Qin Feng stood by the French window, the post titled "Goodbye, My Beloved World," and the spontaneous outpouring of grief and blessings from players online, weighed on his heart like heavy lead.
The clamor of capital and the glory of tournaments seemed so distant at this moment.
What he saw was a young life about to be extinguished by illness, a soul that had poured all its love into league of legends.
He suddenly turned around, his eyes sharp and resolute, and gave an order to his assistant: "Immediately notify all core department heads—emergency meeting in Conference Room 1 in five minutes!"
The assistant had never seen Qin Feng look so serious and urgent, and without daring to delay, immediately carried out the order.
Five minutes later, in Conference Room 1, core personnel from planning, art, technology, operations, and marketing departments gathered, all with a hint of confusion, wondering what could make President Qin call such an urgent meeting during the critical preparation phase of the Star Sea Cup.
Qin Feng did not beat around the bush; he directly projected the public opinion report and the Sun-Chaser Bow's post onto the big screen.
"Everyone, before discussing tournaments and version updates, please take a look at this," his voice was low and powerful.
Qin Feng displayed the Sun-Chaser Bow's information on the big screen.
The conference room instantly fell silent, with only the faint sounds of people breathing as they read.
Soon, some let out soft sighs, some averted their gaze uncomfortably, and many more had solemn expressions, their eyes filled with regret.
"We all love this game; we fight for it, viewing it as a career and even a part of our lives," Qin Feng's gaze swept over everyone present.
"And this player, named Sun-Chaser Bow, his love for the game is no less than any of ours.
He was even closer to the dream stage than most of us, yet was cruelly stopped by fate."
He paused, letting the heavy atmosphere permeate the conference room, then announced in an unequivocal tone:
"Now, I demand that everyone pause all non-urgent work.
The preparations for the Star Sea Cup can be temporarily halted, and the new version update can be postponed.
The only thing we need to do next is one thing..."
His finger heavily tapped on the ID on the screen:
"On the map of Summoners Rift, leave an eternal memorial for the Sun-Chaser Bow."
As soon as these words were uttered, the conference room fell silent, followed by a slight stir.
Leaving a permanent memorial for a player on the game map? This was extremely rare in the entire history of gaming!
"President Qin, this... the procedures might be very complex; it requires modifying underlying map resources..." The technical director looked troubled.
"Art resources need to be redesigned, modeled, and tested, and time is extremely tight..." The art director also felt immense pressure.
"And what form should it take? Erect a monument? Carve a line of text? Will this affect game balance and aesthetics?" The planning director raised concerns.
"I don't care how difficult it is, or what form it takes!" Qin Feng's tone was decisive, with an unprecedented resolve.
"Even if it's just adding a flag related to his ID in a corner, a small blade of grass with his name carved on it, or an inconspicuous mark that players can find if they search carefully!
I want every player who enters Summoners Rift, one day in the future, to potentially discover this small mark and remember that there was once a Summoner named Sun-Chaser Bow who loved this world so deeply."
He looked at everyone, his eyes gleaming with a light that transcended commercial considerations: "This is not just for him personally, but also for all players who love league of legends.
We want to tell them that the world of league of legends will remember everyone who has poured their true feelings into it.
Execute it, immediately!"
The boss's determination was the highest command.
All doubts and difficulties had to be overcome at this moment.
"Yes, President Qin!" Everyone responded in unison, quickly rising and rushing to their respective posts.
The planning team immediately secluded themselves for collective discussion; as it was an emergency, everyone was brainstorming memorial forms that would be subtle without breaking gameplay, yet deeply meaningful.
The art team worked through the night, designing patterns and models; the technical team began researching map modification plans, evaluating the impact on clients and servers; and the operations team started preparing subsequent announcements and explanations.
Just as players worldwide were immersed in praying for the Sun-Chaser Bow and discussing the Star Sea Cup, the league of legends official team suddenly released a brief and abrupt announcement late at night:
[Emergency Maintenance Announcement]
Dear Summoners:
Due to an urgent and very important map content update, we will be performing server-wide maintenance starting at 4:00 AM, with an estimated maintenance time of 24 hours.
We sincerely apologize for any inconvenience this unexpected maintenance may cause.
Thank you for your understanding and support.
As soon as the announcement was made, the player community was in an uproar and utterly bewildered!
"???????"
"Holy crap? A day of downtime? What the heck is going on?"
"I just made plans to pull an all-nighter with friends to climb ranks! Are you kidding me?!"
"Emergency map update? What kind of map update requires an entire day of downtime?"
"Did a major bug appear?"
"Something feels off; there's never been such a sudden, long period of downtime."
Complaints, speculations, and doubts instantly flooded the internet.
No one understood why, at a time when everything seemed to be going smoothly, the official team would make such a seemingly "rash" decision.
However, the external clamor and confusion did not affect the Riot Games headquarters building.
That night, the entire building was brightly lit, like a precisely operating, high-speed machine.
The sound of keyboards clacking, intense discussions, and printers churning out blueprints formed the main theme of this sleepless night.
Qin Feng did not leave; he presided over the command center, constantly listening to progress reports from various teams, coordinating resources, and resolving unexpected issues.
He knew that what they were doing was something beyond commercial logic, yet concerned with emotion and respect.
This was a night of downtime for the sake of an ordinary player, and also a secret operation to show all players the warmth of the game.
When dawn broke again, Summoners Rift would quietly carry a heavy, eternal memorial.