Chapter 29

“Guardians of Glory” has been airing for over half a month, consistently dominating the top three hot search spots, with viewership ratings and popularity levels that other variety shows can’t surpass.

More and more people have discovered the charm and significance of esports games through this variety show.

The celebrities participating in “Guardians of Glory” have all gained massive attention, with their Weibo follower counts skyrocketing and their fame seeing huge gains.

Even the ING Team’s official Weibo account has surpassed one million followers.

Many non-gamers now know the ING Team and have some understanding of each member.

Especially Zhai Yi—as a marksman, she’s never played the marksman position once in this variety show “Guardians of Glory.” Who would believe it?!

This really calls for a deep dive into Zhai Yi’s luck.

In regular evening games, as long as it’s not an official match, Zhai Yi’s luck is off the charts. But when it comes to drawing lots for matches to select players, no one ever draws her—not even herself.

The only exception was the first match, when Zhai Yi was selected. The public didn’t know her strength and saw her as a burden, not favoring her at all. She very “shyly” picked the support Zhong Kui.

After that, Zhai Yi never played again.

Now, “Guardians of Glory” has reached the final competitive match. All the guests, including the live stream viewers, hope Zhai Yi will play. But Luo Xi announces that the SV Guest Team trained by the SV Team will play a BO1 friendly match against the ING Guest Team trained by the ING Team.

: What friendly match? It’s just to scout the enemy.

: The guests trained by SV Team are pretty strong, especially Wu Yiyao and Deng Mings. Those two play marksman and mid exceptionally well.

: The guests trained by ING Team aren’t bad either, okay? Fu Liang’s jungler and marksman, Yu Lanting’s mid and marksman are all impressive, and Bian Tang’s support is solid too.

: Honestly, both sides’ guests are about the same level. I think they’re all equally bad.

: What’s this, upstairs? King of Glory with dozens of stars? Talking big—aren’t you afraid of jinxing it?

: I think the guests have all improved. Their skills feel about equal—this BO1 is gonna be a good one.

: When can Zhai Yi play marksman? We really have to wait until the Autumn Split?

: Autumn Split prelims and regular season are coming up soon. Better to watch those than pin hopes on the variety show.

: This year I’m following the matches—go Zhai Yi!

….

After Luo Xi explains tonight’s match rules, Jiang Qingyan asks curiously, “A friendly match against the SV Guest Team? BO1, one game decides it?”

Luo Xi nods: “Yeah, just a friendly. Everyone’s been training separately for a while. Next Friday is the official BO3 against the SV Guest Team, so tonight’s BO1 is a chance for everyone to adapt, practice, and get a feel for each other.”

“Stay calm, play well. You’ve already played against the ING Youth Training Class players anyway—Bian Tang, what are you afraid of?”

Bian Tang mutters: “We didn’t win.”

Luo Xi smiles faintly: “It’s the participation that counts. Does the result matter?”

“Doesn’t.”

Everyone: “….”

You’re having fun with your Q&A there.

Luo Xi brings out the draw box: “Still drawing lots to pick who plays. The SV Guest Team is doing the same. No coaches for BP this match—the ING Team members will watch from the spectator seats.”

“Once players are set, you have ten minutes to decide on shotcaller and lineup.”

“Let’s draw.”

Everyone turns to Yu Lanting.

Yu Lanting steps forward: “I’ll draw.”

She draws five balls: Zeng Ranran, Yu Lanting, Jiang Qingyan, Li Zhi, and Bian Tang. Fu Liang gets a bye.

Fu Liang pats his chest: “Heh, I got the bye, heh.”

Jiang Qingyan laughs: “This works out fine—at least our lineup is complete.”

Five people, covering every lane.

Bian Tang nods: “Then we’ll pick heroes based on the positions we’ve practiced.”

Li Zhi asks: “Who’ll be shotcaller? I can’t.”

Bian Tang waves it off: “Me neither.”

Zeng Ranran says: “How about me…”

Yu Lanting speaks up: “Jiang-laoshi, you do it.”

Zeng Ranran’s expression sours as she glances sideways at Yu Lanting.

Jiang Qingyan pauses, then doesn’t refuse: “Sure, I’m the oldest here. You kids listen to your senior.”

Discussion over, the five log in and enter the game.

BP begins.

With little knowledge of each other, both the SV Guest Team and ING Guest Team can only ban based on guesses.

The heroes Jiang Qingyan and crew discuss and pick:

Yu Lanting—Yu Ji.

Bian Tang—Jiang Ziya.

Jiang Qingyan—Wang Zhaojun.

Li Zhi—Xiahou Dun.

Zeng Ranran—Lan.

Heroes locked in early, but trouble hits at the final picks.

Zeng Ranran is last to pick, and her phone lags, causing the system to auto-select Baili Shouyue for her.

Now their lineup has no jungler.

: WTF! Is Zeng Ranran sick?

: Can’t blame her entirely on a phone lag, right?

: How could her phone lag? They’re all the same config—who buys that?

: She just forgot to pick—total brain fart?

: Zeng Ranran did it on purpose. No jungler means they lose the whole jungle.

: Xiahou Dun can jungle, Baili top.

: They haven’t practiced Baili top.

: ING Guest Team is probably gonna lose.

…

Jiang Qingyan didn’t expect Zeng Ranran to end up with Baili Shouyue. What’s done is done—blaming her won’t help.

Zeng Ranran says guiltily: “Sorry, my phone lagged and the system picked Baili Shouyue.”

Jiang Qingyan sighs: “Can you play it? Top okay?”

Zeng Ranran whines: “I’ve never practiced this.”

Jiang Qingyan’s head throbs: “Does anyone know Baili? Lanting, you?”

Yu Lanting initiates a hero swap: “Zeng Ranran, you play marksman—Yu Ji okay? I see your proficiency is high.”

Zeng Ranran grits her teeth: “…Yeah.”

Yu Lanting: “I’ll top Baili. Jungler Xiahou Dun—Li Zhi, you good?”

Li Zhi nods: “Played it a few times subbing, should be fine.”

Yu Lanting: “Good. Zeng Ranran bot with Bian Tang, Jiang-laoshi mid unchanged, me top, Li Zhi jungle. Decided.”

Jiang Qingyan quickly: “Lanting, you shotcall from now on. Lineup changed—I might not direct well.”

Yu Lanting thinks: “Okay.”

Game officially starts.

ING Guest Team’s hero swaps look like tactics to the SV Guest Team—they don’t mind much. Top Baili puts some pressure on SV’s Kai.

Mid: Jiang Qingyan’s Wang Zhaojun vs. SV’s Wu Yiyao Shangguan Wan’er.

Junglers: Xiahou Dun vs. Lan.

But Li Zhi is subbing, his jungle skill and awareness far below Deng Mings’. Lan invades their jungle, steals Blue Buff, nearly kills Xiahou Dun. Wang Zhaojun saves it mid, or First Blood would’ve gone to Lan.

ING Guest Team fans breathe relief as the crisis passes.

Before they can fully exhale, the game announces “First Blood.”

Everyone gasps, checking the kill feed—it’s from top lane.

Baili Shouyue defeats Kai.

: What happened? What?!

: What went down top? I was watching jungle.

: Check Weibo replay quick—insane!

: Kai got bullied by Baili—arms too short, just poked to death.

: Kai ult tower-dived to kill Baili, but Baili ult + slick positioning snags first blood.

: Baili’s aim is pinpoint—eight out of ten bullets hit. High accuracy.

: Yu Lanting’s gotten scary good on marksman—shots on point.

….

Mu Li rubs his aching brow, asks Zhai Yi: “You taught her?”

Zhai Yi shreds marksman. In videos Lin Ranjiao showed of Zhai Yi on marksman, Baili appeared—and Yu Lanting’s Baili has her style.

Zhai Yi nods: “Yeah.”

Mu Li watches Yu Lanting’s nimble plays—Kai can’t farm, even with enemy jungler ganks, no lethal threat to Baili.

After a bit, he remembers something, leans to Zhai Yi, whispers: “Right, you carried me back to my room last night?”

Zhai Yi nods.

Mu Li recalls waking on the floor: “Did you just dump me on the ground and leave?”

Zhai Yi stone-faced: “No, I put you on the bed.”

Mu Li skeptical: “Then why’d I wake up on the floor?”

Zhai Yi calm: “Sleepwalking maybe.”

“…” Mu Li doesn’t buy it. “Impossible—no one’s ever said I do. I always wake up properly in bed.”

Zhai Yi eyes him: “Someone’s slept with you? Told you?”

Mu Li blushes: “What slept with? Never happened.”

“Back home, Mom and Dad never saw me sleepwalk.”

Zhai Yi denies: “That’s your parents—different.”

Mu Li puzzled: “How?”

Zhai Yi’s eyes hold subtle sorrow and pity: “Parents cherish their kids. If they learn the kid’s ‘sick,’ would they cruelly tell them, letting it torment day and night?”

Mu Li pauses, shakes head.

Zhai Yi satisfied: “See? You get parents’ hardships.”

Mu Li: “….”

Sounds reasonable.

Mu Li rubs brow: “Should I see a doc? Does sleepwalking affect matches?”

Zhai Yi hadn’t expected the male lead to be so professional: “Probably recent stress and frustration causing temporary episodes. Exercise, vent the gloom—might clear up in days.”

Mu Li nods sagely: “Good. After stream, night run.”

Zhai Yi thinks, good kid: “Mm.”

As they talk, game sees skirmishes.

SV Guest Team, stalled top, targets mid/bot. Shangguan Wan’er and Lan fat—three kills each, Lan dominates jungle.

Bot/mid lose first towers, vision lost.

Now SV gathers at Dragon Pit for dragon. ING Guest Team closes in to contest.

Dragon fight imminent.

SV starts dragon. At one-third HP, Xiahou Dun ults in to steal. Enemy marksman Le Sio + Ming Shiyin DPS; Zeng Ranran’s Yu Ji arrives, Lu Ban Master chains her, scouting while protecting marksman.

Dragon Pit chaos—skills flying.

Dragon nearly dead; both junglers hold Smite, fighting for it.

Mu Li squints: “Close—one more. Li Zhi’s Smite too early.”

Weixing Yan: “Dragon probably Lan’s. With it, SV pushes mid to crystal.”

Luo Weizhi’s eyes sharpen: “Look at Baili’s position.”

Everyone sees: Baili at Blue Buff pit, sniper up.

Zhai Yi smirks: “Dragon’s ours.”

As she speaks, Baili’s bullet nails dragon head—Baron falls.

Baili Shouyue successfully stole the Storm Dragon King.

Fu Liang exclaimed in shock, “Holy shit! Well done, that’s awesome!”

Weixing Yan clapped and praised, “That’s impressive. That bullet from Yu Lanting packed a ton of value.”

Mu Li pondered, “She was keeping an eye on the dragon’s health the whole time.”

“This is all because of your teaching?”

Zhai Yi shook her head. “I didn’t teach her jungling techniques. Junglers usually pay more attention to monster health calculations in the jungle.”

Mu Li was momentarily dazed, then gave a wry smile. “You’re right, I did teach her that. I just forgot.”

Zhai Yi glanced at Mu Li but said nothing.

With the dragon secured, the ING Guest Team’s morale soared.

Xiahou Dun and Lan took each other out. Jiang Qingyan used his ultimate to create distance, and both sides kited around the Dragon Pit.

Yu Ji and Baili Shouyue, the dual marksmen, kept pouring out damage, taking down the enemy’s Ming Shiyin and Le Sio.

The enemy Shangguan Wan’er seized the opportunity to dive on Baili Shouyue, landing a combo that sent him flying.

Caught off guard, Baili Shouyue was eliminated by Shangguan Wan’er. Yu Ji and Wang Zhaojun then killed Shangguan Wan’er and Kai in retaliation. With their last sliver of health, they pushed down mid lane with the dragon minions, straight to the crystal.

As Yu Ji destroyed the crystal, the “Victory” announcement rang out in the game.

Fu Liang jumped up excitedly. “We won! We won!”

He rushed down and hugged Jiang Qingyan and Bian Tang, then looked at Yu Lanting. “Lan Ting, that was amazing. You played Baili Shouyue so well.”

Yu Lanting waved it off. “It was all thanks to everyone’s teamwork. In the end, it was Zeng Ranran and Teacher Jiang who pushed the crystal.”

Jiang Qingyan smiled. “Everyone contributed. If you hadn’t sniped that dragon, we might not have held.”

Li Zhi agreed. “Exactly. If the SV Guest Team had gotten the dragon, they would’ve pushed us right then and there.”

Bian Tang let out a sigh of relief. “It’s just a friendly match, but winning is always good.”

Fu Liang gave Zeng Ranran a meaningful look. “Since we won, I’ll buy you a phone. Just in case you get lag again and pick random heroes.”

Zeng Ranran gritted her teeth. “…Are you blaming me?”

Fu Liang curled his lip. “How could I blame you? I’m just worried about you. Teacher Zeng is so frugal it breaks my heart. Your phone lags and you don’t even think to replace it. Anyone would have to say you’re gentle, refined, thrifty, and virtuous.”

Zeng Ranran’s face darkened. She crossed her arms and turned her head away, ignoring his sarcasm.

Fu Liang deliberately mimicked her pissed-off expression, making Li Zhi snicker.

Yu Lanting shook her head, signaling Fu Liang not to stir trouble, since the stream was still live.

: I like Fu Liang’s personality. He holds grudges perfectly. What Zeng Ranran did was really shady. It’s a friendly match, but you still gotta take it seriously. No messing around.

: I’m going to vote for the others. Eliminate Zeng Ranran. A tumor like her might cause more drama in next Friday’s BO3.

: Good point. Voting now too.

: Me too. Zeng Ranran, get out. Esports isn’t for screwing around!

: Yeah, she doesn’t take esports seriously at all. At the start, when picking positions, she mains marksman but insists on following Mu Li to “learn.” Was that learning? She just thinks Mu Li’s hot and was trying to seduce him.

: Didn’t they say Zeng Ranran has connections with execs at Star Creation Entertainment?

: Getting kept by some sugar daddy and still flirting with outsiders. Not afraid of making her sponsor mad?

: Zeng Ranran, scram. She doesn’t deserve esports.

: If Yu Lanting hadn’t stepped up and played Baili Shouyue top, we’d have lost for sure.

: Yu Lanting deserves a rank-up. Love her, love her.

: Yu Lanting played great. Baili Shouyue is a tough hero.

: Gotta credit Zhai Yi’s coaching. She’s been teaching Yu Lanting and Fu Liang all sorts of marksman playstyles these past few days. Super thorough and clear—even I, a total noob, got it.

: True. Zhai Yi’s a great teacher. Too bad we haven’t seen her play marksman.

: Yeah, the variety show’s almost over and Zhai Yi still hasn’t played marksman.

: Regret +1

….

Director Luo announced that the ING Guest Team had won. Tomorrow, they’d enjoy a big feast, and the final elimination would be revealed.

The stream ended, and everyone dispersed back to their rooms to rest.

Mu Li stared at Yu Lanting’s retreating figure, his gaze dim. He lowered his head and walked out.

Weixing Yan grabbed him. “Where are you going?”

Mu Li said, “For a run.”

Weixing Yan was puzzled. “Why exercise all of a sudden?”

“You want to turn your tears into sweat?”

He knew about Mu Li and Yu Lanting’s situation and understood the odds of them continuing were slim—sexuality was a tricky thing.

Mu Li shook off his hand, too lazy to explain, and headed out of the villa for his run.

Zhai Yi headed upstairs. She saw Zeng Ranran holding her phone, staring at Yu Lanting’s room with venomous, calculating jealousy all over her face.

A cold, weary expression crossed Zhai Yi’s face. She turned and went back to her room.

In the original plot…

Zeng Ranran was the final elimination. At the same time, to drag Yu Lanting down with her, she leaked their relationship to the tabloids in private, complete with video. She teamed up with her exec connection at Star Creation Entertainment, using money and power for crisis PR. They fabricated black material, accusing the Guardians of Glory variety show of rigging, under-the-table deals, coach-trainee underground romance, multiple trysts during filming, treating esports like a joke—inciting public outrage.

Demanding Infinite Entertainment ban Yu Lanting.

Demanding Glory Entertainment Division and ING Team fire Mu Li.

Demanding Director Luo apologize for the rigging and pull Guardians of Glory from broadcast.

It was just like the storm brewing tonight—stifling, humid air enveloping everyone, ready to wipe them all out.