entertainment

As the team's media gradually left, the venue exit, where the buses were parked, remained as noisy and chaotic as ever.

Chen Yuchuan didn't say anything, he just stood there, leaning against a wall, holding a bottle of water in his hand. His eyes seemed to be casually scanning the intersection, but in reality, his gaze never left that direction.

The ASG members came out.

Shen He walked at the back of the group, his figure tall and slender, his pace as unhurried and unhurried as ever. His face was expressionless, like a shadow cast on the snow.

He saw Chen Yuchuan.

I only glanced at it briefly.

He didn't stop, nor did he say anything.

But Chen Yuchuan noticed that the corner of his mouth twitched slightly and the ends of his eyebrows lifted gently. It wasn't a smile for others to see, but a faint smile that he couldn't help but show when he saw something silly and funny—Chen Yuchuan knew it very well.

It lasts only a moment, and is gone in an instant.

It was an expression that he didn't intend for anyone to notice.

He turned and got into the car, his back view clean and neat.

The bus slowly drove away, the lights shining through the glass onto his face, but he didn't look back at the crowd.

Chen Yuchuan stood frozen in place, still in his original posture.

He glanced down at the ground, then looked at the departing car in the distance, as if suddenly realizing something, and clicked his tongue softly.

He twisted and turned the bottle in his hand before finally throwing it into the trash can.

After a long and tiring journey back to the hotel, Shen He took a shower, dried his hair, and sat back down at his computer. It was almost midnight. However, he still habitually opened the game to check the rankings.

A moment later, an application box suddenly popped up in the lower right corner.

Game ID: KFC_87275xsh

Note: You know what I mean.

The ID seemed like a temporary one, but Shenhe knew who it was after just one glance.

He neither refused nor agreed, casually shrinking the pop-up window. The application lay there quietly, like the piece of candy Chen Yuchuan had secretly given him; whether to open it or not was entirely up to him.

A few minutes later, someone knocked on the door.

"I'm coming in." It was Gao Mingyuan's voice from outside the door as he came in, chewing on something. "Want some chicken nuggets? It's so pitiful that you don't even have any snacks in your bag."

Shen He shook his head. Gao Mingyuan pulled up a chair and sat down, placing his drink on the table. He ate while using Shen He's account to check the rankings.

Suddenly, as if remembering something, he said, "Oh right, Chen Yuchuan just asked me to duo queue, and he even asked me what I was doing and whether I was playing ranked games."

Shenhe nodded, signaling him to continue.

“I said I didn’t know.” Gao Mingyuan shoved the drink into his hand and shrugged. “Then he said—”

He changed his tone and imitated it perfectly: "Styx's been on fire lately, I want to ask him for some points."

“Oh right,” Gao Mingyuan added, “I’ll have him add you himself, and you can accept the request when you have time.”

Shen He's eyelids twitched slightly, but his tone remained indifferent: "Hmm, I'll take a look later."

Gao Mingyuan stood up and rubbed his stomach: "I'm full. I'll go back and continue relieving myself. Don't stay up too late."

Shen He nodded to him: "You should get some rest too."

The door clicked shut, and the room fell silent.

Tap the bottom right corner of the screen; the application box is still lit up.

Shen He stared at the ID for a while, then let out a soft hum, as if he was not quite satisfied, or perhaps he was laughing.

After the competition, the team chose to stay an extra day as a short break.

Most of the team took the opportunity to arrange dinners and drinks, but Chenhe stayed at the hotel and didn't move—not because he didn't want to go out, but because he disliked the atmosphere of a group of people making a ruckus.

Around noon, Gao Mingyuan knocked on the door again and asked him, "Aren't you going out either?"

Shen He nodded, sitting in front of the computer. "Not really interested." Then he added, "What about you?"

"...Let me be frank with you, they go out and have a pretty extravagant lifestyle."

He then added, "I have to video call my girlfriend later to let her know my schedule. You guys who don't have partners probably don't understand."

Shen He ignored him, and Gao Mingyuan plopped down next to him and stared at his computer screen.

"Hey, let's play something else," his eyes lit up, "How about some shooting games?"

Vector Arena, after being renamed "All-People Gunline" in the Chinese server, saw a surge in player numbers.

Which one do you play?

"Of course I'll play! My reaction time might not be as good as yours, but my gunplay is definitely better. Before playing in the Rift, I was a gun god! I almost went pro."

Then, without saying a word, he pulled Shenhe to the hotel's e-sports area. There were very few people there, and the two of them casually turned on two computers.

Gao Mingyuan logged into his account, quickly created a room, added Shen He as a friend, and invited him into the room.

Before he could even start the matchmaking process, another person jumped in.

Game ID: hsx57278_CFK

Shen He didn't react much at first, but when he saw this familiar combination of letters and numbers, his fingers paused.

"...Who is this person?" Gao Mingyuan was also stunned for a moment, then realized what was happening and asked via voice message, "You didn't just happen to see this on the homepage, did you? That's too much of a coincidence!"

There's one more person in the voice channel.

"Why didn't you call me?" The familiar voice was lazy, with a hint of self-righteousness, as if it was completely unaware of how abrupt its uninvited arrival was.

Gao Mingyuan chuckled dryly: "I've never heard of you playing this game?"

"Just bored." A chair slammed against the wall on Chen Yuchuan's end, his voice casual. "Nothing's going on in the team, so I just wanted to play a few games with someone. I happened to see your ID."

It makes sense that Gao Mingyuan uses mylaopomori as his game ID for almost all of his games.

He said it casually, but the next second he suddenly asked, "Who else? Styx?"

Shen He didn't deny it, only humming in response.

Gao Mingyuan glanced at the screen and muttered to Shen He, "What's wrong with this old man? He usually either doesn't hang out with anyone, or when he does, he doesn't say a word. Why is he clinging to us now?"

Shen He smiled and said, "I don't know. Let's start."

The game started quickly, the map loaded, and the first round began.

"I'll go to B," Gao Mingyuan announced.

Shenhe bought the long spear and casually replied, "I'll defend A."

Unexpectedly, Chen Yuchuan's voice came through the voice channel: "I'll take it too."

Gao Mingyuan was taken aback: "Huh? Judging from your stats, you like to play aggressive, burst-damage style, don't you?"

Chen Yuchuan said slowly, "Let's try something different."

As soon as he finished speaking, he didn't clear a path, but instead followed beside Shen He, neither too close nor too far. The muzzles of their guns almost overlapped, like shadows. During the first exchange of fire, he was late to the game, as if he was just supplementing the firepower.

In the second round, Shenhe continued to move A. A few seconds later, footsteps were heard in the earpiece, and Chen Yuchuan followed again.

The random teammate was a bit speechless: "Hey, what are you doing? Why are you following me everywhere? We need someone on our side."

Chen Yuchuan's tone sounded perfectly normal: "This is a tactic."

He added, "If you don't understand, shut up."

After several rounds of firefights, Chen Yuchuan acted decisively at crucial moments, seamlessly coordinating his firepower with Shen He's. Shen He secured a kill and was preparing to reload when a skill notification appeared on the screen, blocking the enemy sniper's position. He then deftly threw a grenade, displaying a truly tactical approach.

"Good teamwork." Shen He rarely praised him.

And then it just spiraled out of control.

Shenhe was setting up his gun at the corner, his sights fixed. Suddenly, a cloud of black smoke billowed up in front of him with a "bang," and a smoke grenade landed precisely at his feet, completely obscuring his vision.

Another random teammate finally couldn't help but speak up: "Seriously, who are you trying to impress by throwing things like that?"

Chen Yuchuan didn't speak in the voice channel, he just laughed.

A short while later, another flashbang exploded at Shen He's feet.

The teammate who was scouting nearby finally lost his temper and said, "Dude, can you stop messing around? Don't make me yell at you."

The words had barely left his mouth when a low, sharp laugh came through the channel: "You think I care about this one point? Try saying another one."

The voice was very low and cold, so much so that people instinctively stopped talking.

The channel was silent for two seconds.

Shen He spoke coldly, his voice like it was filled with fire: "If you don't want to play, just quit. That's enough."

Chen Yuchuan clicked his tongue, quickly regaining his temper and adopting his usual tone: "Fine."

After that, Chen Yuchuan indeed stopped and resumed following the project in a proper and orderly manner.

The unfamiliar teammate paused for a moment, then remained silent.

Gao Mingyuan couldn't help but chuckle twice to smooth things over: "You're really obedient, aren't you?"

After several rounds, the score was very close.

Chen Yuchuan was disciplined, but his discipline went too far. Almost every time they changed positions, he followed Shen He, even when flanking or feinting attacks, he would always appear near Shen He.

Even Gao Mingyuan couldn't help but ask him, "Have you changed your ways today? Are you here working as someone's lackey so that Brother He can take you to Tian Ti?" Clearly, he hadn't forgotten what happened last night.

"At your age, can you please stop calling people 'brother'? This is my brother, not your brother." The implication was unclear.

Shen He didn't reply, his eyes fixed on the screen, as if he hadn't heard. But he knew perfectly well that this person hadn't changed his nature at all; he was just finding different ways to disgust him.

The final game, match point.

The enemy team grouped up and charged B. Gao Mingyuan was instantly killed. Shen He arrived first, but he was the only one left in the point.

Suddenly, a piece of terrain appeared in the field of vision, precisely blocking the sniping point, almost seamlessly.

A low voice came through the earpiece: "Don't worry."

Shenhe did not answer.

With a flick of his finger, bullets rained down, two enemies fell, and the last one perished alongside Chen Yuchuan. A victory notification popped up on the screen.

Gao Mingyuan was extremely excited: "Brother He! You really are my brother! This move of yours was simply divine!"

In the chat, even random teammates couldn't help but say, "Brothers, you guys are awesome."

Shen He gave a perfunctory "Well done" and put his gun away.

Back in the team room, Gao Mingyuan was still a little reluctant to leave, but his phone kept popping up with messages, so he could only say, "Let's call it a day, my girlfriend is checking up on me."

Shen He took off his headphones, didn't speak, and left the room. Suddenly, a new application appeared in the lower right corner of the screen.

Game ID: hsx57278_CFK

Note: Add me as a friend.

Gao Mingyuan packed up his things and glanced at the screen: "Oh, he added you again? I didn't realize he was such a points slave."

Shen He smiled and clicked "accept".

Almost simultaneously, a chat message popped up.

hsx57278_CFK: Do you often play Gunline?

He was too lazy to return after sinking into the river.

A few seconds later, a second and a third message appeared.

hsx57278_CFK: I also think it's quite fun, I'll take you next time.

hsx57278_CFK: You can take me with you too.

hsx57278_CFK: It's just a bit too low-IQ. My assessment is that it's not as good as the Rift.

Seemingly guessing that Shenhe was about to delete her as a friend, the last message appeared almost immediately afterward:

hsx57278_CFK: How about we play some ranked matches, just one game, just one game.

Shen He leaned back in his chair, his gaze fixed on the message box, and tapped the desktop almost imperceptibly with his fingertips.

He deleted his friend and opened the Rift client.

The loading screen finished, and the red dot for the friend request lit up. Okay, I'll wait for him here.

My application was approved, and it's the same old story from the other side of the gunfight: messages and duo invitations keep coming in.

KFC_87275xsh: Ranking up?

KFC_87275xsh: Any match will do.

KFC_87275xsh: Please give me one more, bro.

He even added a pitiful emoji at the end, but Shenhe had already seen through his shameless act.

He didn't reply to the message, but simply clicked "accept invitation".

As soon as he entered the room, Chen Yuchuan immediately transferred ownership of the room, his tone feigning flattery but actually irritating: "Take me with you, Styx."

Shen He was too lazy to scold him: "Do you need that few points?"

"I'm missing out," Chen Yuchuan laughed, his voice slow and deliberate. "I'm only missing you. I don't care about anyone else's."

After a brief silence, Chenhe clicked the match button.

He entered almost instantly, but filled in the mid lane.

His teammate suggested switching positions, and Shenhe, seeing that he also mainly played the bottom lane, casually locked in [Queen of the Arctic], an assassin-type mid laner.

Chen Yuchuan laughed in the voice chat: "Okay, this time I'll jungle and you'll mid, won't we be invincible?"

Shen He simply replied, "Mm."

Chen Yuchuan then casually asked, "How long has it been since you played [Chasing the Moon]?"

Shen He paused slightly: "...for a while."

"It's a real pity." Chen Yuchuan's voice was devoid of emotion, as if he were just asking casually.

Shen He didn't reply, but just chuckled softly.

Chen Yuchuan said, "Don't push the line, I'll help you later."