like Zuo Shou and UZI.

That means that when you're walking down the street, people who play games will recognize you and greet you.

For those who don't play games, they are just ordinary people.

She thought that was the case.

People have started greeting me more often now, and I recognize myself wherever I go.

This is similar to her previous impression of "e-sports stars".

She thought that was all the popularity she had.

But what she didn't know was that with each victory in major competitions, there might also be a need for certain promotional purposes within Japan.

In short, thanks to the hype, her popularity has become more and more exaggerated.

Actually, it had already gained considerable popularity before.

Whether it was when they first won the LCP championship or when FS won the championship later, the hype was quite high.

At least at the time, many media outlets reported on it, which helped her gain some fans in Japan.

The video of the Japanese League of Legends commentator crying while watching him win the championship has gone viral, garnering millions of views on TikTok.

Since then, Akari Kujo has been using her spare time to help her manage her Twitter followers.

Her Twitter account already has over 5 followers.

Every day, a considerable number of support groups cheer her on and provide her with support in various ways.

However, although many people in Japan already knew her when she won the FS championship for the first time, many people had a superficial impression of her, thinking, "Oh, she seems to be that genius e-sports player."

It should be said that many Japanese people already knew about this talented e-sports professional player in Japan through the news at that time.

But it goes in one ear and out the other.

The hype came quickly and went quickly.

Today I saw "e-sports prodigy Yuna Shimamura, the pride of Japan" on the news, but tomorrow I'll just go back to my daily life and do whatever I need to do.

This is because League of Legends doesn't have a large following in Japan; people aren't interested in learning about a competition they don't play or watch.

Even knowing that this competition has a large audience, a significant impact, and that their own team members are very skilled.

However, the hype will gradually build up.

When hype reaches a certain point, the appeal of the event itself will outweigh whether the game is fun or not, or whether the competition is interesting or not.

After all, this is Japan's pride!
The Japanese media wouldn't let such a globally influential figure go unnoticed.

They have been tirelessly promoting Yuna Shimamura, constantly portraying her as "Japan's pride" and "Japan's greatest e-sports player."

I keep trying to imprint the idea that "League of Legends is the world's largest esports event" and "Shimamura Yuna is a participant in the world's largest esports event" into everyone's minds like a mental stamp.

They succeeded.

Without Shimamura Yuna herself being fully aware of it, her influence was actually growing.

Or rather, it became even bigger when it was already big.

Comments from outsiders, such as "Although I don't understand the game, I find it very interesting" and "This kid plays so well, it makes me want to try League of Legends," have started to appear.

There were also some comments that sounded like veteran players returning to the game.

I've tried this game before, and although I knew it was popular worldwide, I just couldn't play it. It's incredible to see a girl who can play such a difficult game so well.

I've played this game for a long time, and I know firsthand how big the gap is between the Japanese server and other servers. People who don't play this game can hardly understand how incredible it is that a girl named Shimamura has reached this level.

[To be honest, this is even more unbelievable than Japan winning the World Cup.]

Similar comments are becoming increasingly common.

Therefore, the last FS competition live stream had some viewers, but it wasn't at the national level; many people were simply drawn to it after the competition.

Before the competition, Riot Japan had been hyping it up, calling her a "Japanese esports prodigy" and "Japan's only hope in esports with global influence."

It's somewhat similar to how children have driven the popularity of fighting games in China.

In short, despite the project itself not being particularly popular, Shimamura Yuna's competition generated immense buzz in Japan thanks to a series of hype surrounding her national pride.

On Twitch, the number of views for this match in the Japanese-speaking region has broken historical records.

It's already very close to the popularity of Valorant, the most popular esports event in Japan.

And this is just watching the live stream.

Such competitions, which are widely recognized as having high prestige but lack a local audience base, often present a certain situation.

That means if we win the game, it will cause a huge uproar. Everyone will be celebrating, and reporters and media will report on it one after another, portraying it as a source of national pride and ethnic pride.

However, during the competition, since cloud players don't even know when the competition has started, the actual number of people watching the competition will be greatly reduced.

That's the situation in Japan right now.

Many people have no idea that the League of Legends competition has started, or where to watch it.

However, even with this debuff, the audience base for this competition is still much larger than imagined, and it was able to achieve a level of popularity approaching that of the Valorant tournament during its live broadcast.

So, what will happen to this buzz after the competition? That's completely unpredictable.

Yes, it can absolutely be described as phenomenal.

Whether it's YouTube, TikTok, or Instagram.

In short, any video on any platform used by Japanese people that has even the slightest connection to Yuna Shimamura will get extremely high popularity.

A bunch of Japanese marketing accounts are currently trying their best to educate everyone about the prestige of the League of Legends MSI and how difficult it was for Yuna Shimamura to win the championship.
Things like that.

All I can say is that the results were extremely successful.

Esports is inherently trendy.

If things go as expected, when the next S-series tournament starts, this competition will no longer be dominated by casual viewers.

At that time, there will definitely be many people who don't usually follow the competition who really want to see what the world's strongest female professional player, the only Japanese player who can win a world championship in League of Legends, is like.

Riot Games is already preparing for this tournament.

Currently, they have significantly increased the proportion of League of Legends content operated by their Japanese division, clearly eager to capitalize on the Japanese market.

They want to recreate the miracle of Valorant Zeta, the third-best player in the world, in League of Legends.

It is obvious that the next competition in Japan will create a miracle of popularity.

This competition has already caught the attention of the Kujo family.

Although they had known for some time that their daughter's best friend was a fairly influential public figure and a popular professional gamer, they initially perceived that this influence as temporarily limited.

They had already investigated.

I investigated the popularity of this competition and also investigated Shimamura Yuna's position in this competition.

The final conclusion is
Yuna Shimamura is very popular, but her influence in Japan is present, but not entirely significant.

They believe that Shimamura Yuna's influence will gradually expand within Japan.

but.
No one expected it to happen so quickly.

They never expected that in such a short period of time, Yuna Shimamura would go from a minor public figure to a true internet celebrity adored by all young people in Japan.

They didn't expect Shimamura Yuna's fame to spread so quickly.

This forced the company to change its internal assessment of Yuna Shimamura.

At first, they thought of
Despite Shimamura Yuna's popularity, considering that Kujo Akari and Shimamura Yuna have a very good relationship and are true friends, they don't really want business or corporate matters to taint their relationship.

After all, no matter how good the relationship is, things can sometimes go wrong when it comes to interests.

The adults in the Kujo family are well aware of this.

They prefer to wait until Akari Kujo matures and gets involved in the Kujo family's business before considering whether to engage in profit-sharing cooperation or other in-depth contact with Yuna Shimamura.

The decision rests with Akari Kujo herself.

In this case, the two may have disagreements in the future, regardless of whether it's due to matters of interest.
Or perhaps, the two people become even closer because of the close ties between their interests; that's their own business.

It has nothing to do with the adults in the Kujo family.

They didn't step forward to be the villains.

Regardless of the outcome, it has nothing to do with the adults of the Kujo family.

But now, they've changed their minds slightly.

There is no other reason.

Simply because...
Shimamura Yuna's influence is now so great that they are starting to feel a little uneasy.

Furthermore, her family is aware that Akari Kujo's identity has been made public online and that she has generated a lot of buzz online.

As a large corporation, the Kujo family is very sensitive to these things.

So, the day after the match, Akari Kujo's mother found her and subtly conveyed something to her.

"Could you ask Shimamura-chan if she'd be interested in signing a contract with one of our Kujo Group's sub-brands and becoming its spokesperson?"

"We will create entirely new products around her, and we won't skimp on the money."

"Why don't you go and talk to her about it, and let her think about it?"

Akari Kujo was truly dumbfounded when she heard this.

She had always known her mother's attitude towards her relationship with Shimamura Yuna.

She also knew that her mother and other family members were trying their best not to interfere in her and Shimamura Yuna's affairs.

They even intentionally avoided involving Shimamura Yuna in the Kujo family's business, wanting to keep the relationship between Kujo Akari and Shimamura Yuna seeming more innocent.

She was very grateful for this and felt that her family had taken her feelings into full consideration and cared for her very well.

结果
Even the Kujo family like this, even a mother like this
They've all taken the initiative to ask me about this.

Akari Kujo then realized that Yuna Shimamura might really be a bit too powerful now.

This is terrible; the Kujo family can no longer treat her simply as a child or a friend.

Her feelings were a bit complicated.

I wouldn't say I dislike it, but I also wouldn't say I hate it.

It just feels very complicated.

I just felt that way.
'This guy has become so well-known that even my parents are seriously considering whether I should try to get close to him.'

In the end, she did not refuse.

She simply sighed and said to her mother, "I will try. I will tell her about it."

The mother still seemed worried that the two of them would disagree over such matters of interest.

Therefore, it was emphasized repeatedly: "If she seems a little unwilling, then there's no need to force her."

"Your relationship is the most important thing."

"She is your best friend. You have to understand that friends are not something that can be easily found again after you lose them."

"Especially friends of your caliber. This kind of friendship is the most precious treasure in life."

"No matter what, please prioritize nurturing your relationship, okay?"

Seeing her mother speaking to her so seriously, Akari Kujo hesitated for a moment.

After a moment's thought, she nodded firmly: "I understand."
-
Shimamura did not return to Taiwan with the others.

Just like when FS ended last time, she flew back to Japan alone.

She didn't actually feel much homesickness for Osaka.

It's not as bustling as Tokyo, nor as elegant as Kyoto.

Even with the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs putting in a lot of effort, many foreigners don't have any particular positive feelings towards Osaka.

All they had were endless takoyaki, countless Osaka bumpkins, and endless disdain and disdain from Tokyoites.

Objectively speaking, this place isn't exactly good, but it's not bad either.

It didn't give her any bad feelings.

But there's nothing particularly memorable about it.

She didn't love this place.

Or rather, she never loved anywhere.

Even if it's her hometown from her previous life, or Taiwan, where she played professionally for a long time in this life.

She has always loved only people and things.

It is a longing for her older sister, who is a relative, and for Kujo, who is a friend; it is a nostalgia for everything that happened in Osaka.

Takoyaki, Osaka-style okonomiyaki, and fried skewers.

These things are merely so-called images that house her emotions and memories.

Now, carrying her thoughts on these images and the objects behind them, she boarded a plane and returned to Japan.

(End of this chapter)