Chapter 11

Zhai Yi’s Zhong Kui had already become a nightmare for the enemy heroes. Even the on-site guests and the live stream viewers all commented that if they encountered a Zhong Kui like this, they should just surrender and restart.

The game situation had turned into a total one-sided slaughter!

The enemy heroes had no way to fight back. As long as Zhong Kui threw a hook, it was guaranteed to hit.

Every time Zhong Kui swung his hook, everyone’s hearts trembled as they watched, terrified that the next second it would impale them.

Mu Li and Fu Liang finished off the Storm Dragon King. Mu Li said, “Push mid lane, take it all the way…”

Before he could finish, the game announcement rang out.

Han Xin defeats Zhong Kui.

Mu Li immediately asked over voice chat, “What happened?”

Zhai Yi didn’t have time for him. “Yu Lanting, run toward the Dragon Pit right now.”

Yu Lanting immediately maneuvered her Wang Zhaojun to flee, even using Flash to escape.

: Holy crap, all five of them were hiding in the bushes, ganking Zhong Kui together.

: Xiahou Dun sacrificed himself and took Zhong Kui down with him.

: One Zhong Kui lured out all the enemy’s ultimates.

: Now it’s Mu Li’s harvest show time.

: Did the blue side forget there’s a pro player from ING Team in this game?

: They must’ve been scared shitless by Zhai Yi’s Zhong Kui and forgot Mu Li even existed, along with how ferocious he is as a jungler.

Mu Li learned that the enemy had five-man ganked Zhong Kui in the bushes, and Han Xin had chased down and killed Wang Zhaojun right after.

But before Yu Lanting died, she unleashed her ultimate, chipping away at the enemies.

Zhai Yi glanced at Mu Li. “They used all their ultimates on me. The rest is up to you.”

“Push straight through.”

Fu Liang was sharpening his knives. “How dare you touch my Godfather? I’ll shoot you turtle bastards dead!”

Li Zhi warmly reminded him, “This is live, bro.”

Fu Liang rephrased tactfully, “I’ll shoot you turtle BBBBs dead!”

Li Zhi: “…”

The system automatically censored the profanity. Solid professional ethics.

“Got it.”

Mu Li controlled his Miyamoto Musashi, ulting straight in and slashing down the enemy Sun Shangxiang.

Under Li Zhi’s protection, Hou Yi unleashed a frenzy of output, one-shotting anyone in sight. His arrow speed was so fast it nearly snapped the bowstring.

In the end, Mu Li and Fu Liang both got double kills, snagging the Overlord Pioneer and charging straight into the enemy crystal nexus.

Victory!

The victory fanfare blared, and the crowd erupted in cheers.

Weixing Yan rushed up, raising his arms for a hug with Mu Li and Zhai Yi, only to find one had a stone-cold face and the other a total B-face.

He awkwardly lowered his arms, but then Fu Liang barreled in for a big bear hug.

“See that, Coach Wei? See? We won, hahaha!”

Weixing Yan patted his back with a laugh. “Good, good, good. A win’s a win. Seafood feast tomorrow.”

Fu Liang spun around to hug and celebrate with the others.

Weixing Yan sidled up to Mu Li. “We won the match, so why the long face?”

Mu Li didn’t answer. Instead, he stared at Zhai Yi and asked, “You’re so good at support. Why didn’t you tell us?”

Weixing Yan wanted to know too. If they’d known from the start how strong Zhai Yi was at support, ING Team could’ve adjusted their strategy for the Spring Tournament.

Ning Yao and Luo Weizhi walked over.

Mu Li glanced at the follow-cam PDs. “Sorry, this involves match strategy and decisions. Can’t film this.”

The PDs looked to Luo Xi, who nodded and called them back. No filming for now.

: Mu Li’s about to throw hands?

: Yeah, he should ask. Who knew Zhai Yi was this good at support?

: I just rewatched the streams from the past few days. Zhai Yi’s not just good at Zhong Kui—her other supports are killer too.

: Zhai Yi’s been sandbagging. Probably cost ING the Spring Tournament title.

: Right? If she’d said early on how good she was at support, ING might’ve overhauled their outdated playbook.

: But then Zhai Yi would’ve replaced Ning Yao. I don’t want Ning Yao off the ING starting roster.

: Ning Yao’s the oldest on ING Team anyway. He can’t play forever before retiring.

: Ning Yao’s solid as marksman too. They could just swap positions.

: You guys don’t decide the draft strategy anyway.

Yu Lanting figured this was ING’s internal drama, and she shouldn’t stick around. But she was wedged between Mu Li and Zhai Yi, stuck in an awkward spot.

Ning Yao heard the accusatory tone in Mu Li’s voice and quickly smoothed things over. “Zhai Yi came to ING as a marksman. Being good at support is just a bonus surprise.”

“Did you ask me?” Zhai Yi said coldly.

Mu Li frowned. “What?”

Zhai Yi looked at the other four ING Team members. “Did any of you… ask me?”

Ning Yao’s expression shifted, and Luo Weizhi averted his gaze.

Weixing Yan got what she meant. “We thought back then that you were…”

Zhai Yi cut in. “You thought I used power and money to squeeze out the original marksman, just so I could join ING as marksman. So you rejected me, resisted me, got annoyed with me, ignored me. You never bothered to get to know me, discuss strategies with me, or figure out how to best use my skills to win honors for the team. Because to you, I was just a freeloader, a deadweight, a tumor trying to tank ING Team.”

Yu Lanting heard this and felt a pang of inexplicable sorrow—for Zhai Yi.

Ning Yao hesitated. “It’s not like that, Zhai Yi. We, we didn’t think that about you.”

Luo Weizhi furrowed his brow. “That’s going too far.”

Weixing Yan looked a bit embarrassed. “Yeah, we did have a bad first impression of you joining. That was our mistake. We owe you an apology.”

Mu Li took a deep breath and sneered. “It was you who had your dad shell out cash to buy Glory Club, force the original marksman out of ING Team and Glory, then shove you in as marksman. That’s why we bombed the Spring Tournament and didn’t even make semifinals.”

“You talk about us rejecting you, resisting you, ignoring and annoying you. Why don’t you look at what you did? Shouldn’t that make people treat you that way?”

“Pro gaming isn’t playtime. It’s not a game for you rich kids.” Mu Li got angrier, stepping forward.

Weixing Yan quickly blocked him. “Mu Li, watch it.”

Cameras were everywhere. Even if they couldn’t pick up audio, they’d catch any heated gestures.

Seeing Mu Li furious, Yu Lanting panicked and stepped in front of Zhai Yi, gesturing for him to calm down.

“All of us, and those kids in the Youth Training Class—they bust their asses for a shot at the big stage, winning glory for the team and themselves. For a chance to represent the country on the world stage and bring home trophies.”

“But what did you do? Lacking skill, bad attitude, zero talent, and deliberately sandbagging. How am I supposed to get along with you?”

“Don’t you know how we lost the Spring Tournament?”

“Isn’t this variety show’s slogan something you chanted loud and proud? ‘Esports: Git gud or git wrecked.’ Don’t tell me you don’t get it.”

Tuantuan heard Mu Li’s accusations and huffed: 【They have no clue about the original body’s hardships or the real story. They just judge everything on their assumptions.】

Zhai Yi was surprised to see the female lead shielding her. She gently pushed Yu Lanting aside and locked eyes with Mu Li. “I’ve thought of a million things to say to explain before. But now, I think no amount of words will make you face the real issue at the root.”

Mu Li scowled. “What’re you saying? Beating around the bush to call me out?”

Zhai Yi turned to Ning Yao, asking flatly, “Is Coach Zou Kai coming in a couple days?”

Ning Yao replied, “Yeah, the coach is coming to check on us. Probably Monday or Tuesday.”

“What, you got business with the coach?”

Luo Weizhi eyed her. “You gonna tattle to the coach?”

They all knew the coach doted on Zhai Yi, taking special care of her. Whenever she felt down or cried, it was the coach comforting her.

Mu Li scoffed. “Go ahead. You think I’m scared of you snitching?”

Zhai Yi shook her head. “Nah, I just wanna talk to the coach. You guys can come listen too.”

Weixing Yan asked curiously, “What’re you gonna chat about with him?”

“You’re not thinking of quitting the team, are you?”

“No need. Mu Li’s just hot-tempered and blunt. He was pissed you didn’t tell him how good you are, but he doesn’t want you gone.”

Ning Yao watched Zhai Yi worriedly.

Mu Li stared at her seriously. “What exactly are you up to?”

“You’ll find out then.” Zhai Yi turned and walked away.

Mu Li couldn’t stand her secretive weirdness. “Spit it out straight. Don’t bottle it up.”

“And,” Zhai Yi turned back to him, “if I wanna cuss you out, I’ll do it straight—no beating around the bush.”

“Because I’m afraid you won’t get it.”

Zhai Yi tapped her temple, her expression a mix of mockery and exasperation.

Mu Li: “…”

Yu Lanting glanced at Mu Li and hurried after Zhai Yi.

Mu Li called out as Yu Lanting left, “Yu Lan…”

Weixing Yan held him back. “Let it go. Everyone’s beat today. Head to your rooms and rest. In a couple days, when the coach shows, we’ll see what Zhai Yi’s planning.”

“If you piss her off more, forget her helping you snag a meetup with Lanting.”

Mu Li’s face darkened at the reminder.

With the third game win securing tomorrow’s seafood feast, everyone dispersed to their rooms once the stream ended.

Yu Lanting knew Zhai Yi’s mood had to be crap after getting reamed out by that hothead Mu Li. No one would feel good after that.

Logically, she shouldn’t follow—given her friendship with Zhai Yi, she wasn’t the right person to comfort her gloom.

But Yu Lanting couldn’t help herself. She naturally trailed Zhai Yi up to the second floor, only stopping awkwardly at Zhai Yi’s door, unsure what to do.

Zhai Yi had known Yu Lanting was following. Probably to thank her for the in-game help and console her over Mu Li’s rant.

Sweet, considerate girl. Just blind—falling for a Violent T-Rex like that!

Zhai Yi opened the door and glanced sideways at her. “Come in and sit?”

Yu Lanting blinked. “Is that okay?”

“Nope.”

Yu Lanting flushed. “Then… I’ll go…”

Zhai Yi smiled. “Kidding. What’s not okay? Come on in.”

Yu Lanting touched her hair. “Alright.”

She stepped in. The room setup was standard, no luggage clutter—spotless and tidy.

Zhai Yi shut the door, grabbed a bottle of mineral water from the table, and handed it over. “Water?”

“Just sit on the bed. The chair broke a couple days ago; it’s gone.”

Yu Lanting took the bottle and perched on the bed edge. “Thanks.”

“Something on your mind?”

Zhai Yi asked first.

Yu Lanting nodded. “Thanks for covering me in the game earlier.”

“No biggie. We’re teammates. As support, protecting the carry is my job.”

Zhai Yi downplayed it, but Yu Lanting got why—to ease her guilt and gratitude.

“Honestly, if you’d stuck to protecting the marksman that game, we could’ve ended it quick.”

Zhai Yi crossed her arms, leaning against the TV stand. “Was it fun?”

Yu Lanting blanked for a sec. “Huh, what?”

“When I took you ganking earlier—was it fun?”

Yu Lanting’s eyes sparkled under the lights as she nodded excitedly. “Yeah, super fun.”

“See? If we’d ended early, you wouldn’t have had that fun.”

Zhai Yi straightened and walked over. “Whether gaming or competing, the key is mindset. Get that right, and you can turn games around—or life itself—come out unstoppable.”

Yu Lanting watched her approach, heart pounding like a drum, cheeks heating up, eyes darting away.

She saw Zhai Yi lean down, reaching out toward her.

Yu Lanting tensed and shut her eyes, feeling Zhai Yi’s hand brush past her arm. A tiny spark shot from her spine to her brain, tingling through her whole body.

Zhai Yi grabbed the phone, stood up straight, and answered the call.

“Hello?”

Yu Lanting opened her eyes at the voice and saw Zhai Yi motioning her to take the call.

Yu Lanting whispered hurriedly, “Oh? Yeah, yeah, go ahead.”

She watched as Zhai Yi headed to the balcony and immediately patted her flushed, numb cheeks. She had no idea what was wrong with her—every time she was around Zhai Yi, she felt like a total mess.

Zhai Yi leaned against the railing, listening to Zhou Zhu’s words, but her gaze fell on Yu Lanting through the balcony’s transparent glass door.

Yu Lanting’s blushing, shy appearance and that excessively fierce heartbeat.

Zhai Yi’s long lashes trembled as her pupils glimmered with flecks of light, appearing even more profound and enigmatic than before.