“Why didn’t you tell me you were coming? I would have picked you up.”
Wen Zhe lightly patted the seat next to him, and Jian Yao moved to sit down. Seeing this, Su Ze replied, “I asked him the same thing just now. Yao said he was afraid we’d be busy.”
“By the way, Captain,” Su Ze leaned toward Wen Zhe, “why did you give Yao the ‘Player’s Family’ badge? Weren’t there others?”
Jian Yao pricked up his ears, listening intently…
“There was only one,” Wen Zhe replied nonchalantly. He had no idea that the strange feeling in Jian Yao’s heart was growing stronger by the second.
“Ah… I get it now.”
“Don’t you have one too?”
“If that’s what you mean, Captain, then there really is only one…”
Su Ze pouted thoughtfully, giving a vague answer. Jian Yao listened, completely baffled. Was this some kind of AFG internal Morse code?
The music began to swell outside, a signal to everyone that the opening ceremony was about to begin.
“Then I’ll head out to the stands first.” Jian Yao stood up, paused, then turned back to look at Wen Zhe. “Good luck with the match, Wen Zhe…”
Seeing this, Wen Zhe stood up and opened his arms wide.
“You’re just going to say it? No other gesture?” Wen Zhe stood there with his arms open, waiting, seemingly unbothered by any potential awkwardness.
Jian Yao froze for a moment, then quickly braced himself mentally.
It’s just a hug, no big deal…
He walked toward Wen Zhe like a robot. He hadn’t originally thought Wen Zhe was much taller than him, but standing directly in front of him, Jian Yao found his gaze level only with Wen Zhe’s Adam’s apple.
The difference in stature was surprisingly obvious.
A second later, Jian Yao leaned in. Before he could fully make contact, he felt a large hand press against his back, pulling him firmly into a tight embrace. Wen Zhe’s voice sounded right in his ear: “With your strength, we’ll definitely win.”
“Good luck!” Jian Yao raised his hand and lightly patted Wen Zhe’s back. Wen Zhe let out a soft chuckle and released him.
The hug was brief, but Jian Yao vividly remembered every detail of how his body reacted.
Wen Zhe’s solid back, his shoulders—
They felt different from how they looked when Jian Yao sat on the back of his bike.
Jian Yao walked out of the practice room and into the hallway. The bustling sounds from the various lounges filled the air, making the corridor feel like the quietest place by comparison.
“How is the situation being handled?”
A sudden, unfamiliar, and frantic voice made Jian Yao’s senses sharpen. He caught a glimpse of a figure not far away.
“Good. The messier, the better. Don’t let them find a pattern—even a moment’s delay helps!”
The man punched the wall, gritting his teeth, completely unaware of Jian Yao’s presence.
Jian Yao had no intention of getting involved. He hurried away to avoid bringing trouble upon himself.
The opening ceremony was extravagant. Jian Yao shook his head and clicked his tongue.
As expected of the “janky” League—always eager to blow money on useless things to create a “surface-level impression.”
They didn’t care one bit about the equipment in the venue. In the past, players’ peripherals would malfunction constantly, leading to match delays. Though the League had claimed they would handle it, it was just a case of “replacing potatoes with spuds”—essentially the same rotten quality.
This had led many players to bring their own equipment, and the League hadn’t explicitly forbidden it.
In Jian Yao’s opinion, as long as the money was right, they’d probably let you play from a bed if you wanted.
But this time, a new sponsor had appeared out of nowhere, prompting the League to issue a strict “no personal equipment” directive. Who knew what they were up to? Most likely, the sponsor’s money had talked loud enough.
While Jian Yao was immersed in his silent critique, a woman wearing an AFG team uniform sat down beside him. Jian Yao turned to look—it was Li Yan.
“Sister Yan! The championship will definitely be ours tonight!”
“We’re looking forward to Wen Zhe’s MVP!”
Li Yan wore a confident smile as she leaned back to wave at the fans behind her. She was small in stature; it was hard to imagine such a woman supporting the entirety of AFG.
Perhaps his gaze was too intense, as Li Yan turned to look at him. Her eyes flickered to the badge on his chest before she sat down. “You must be YAO, right?”
“Yes. Hello, I’m Jian Yao.”
“Jian Yao,” Li Yan repeated softly with a nod. Her tone was exceptionally kind, and her eyes were full of appreciation. “I’ve seen your Assassin play. You’re very good. Would you like to join AFG?”
Jian Yao’s mouth hung open slightly. Was she joking?
Was this the same kind of joke Wen Zhe had made before?
Li Yan sensed his hesitation and patted his shoulder. “It’s not a joke. I’ve thought about this very seriously. If it’s a burden for you, I apologize…”
“No, it’s just… I didn’t expect you to tell me personally. I’m a bit flattered…” For some reason, words Jian Yao usually wouldn’t say came tumbling out.
“Hahaha, not all owners and players are just about business. In my eyes, they’ve never been tools for making money.” Li Yan’s gaze fixed on the stage. “They’re a group of boys chasing their dreams. All I can do is build them a stable stage to stand on.”
The lights converged on the stage. Under the gaze of ten thousand people, the host took center stage.
“Welcome everyone to the opening ceremony of the 8th Chasers Pro League Grand Finals! I am your host, Qi Ping!”
“This journey started with sixteen teams, and today we finally reach the Grand Finals. Which of our two finalists, AFG or SG, will take the crown? What kind of spectacular showdown will they bring us?”
“Let’s welcome the two teams with a round of applause!”
SG entered first. An unspoken, collective silence from the crowd was followed by scattered boos. The six members of SG stood awkwardly next to the host…
Then, the lights dimmed. A wolf’s howl echoed through the arena as red and blue lights flashed in sequence. The AFG team flag appeared on the screen.
The screams were deafening. This was AFG’s “crowd control” ability—they dominated the atmosphere regardless of anyone else.
Caught up in the audience’s passion, the host’s voice grew excited. “Let’s have the members of AFG say hello to our audience!”
Standing next to the host, Wen Zhe naturally took the microphone. “Hello everyone, I’m Wen Zhe, Captain of AFG.”
“Wen Zhe, Wen Zhe, no one’s better!” The female fans’ voices drowned out the hall. Not to be outdone, the male fans screamed in ear-piercing tenors: “When God Zhe appears, the game is over!”
“Hello everyone, I’m AFG Su Ze.” Su Ze waved happily to the crowd.
“Medicine-Giving Immortal, Mommy loves you!”
Hearing this, Su Ze snatched the microphone back from Zhong Yuyi, who was about to speak. “Let me clarify—I am no longer the Medicine-Giving Immortal. I’ve passed that title down to Yin Mo.”
“Oh? Why is that? The Medicine-Giving Immortal has a successor?” The host chimed in quickly.
“Because during the scrims, it was hilarious. KOG stole our treasure chest, but the potion inside was so bad they gave it back to us. Truly too polite.”
Su Ze wanted to leak more, but Zhong Yuyi snatched the mic back.
The audience erupted in laughter. Fans immediately added fuel to the fire: “Fly brave, Su Ze, we’ll always be behind you!”
“Hello everyone, I’m AFG Zhong Yuyi.”
“The ‘Yi’ in Zhong Yuyi stands for his duty to protect Su Ze!”
Zhong Yuyi remained expressionless, but his gaze flickered to Su Ze’s sulking face before he passed the mic to Xu Xu.
Xu Xu took it and coughed lightly. “Hello everyone, I’m AFG Xu Xu. Your Big Bro is here.”
“Xu Xu, Xu Xu, boo him on sight!”
Xu Xu forced a strained smile. When was his fan slogan ever going to change? “Boo him on sight”—if you didn’t know better, you’d think they wanted to spit on him.
Of course, Xu Xu understood what the fans meant: Whenever an opponent sees him, their life is taken before they can even think of their last words. He couldn’t exactly reject such “kindness.”
“Hello everyone, I’m AFG Chen En.”
“Hello everyone, I’m AFG Jiang Ning.”
“En-Ning, En-Ning, Good En-Ning!”
Jiang Ning and Chen En were like twin stars, one of the top “best duos” in the League.
Wait, why wasn’t it Su Ze and Zhong Yuyi?
Those two were in a different category—”Best CP” (Couple).
The atmosphere reached a fever pitch, but when it came time to introduce the SG players, it hit another kind of peak—a freezing one.
It wasn’t until the start of the match was announced that the atmosphere was reignited.
“Welcome to the Grand Finals of the 8th Chasers Pro League. I’m your commentator, Mo Wen.”
“And I’m Xiao Xiao.”
Mo Wen: “It’s that time of year again. I wonder who will take the championship home this time?”
Xiao Xiao: “Indeed, we are all very excited.”
Mo Wen: “This match is a BO5. The first team to take three points will win the ‘Chaser’s Cup’ sitting in the center of our stage, the symbol of the strongest team!”
The camera zoomed in on the Chaser’s Cup. Flowing ribbons were set behind the trophy, with sixteen intricately detailed white doves surrounding the ribbons, competing to reach the Bird of Paradise flower at the very top. The flower glowed brilliantly, making the trophy exude an aura of “freedom” and “hope.”
The players from both sides took the stage, and their lineups were immediately apparent.
Xiao Xiao: “We can see SG’s four players correspond to Warrior, Mage, Marksman, and Assassin. This lineup will be a definite advantage if the ‘Spring’ map is selected.”
Mo Wen: “Correct. AFG’s layout is a very classic four-man comp: Warrior, Tank, Marksman, and Assassin. While they might struggle more than SG on the Spring map, if they play aggressively on other maps, they’ll put immense pressure on SG.”
The coaches walked from both ends to the center to shake hands before exiting. The moment the SG coach turned toward the light to leave, Jian Yao’s brow furrowed.
On stage, the players were testing their keyboards.
Su Ze stared at his keys pensively. “Hey, do you think there’s something fishy with these keyboards? All this talk about new sponsors and stuff.”
“Just get used to it for now. If there’s a problem, call the referee,” Zhong Yuyi said, mostly to give Su Ze some peace of mind.
In reality, ever since he stepped onto the stage, he had been uneasy. He didn’t recognize the referee standing behind them at all.
He wasn’t the only one; even Jian Yao noticed. He muttered under his breath, “Is that referee… new?”
Glancing sideways, he saw that the smile had already vanished from Li Yan’s face.
The eight players were ready. The game began loading—
【Match Successful】
【Current Map: Spring】
【Attacker: SG; Defender: AFG】
Jian Yao felt a pang of unease. How could the map selection be so “convenient”?
Mo Wen / Xiao Xiao: “Now, let’s hand the floor to the audience!”
“Unswerving and true! SG, go for the win!”
“In the name of the wolf! Climb to the peak! AFG MUST WIN!! (Max Volume Version)”