Chapter 51
Chapter 51
After the New Year, the day to return to the team will be just around the corner.
As the top team in the standings, TWG only needs to play two matches: the semifinals and the finals. As long as they don't make any mistakes, reaching the podium is a sure thing.
However, the real goal is still the championship.
The update was just two days away, leaving little time for training for the teams. Although TWG had relatively more time, no one complained about having too much. After a few days of fun at the hot spring resort, Xu Ziyan and Xie Wei returned to their team.
Bai Chen and Shen Xiao were to return a day earlier than them, while Yu Guangzhou returned in a hurry after the New Year. The five of them had dinner together at the villa. At the table, Yu Guangzhou officially announced that normal training would resume starting tomorrow.
"Sigh." Shen Xiao complained softly, "Is e-sports even a game for humans? You only get two holidays a year, and they're so short. It's like they're killing us."
Yu Guangzhou glanced at him and said, "KW only gave five days of annual leave, and WOF started training the day before yesterday."
Without comparison, there is no difference. Shen Xiao said, "I suddenly feel balanced."
Seeing that he was no longer spouting nonsense, Yu Guangzhou felt a little better. He picked up some food and said casually, "There will be a new substitute joining the team tomorrow, so you all need to keep an eye on him."
Substitute?
As soon as she finished speaking, three out of the four pairs of eyes on the table turned to Xie Wei.
Bai Chen said, "The one that was bound to come has finally arrived."
Shen Xiao said, "Hey, Captain Xie, don't think too much about it. Even the best players have to retire someday. Don't worry, I'll take good care of the team."
Xu Ziyan looked worried, hesitated for a moment, and then remained silent.
Xie Wei almost laughed out of anger: "Trying to send me away? You're thinking too far ahead."
Yu Guangdao said, "Ahem, the substitutes aren't snipers, they're assault operatives."
"You all know this person, he's Yuan from the second team."
Shen Xiao was stunned upon hearing this. After calculating the ages of everyone present, and taking advantage of his one-year age difference, he confidently turned to Bai Chen and said, "Hey, Chen, don't overthink it. Even the best people have to retire someday..."
Bai Chen gave him a cool look: "You should worry more about yourself. Your stats are the most inconsistent in the league this season."
Shen Xiao choked, turning to look at Yu Guangzhou: "No way? Could it really be me? I'm still young! I just made it into the top ten on the assault leaderboard a couple of days ago! The team can't kick me out just because I'm willing to risk my life for the team and sacrifice my KDA!"
Yu Guangzhou was annoyed: "It's just a matter of having two options. Yuan has been performing well recently, and after the playoffs he will have to go abroad for the Mid-Season Invitational. Bringing an extra person and getting an extra visa is better than him getting sick from the change in environment or having to play while ill."
Shen Xiao reluctantly accepted the explanation, then suddenly remembered something and said, "Speaking of raids, what about WOF..."
He stopped abruptly halfway through his sentence, chuckled, and then said, "YNG seems to have started training quite early as well. I hope TWG won't be the last team to return."
The WOF he just mentioned seems to have been just a minor slip of the tongue.
Xu Ziyan said, "Yes, when KK messaged me a few days ago, he was already playing practice matches with the team."
Shen Xiao said, "You're really diligent." He then nudged Bai Chen, "Learn something from your brother."
Bai Chen ignored him.
--
After finishing dinner, Xu Ziyan returned to his room, turned on his computer, logged into the game, and checked the leaderboard.
Seamy rose to fifth place, while Yuan ranked eighth.
To be fair, TWG's second team's attack line, while not weak, isn't particularly strong either. They could definitely get a starting position on a smaller team, but they're not up to par with TWG's Seamy and Chen.
But Xu Ziyan took a closer look at Yuan's recent matches and was surprised to find that his stats had improved considerably compared to before. Not only that, from the off-season until this afternoon, Yuan Shaofeng's ranked matches had been almost non-stop, and he had been aggressively climbing the ranks.
The intensity was so high that Xu Ziyan, who had been eating, playing, and sleeping these past few days, almost felt ashamed of himself.
Back in the second team, Xu Ziyan and Yuan Shaofeng had a good relationship. He had no intention of getting involved in the complicated love triangle between Yuan Shaofeng, Bai Ke, and Bai Chen. As far as friends and teammates were concerned, Xu Ziyan was very welcoming.
Just as I was wondering whether I should send a message to Yuan Shaofeng to let him know in advance, I received a new message on Line.
[Seamy: Hey hey hey, wanna do a live stream together tomorrow? Last two hours, then we're done.]
Xu Ziyan had no objection and replied: Yes.
For some reason, I suddenly remembered Shen Xiao's hesitant expression at the dinner table, hesitated for a moment, and then typed.
[Ice: By the way, what happened to the WOF assault?]
Seamy: It's nothing serious.
[Seamy: Uh, well, how should I put it, their other player, Jin, who's an ADC, has been acting strangely lately. There were signs of it during the preseason, and after the preseason ended, he started demanding a raise, even saying he'd throw the game if he didn't get one.]
There are such oddballs out there.
Ice: ...? Isn't he afraid of breaking the contract?
[Seamy: What's there to be afraid of? He didn't fix the match, and he didn't break any rules. He'll just insist that he played poorly because he was bad, and nobody can do anything about it.]
Xu Ziyan was shocked.
[Ice: Isn't this just jeopardizing my career?]
[Seamy: A professional career, my foot! This guy's almost retired, and he didn't have any achievements or popularity to begin with. He's probably just jealous of Secret and wants to cash in on them. Seriously, who does he think he is? This piece of trash has been clinging to Secret's coattails, constantly dragging them down. He should be grateful to even be on the WOF first team, and he still has the nerve to resort to threats.]
[Seamy: WOF would be better off signing me than him for a huge sum.]
Xu Ziyan was both amused and exasperated. He asked, "How do you know all this?"
Shen Xiao replied quite naturally: "Secret said it themselves."
Xu Ziyan was taken aback, then burst into laughter.
Shen Xiao, that idiot, doesn't he realize that Li Huanbin is the kind of person who can't keep a secret and loves to talk about his team's affairs everywhere? Nine times out of ten, he's just trying to take advantage of the situation to play the victim and drag Shen Xiao to WOF.
He opened Seamy's ranked match history and found that in dozens of recent ranked matches, without exception, Secret was on the team, and in the ranked matches where he was, Shen Xiao was the MVP in eight or nine out of ten times.
Xu Ziyan joked: "It's been a few days since we last met. Xiao Shen has been all lovey-dovey with his old 'enemy' over the sake of scores."
[Seamy: Don't be ridiculous, he's just a tool. They'll use him and then block him.]
You were so indignant and worried for others just now.
Xu Ziyan didn't call him out on it, but instead sent him a thumbs-up.
The following morning, Yu Guangzhou led Yuan Shaofeng into the team's training room.
Xu Ziyan had just finished a ranked match when he heard the sound and looked up.
All told, it had only been half a month since they last met, and in that short time, Yuan Shaofeng had changed a lot. His once slightly long hair had been shaved into a buzz cut, and without the wispy bangs on his forehead, a vertical scar was revealed at the end of his left eyebrow, adding a lot of fierceness to his whole appearance.
Yuan Shaofeng was already tall, and now, wearing his team uniform, he stood behind Yu Guangzhou without saying a word or smiling, looking much more composed.
Perhaps considering that Xu Ziyan knew Yuan Shaofeng before, Yu Guangzhou arranged for the two of them to be seated very close to each other.
After Yuan Shaofeng sat down, he turned to Xu Ziyan and smiled, "Ice, long time no see."
"It's not like we've been apart for ages," Xu Ziyan said. "What happened to your hair?"
Yuan Shaofeng touched the top of his head: "I guess it's a way to change my mood."
Xu Ziyan was puzzled by what he heard and tilted his head slightly.
Yuan Shaofeng shrugged, lowered his voice, and said in a volume only the two of them could hear, "The day KK left the team, I confessed to KK."
Xu Ziyan's pupils contracted slightly, his face filled with surprise. When Bai Ke came to the Xie family for the New Year, he really didn't notice anything amiss.
"And then, unsurprisingly, I got dumped." Yuan Shaofeng actually knew whether Bai Kexi liked him or not, but he had endured it for too long. Seeing that she was about to leave TWG, and with the help of alcohol, he lost his mind and confessed.
Needless to say, Bai Ke refused outright, without even a few jokes to ease the tension. His refusal was firm and left no room for negotiation.
Xu Ziyan wanted to say a few words of comfort to him, but it wouldn't be appropriate for him to say anything. Before he could rack his brains for a line, Yuan Shaofeng said, "However, I've also figured it out."
“I like him, so I should work harder to improve myself instead of just being a second-team player and muddling through in the secondary league,” Yuan Shaofeng said. “KK is already the starting sniper for YNG’s first team, so it’s time for me to move forward too.”
No wonder Yuan Shaofeng's ranking skyrocketed after that day, and his progress was incredibly rapid. It turns out he had a change in mindset; you could say he turned heartbreak into strength.
Xu Ziyan said, "At least this matter has brought you a positive impact."
Yuan Shao chimed in, "That's a good idea too. Shall we duo queue later?"
Xu Ziyan said, "No, I have plans with Seamy..." As he spoke, he turned his head and met Shen Xiao's slightly scrutinizing gaze.
Shen Xiao squinted: "You two seem to have a very good relationship."
Xu Ziyan said, "...It's alright."
Shen Xiao said, "I understand, I understand. My old teammate is here. It's time to abandon me."
A question mark popped up above Xu Ziyan's head: ?
"Shen Xiao." Xie Wei removed half of his earphone and said in a cool tone, "Want to do extra training?"
Upon hearing the words "extra training," Shen Xiao immediately wilted and sheepishly returned to his seat.
Xu Ziyan chuckled and didn't take it to heart.
He fully expected that Yuan Shaofeng would join the team and play Bai Chen's position, a front-line tank to absorb damage and protect the backline. After all, both his previous experience in the second team and Yuan Shaofeng's own playstyle were more suited to this role.
However, to everyone's surprise, in the next training match, Yu Guangzhou had Yuan Shaofeng replace not Bai Chen, but Shen Xiao.
“Seamy is too impatient and easy to exploit.” Yu Guangzhou wrote two lines in his data notebook. “Yuan, you go up and try, but be careful.”
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