Getting paid to play video games may sound too good to be true. But Newbee, a team of five professional gamers, has proven it is possible. They won the DOTA 2 world championship at the international *tournament in Seattle, US, on July 21, taking home a $5 million (31.2 million yuan) prize.
打电脑游戏也能赚钱？这听上去就像天上掉馅饼一样不靠谱。但是，这支由5名专业电竞选手组成的名为Newbee的战队告诉我们：这个可以有！今年7月21日，这支队伍获得了在美国西雅图举办的第四届DOTA2国际邀请赛冠军，将500万美元（约合3120万元人民币）的奖金收入囊中。

Many have been stunned by the huge sum, but only few know of the team’s *thorny road to glory. 21st Century talked to the newly crowned champions to explore the real story of their lives.
很多人都惊讶于奖金数额的巨大，却鲜有人知道他们铺满荆棘的获胜之路。今天，就跟随世纪君，一起倾听他们冠军光环背后的真实故事吧！

Another level
另一种的高度

Playing for fun and becoming a professional gamer are totally different scenarios in the e-sports field. E-sports competitions require quick reaction speeds and incredible multitasking skills.
在电子竞技领域，业余玩家和职业选手之间有着天壤之别。电子竞技比赛对选手的反应速度和多任务处理能力都有很高要求。

Most professional players see their APM (actions per minute) *surpassing 300, according to Newbee’s manager Tong Xin. That’s an average of five unique actions every second. An average for-fun gamer plays at less than 100 APM.
Newbee电子竞技俱乐部经理佟鑫说，大多数职业选手的APM（即每分钟操作次数）都超过300，相当于平均每秒钟能进行5次操作。而业余玩家的APM则不到100。

“Let’s just say that of the young men who attempt to go pro, only 1 in 1,000 make it to a professional level,” he says. “The odds of a player becoming a ‘top player’ are less than 1 in 10,000.”
佟鑫还说，“即使是在想要成为职业选手的年轻人中， 1000人中也只有1人能够达到职业选手的水平，而成为‘顶级’职业选手的比例则不到万分之一。”

Daily routine
日常训练

Just like in athletic sports, training brings perfection, while practicing with top gamers and teams is the best way to *excel. Even so, it’s never easy.
和体育运动一样，“熟能生巧”同样适用于电竞界；而与顶级选手和团队切磋则是最有效的提升方法。即使如此，这仍非易事。

Zhang Ning and his teammates train for up to seven hours a day, six days a week to improve their *tactics and work out ways to deal with different gaming situations.
为了提升战略战术，在不同的游戏局势下找到不同的应对策略，张宁和他的队员们每周训练6天，每天训练7个小时。

But this is only their daily training schedule. Before the international tournament, Zhang and his teammates underwent a whole month of *intensive training. During that time, the team members were gathered in a house in Shanghai. Their cell phones were taken away and they were completely cut off from the outside world.
而这只是他们的日常训练。在世界邀请赛前夕，张宁和他的队员们度过了一整月的强化集训。在这一个月里，他们聚集在上海的一栋别墅中，上交手机，完全与世隔绝。

“We got up at 11 am every day and had lunch together. After that, we spent 14 to 16 hours playing DOTA together, not only improving our individual abilities, but also our team work,” says Chen Zhihao, a member of Newbee.
Newbee队员陈智豪说：“（在此期间）我们每天早上11点起床一起吃午饭，之后的14至16个小时都在打DOTA中度过，这不仅能提高个人能力，还能提升整个团队的合作。”

Not a career, yet
仍非职业

Though professional gamers can earn a *respectable income and bonuses for winning e-sports competitions, playing video games is not considered a serious occupation.
尽管职业选手赢得电竞比赛后可以获得可观的收入与奖金，但玩游戏仍不被视为一个严肃的职业。

There were more than 9 million DOTA players around the world by the end of June, according to official data released by DOTA 2. In China, according to Tong, there are no more than 1,000 professional players.
DOTA2发表的官方数据显示，截止今年6月底，全球共有超过900万DOTA选手。而在中国，职业选手人数还不到1000，佟鑫说。

Moreover, professional players’ career spans are short. Many top gamers hang up their control pads well before they hit 30, reported CNBS. Most retired gamers choose to stay in the industry by taking up administrative positions, becoming coaches in clubs, or working as commentators for cyber game competitions, says Tong.
而且，这些选手的职业生涯十分短暂。据CNBS报道，许多顶级选手在30岁前就已退役。佟鑫说，许多选手退役后选择留在这个行业，从事管理工作，担任俱乐部教练，或在电子竞技比赛中担任游戏解说。

What about the future?
未来在何处？

Winning the tournament is a dream come true for Zhang. It has also boosted his confidence. Being a 25-year-old player in the field is a rare thing and he doesn’t want to retire from professional gaming yet. “I still want to play in next year’s tournament,” he says.
对张宁而言，获得国际邀请赛的冠军可谓梦想成真，也让他信心满满。虽然很少有人向他一样25岁还在打比赛，但张宁表示他还不想退役，他说，“我还想参加下一届比赛。”