Mai Shiranui swiftly took down three of the four opponents on the other side.
Such sharp moves would be worth replaying repeatedly by the broadcasters even in professional KPL matches.
Although the intensity differs between streamer matches and professional games, Ji Xingchen’s triple kill just now definitely reached the level of a top player.
To witness such a spectacular scene in the first game of the Honor Points Tournament is truly fortunate. Ji Xingchen’s live chat room has already been flooded with countless praises.
Not only were the viewers in his chat excited, but even the audiences in other streamer’s chat rooms were impressed by Mai Shiranui’s performance, causing a sensation.
[Who is this Mai Shiranui? So awesome!]
[After watching the stream, I feel like I’ve underestimated myself again!] [Do any of you know this streamer? I’m gonna go follow them.]
[Guys, here’s the streamer, Star, from MeowMeow TV, specializing in mid lane.] [Thanks, guys, I’m heading over.]
Acknowledgment among men in the gaming world is always straightforward.
After Ji Xingchen’s brilliant play, those who had looked down on him at the start immediately changed their tune, becoming his admirers, praising him endlessly.
Feng Liu: “Brother Mai Shiranui, that move just now… oh my god, it was so cool!!! That aerial move… it was simply divine, skillful, and extraordinary! If they were to select the best mid-lane streamer of the year, I’ll definitely vote for you!”
Feng Liu: “Hey, brother, is this your Mai Shiranui account in the Chinese server? It looks like the real deal, a hidden gem!”
Feng Liu: “Oh yeah, don’t forget to destroy the towers, guys. Hurry up, hurry up. Brother Mai Shiranui led us to victory this round, we can’t let him down after all his hard work. Wow, amazing, our 10 points are in the bag.”
Amidst Feng Liu’s enthusiastic commentary, the team destroyed the high ground and began attacking the crystal.
Just before the crystal exploded, Feng Liu, who had just revived, suddenly remembered something.
He shouted at Ji Xingchen at eight times speed, “Brother Mai Shiranui, remember to add me as a friend when you go out next time… Don’t forget to invite me when we team up next week!!!”
As the game ended, the MVP animation unquestionably featured Mai Shiranui. A few seconds later, the performance statistics for both sides popped up. Ji Xingchen got MVP with a performance score of 15.2, the highest in the game! After the settlement, Ji Xingchen quickly exited the game.
But as soon as he came out, he noticed a red dot in the upper right corner indicating friend requests.
Upon opening it, he found nine friend requests all at once.
These friend requests were all familiar to him. The audience noticed that, apart from the four teammates just now, the remaining five were actually the opponents from the other team!
Seeing this scene, the audience couldn’t help but praise Ji Xingchen in the barrage again!
After all, everyone understood that in these streamer matches, the participants all had some level of fame.
All ten players were experts, encountering skilled players was common. Whether a streamer’s performance was impressive or lackluster, others could easily tell.
So, just after finishing a game, even the opposing streamers were eager to add Ji Xingchen as a friend.
His strength didn’t need any further explanation! Ji Xingchen didn’t hesitate, seeing everyone extending friendly gestures towards him. Considering that they might team up in future matches, he quickly added all nine of them as friends.
Including Feng Liu, who had been sarcastic and insinuating towards him in the early stages but later transformed into a rainbow fart expert.
After finishing a game, Ji Xingchen didn’t immediately queue up again but returned to his livestream.
He was more cautious about playing these streamer matches than even peak matches, considering the involvement of point rankings. So, during the game, he focused all his energy on gaming, even blocking all the chat messages in his livestream.
Now that he had finally finished a game, he relaxed and reopened the chat to see the audience’s reactions.
When he looked back at the computer screen, he belatedly realized that the viewership of the livestream had quietly exceeded 800,000!
Inside the livestream, many strangers were continuously spamming the chat.
Ji Xingchen didn’t catch what they were saying; he only noticed the soaring popularity. Subconsciously, he asked, “Brother Wanfeng, did you send gifts again?”
Every time his livestream had such high viewership, it was because Wanfeng sent gifts to boost it.
But this time, after he asked, the audience uniformly replied that Wanfeng hadn’t sent any. Ji Xingchen was a bit confused, so he scanned the chat messages again.
He found that besides confirming that Wanfeng hadn’t sent any gifts, the rest of the chat was praising him.
Indeed, there were no hints about any giveaways.
Ji Xingchen was about to explain that he had misread, but then a gift notification popped up in the livestream.
System: [Wanfeng Picks Star] has sent 66 confession balloons to streamer Star from MeowMeow TV~ The most sincere love for the one you like the most, can you feel the deep affection? Heart emojis~~
Confession balloons, as the name suggests, each worth 520 yuan, symbolize “I love you.”
Wanfeng Picks Star sent 66 confession balloons in the livestream, instantly triggering a combo announcement.
Following that, the message of his gift was automatically highlighted by the system, and the livestream was filled with drifting pink hearts.
After sending the confession balloons, he followed up with two magic meteor showers.
As the audience in the livestream thanked the boss while participating in the giveaway, they also couldn’t help but mock themselves for being blinded by the flood of pink hearts in the livestream.
When the boss suddenly sent so many gifts, Ji Xingchen hurriedly explained, “Wanfeng, I wasn’t asking you for gifts just now… I just saw the viewership in the livestream suddenly go up and thought everyone was here for a giveaway.”
[Moderator][Wanfeng Picks Star]: The gifts are to celebrate your victory. [Moderator][Wanfeng Picks Star]: Viewers came from other livestreams out of admiration.
The boss’s explanation answered both questions, but Ji Xingchen inexplicably sensed a hint of pride in his wording.
Was the boss proud of him?
“Viewers from… other livestreams?” Ji Xingchen didn’t dare to say the part about them coming out of admiration, fearing that people would accuse him of being narcissistic.
After all, he had been solely focused on winning in the game, unaware of how these esports enthusiasts in the chat were praising him.
[Moderator][Wanfeng Picks Star]: Yes.
Seeing Ji Xingchen seeming somewhat incredulous, Ran Feng sent another message to explain everyone’s intentions.
[Moderator][Wanfeng Picks Star]: You have no idea how impressive you were just now.
Stunned by the boss’s straightforward praise, Ji Xingchen paused for a moment, then felt like he had heard a similar sentence somewhere before.
Because of the upcoming match, Ji Xingchen didn’t dwell on it and guessed it was probably the same viewers in his livestream who had praised him like this before.
[Is the streamer still here?]
[When will the next game start? Aren’t you playing anymore??]
Ji Xingchen, who had originally wanted to chat more with the boss, suddenly saw messages urging him to start the next game quickly. He prepared to close the chat and continue with the next match.
“I’ll start soon, I’ll start soon. Brothers, be patient, I’ll start after I have a drink of water.”
Before Ji Xingchen closed the chat, he habitually glanced at the VIP seats in the livestream and noticed that Wanfeng, who had promised to log off after watching one game, was still there without logging off.
Ji Xingchen halted his action to close the chat, “Wanfeng, aren’t you supposed to be off work?”
[Moderator][Wanfeng Picks Star]: It’s still early.
“Huh?”
[Moderator][Wanfeng Picks Star]: Let’s watch another game.
[Hahahaha, Baby Star, what’s with the ‘huh’? Boss can’t bear to part with you!] [Boss: For Star, I can endure a bit longer!]
[Streamer, sorry, even though I know you’re a straight guy, but the conversation you just had with the boss made me think otherwise…]
[I thought the same hahahaha]
Seeing the audience joking about him and the boss, Ji Xingchen didn’t intervene with words. After all, in every livestream, both the streamer and the boss would be teased like this by the audience. Since the audience didn’t take it seriously, neither did he.
But just now, after hearing the audience’s comments, a memory suddenly flashed through Ji Xingchen’s mind, finally realizing where he had heard Wanfeng’s words before.
He had said those same words to Ran Feng.
He remembered it was an especially cold winter day.
At the neighboring school, a senior high school student from the third year, feeling overwhelmed by pressure after failing a test, tragically chose to jump off a building. Concerned that a similar situation might occur among their own senior students, the leaders of Zhongyi School made an exception during the winter school sports meet, allowing them to participate for two days. The reason given was to relax, relieve stress, and lighten their moods.
Ji Xingchen wasn’t particularly interested in the sports meet, but he eagerly awaited the last event before its conclusion.
This event was a basketball match between Class One and Class Two, known rivals.
In basketball, Class Two had been fierce competitors with Class One since the first year of high school. In previous matches, the scores between the two classes were always close, with both occasionally claiming first place.
However, since entering the third year, the top players from both classes hadn’t had the chance to compete due to the heavy workload.
Finally, the school agreed to allow them to compete openly, and both sides immediately sent out their class elites, eager to win the final victory of their high school years.
Ran Feng was particularly skilled in basketball and naturally was elected by the whole class to participate.
Originally, Ji Xingchen should have been on the list too, but unfortunately, he had just undergone surgery a few days ago, and the doctor advised him to rest at home for a week.
On the day of the basketball match, it was only the fourth day of his postoperative recovery period, so he had to stay at home to recuperate and couldn’t even go to school.
When Ran Feng helped Ji Xingchen with his homework, she didn’t inform him about the upcoming match she was going to play. However, Ji Xingchen, with his connections, managed to find out the specific time of the match from his classmates.
So that afternoon, after wrapping himself in a down jacket, he secretly took a taxi to the school.
The road to the school was blocked for a while due to a car accident. When Ji Xingchen arrived at the school, the basketball court was surrounded by layers of female students, leaving no room to move.
Ji Xingchen had just undergone an appendicitis surgery, and his wound hadn’t fully healed, so he naturally didn’t dare to squeeze among the girls. But with the basketball court completely surrounded, he couldn’t see anything from outside. With the sole desire to watch Ran Feng, he had a sudden idea and chose to go to a nearby platform, five meters away, where there were fewer people.
In fact, given the bustling atmosphere of the basketball match that day, the platform was not where Ji Xingchen should have been. However, even if one managed to climb up, only someone tall enough could see the basketball court.
Moreover, the weather that day was unusually cold, and the platform happened to be in a windy spot, with a constant chill blowing into one’s neck.
Ji Xingchen felt numb with cold as soon as he stood up there. The few male classmates nearby also couldn’t bear the relentless cold wind, so they went downstairs to find a more crowded place.
Now, with no other classmates around, Ji Xingchen took a few steps forward and stood where they had been. His view was noticeably better.
So there he stood alone on the platform, eagerly watching Ran Feng playing on the court.
Ran Feng wore a white jersey with the number 9 on it. His clothes fluttered elegantly, and his hair was neatly tied. Amidst the bulky down jackets of the surrounding spectators, he appeared refreshingly cool.
On the court, he didn’t wear elbow pads, only a black headband tied around his forehead, exuding a youthful vibe with stray hair falling across his forehead. After making a three-pointer with a graceful throw, he smiled satisfactorily, his eyes twinkling with delight.
The sudden burst of cheers and applause from the crowd was almost deafening to Ji Xingchen’s ears.
He ignored the discomfort in his ears and joined everyone in applauding and cheering for Ran Feng.
“Brother Feng is amazing!”
Just as he spoke, a gust of cold wind blew, causing Ji Xingchen to sneeze. After sneezing, he looked up again at Ran Feng, only to meet his gaze. Their eyes met, and they stared at each other for several seconds across the distance. Ji Xingchen waved to him first, raising his eyebrows with a smile.
But Ran Feng, amidst the crowd, didn’t seem pleased. He furrowed his brows slightly and immediately suppressed the corners of his lips.
Ji Xingchen could only see from afar as he quickly shifted his gaze away and whispered something to his teammate.
At that moment, the game had just completed two and a half periods, and the players from both teams were taking a fifteen-minute halftime break.
As soon as Ran Feng stepped off the court, someone immediately rushed to bring him water and hand him clothes.
Ignoring the clamoring crowd around him, he took the clothes and headed straight for Ji Xingchen.
He approached the platform where Ji Xingchen stood, extending his right hand towards him. “Come down.”
His voice was colder than the freezing wind, tinged with some displeasure.
Ji Xingchen also sensed Ran Feng’s mood. After carefully descending with the support of Ran Feng’s right hand, he rubbed his already reddened face and nose, frozen from the cold.
“I came here specifically to watch you.”
Ji Xingchen hastily explained his intention, unsure why Ran Feng seemed unhappy.
However, Ran Feng, upon hearing this, didn’t show any surprise. His gaze swept over Ji Xingchen’s face, then landed on the scar from Ji Xingchen’s surgery.
“It’s getting dark, you should go back now.”
Ji Xingchen glanced at his phone and replied, “It’s still early.”
Ran Feng: “…”
“It’s cold here.”
“I’m not cold!” Ji Xingchen shook his head and glanced at Ran Feng, who was still only wearing a basketball jersey. “Do you want my down jacket?”
Ran Feng held his hand. “No need, you should go back.”
Seeing that Ran Feng still didn’t want him to watch the game, Ji Xingchen changed his approach and tried to negotiate with him. “Just one more game! Can’t I watch just one? You don’t even know how amazing your three-pointer was.”
“I came here specifically to see you play!”
Just as Ji Xingchen finished praising him, he immediately sneezed.
Ran Feng quickly took two steps to the side, using his back to shield Ji Xingchen from the wind. “We’ll watch another time.”
Feeling frustrated that Ran Feng wouldn’t let him watch the game, Ji Xingchen complained, “What’s wrong with me watching you play once in a while? I’m getting moldy staying at home. After we graduate, we won’t be at the same school anymore. Where else can I watch?”
Listening to Ji Xingchen’s complaint, Ran Feng remained silent for a while, just staring at him.
After a moment of silence, when Ji Xingchen was about to break the deadlock, Ran Feng suddenly grabbed the sleeve of his down jacket and pulled him over to where their teammates were.
Putting on his jacket, Ran Feng said to his teammate, “I won’t play in the second half.”
His teammate, who had been immersed in the joy of Ran Feng’s three-pointer just now, was shocked and asked, “What’s wrong, Feng? Are you okay?”
“My foot twisted. I didn’t notice it earlier, but now it hurts a bit.”
Hearing that their Star player was injured, the teammate immediately squatted down, concerned, and asked, “Where did you twist it? Is it serious?”
Ran Feng pushed aside his teammate with one hand and gently pulled up Ji Xingchen’s sleeve with the other, leading him away in full view of everyone.
“It’s okay, Ji Xingchen will accompany me to apply medicine.”
So Ji Xingchen was led away by Ran Feng, feeling dazed.
He listened as Ran Feng explained about his injured foot, showing concern for him along the way. But no matter how he asked, Ran Feng remained silent.
It wasn’t until they left the crowd and reached the nearly deserted main road that Ran Feng, who had been walking ahead, turned around. He suddenly threw the scarf around Ji Xingchen’s neck into his hands.
“Put it on,” he said calmly.
“Hmm?” Ji Xingchen was puzzled.
“Cover your face.” Seeing Ji Xingchen’s confusion, Ran Feng reached out and wrapped the scarf around his neck.
After completely covering Ji Xingchen’s face with the scarf, Ran Feng spoke again, this time his tone less cold.
Ji Xingchen still keeps that scarf to this day.
But he still can’t understand why Ran Feng suddenly got angry and stopped playing basketball, lying to everyone that he was injured. When he heard what Ran Feng did, it felt like he was transported back to that moment.
However, similar words were spoken, but it was him and Ran Feng who switched positions. Thinking about this, Ji Xingchen shook his head.
Although what Ran Feng did was similar to what they had said, how could he confuse Ran Feng with someone else?
The rules of the Honor Points Match are from Wednesday to the following Monday, a total of six days.
During these six days, matches are only available from 12 PM to 2 PM, and within these short two hours, most streamers can only play about five or six matches.
Plus, Tuesday is reserved for settling the weekly points ranking for all streamers. So, in total, streamers can only play around thirty matches a week, if they’re lucky.
Therefore, to increase their points, streamers have to keep playing matches continuously. Every second during the matches is precious for streamers.
“Hey guys, I’m starting the next match now. If you think the streamer is doing well, remember to hit that follow button.”
After chatting with the audience in the live chat for a while, Ji Xingchen’s body and mind relaxed for a moment.
After adjusting his state, he quickly started another match.
In this match, he encountered two acquaintances: Kuge TV Feng Liu and Mengjing TV Yi Lin.
Feng Liu, who was matched with him as a teammate again, was unusually enthusiastic in the pick phase.
“Hey, Brother Star! What a coincidence that we’re matched together again!!” Feng Liu sounded genuinely delighted. “My timing for a restroom break couldn’t be better. Meeting you again is totally worth it.”
“Brother, are you really playing Mai Shiranui this match? I’m on the first line, I can secure her for you.”
Other teammates couldn’t resist turning on their microphones after hearing Feng Liu’s enthusiastic words.
“Bro, are you trying to crack me up? Too humble, isn’t it?”
“Have you guys been matched before?”
“Yeah, bro, why are you exaggerating so much… Isn’t that too much?” Feng Liu immediately changed to a proud tone and clarified, “Don’t be modest, bro!! Let me tell you, in his first match just now, he flash-kicked four people with Mai Shiranui, wiped out the enemy team, and carried us straight to victory. You tell me if that’s strong or not.”
Others were instantly excited when they heard about such a strong player: “Damn, is he really that awesome?!!! Hurry, hurry, snatch it.”
While Feng Liu was shouting to his teammates to secure Mai Shiranui for Ji Xingchen, the opponents were also discussing about it.
“Let’s ban Mai Shiranui.” It was Kuge TV Yi Lin who spoke. Just the last game, he was playing Marksman and got shut down by Ji Xingchen’s Mai Shiranui.
His teammates hadn’t experienced Ji Xingchen’s gameplay and were a bit disdainful: “Bro, is it necessary to ban Mai Shiranui? Are they playing on the national server or what? Just pick Chang’e to counter it, that’s all.”
Yi Lin clearly had a psychological shadow from the sudden appearance of Mai Shiranui from the grass.
Because he had been beaten up, he understood how strong the opponent was. Seeing his teammates unwilling to ban, he patiently explained the situation.
“It might be a bit difficult to counter. The Star on the other side was my opponent in the last match. His teammates are a bit uncoordinated, especially the Marksman. Initially, we had a big advantage, but then his Mai Shiranui caught us off guard from the grass and turned the tables. His Mai Shiranui is pretty strong, I’m not lying to you.”
“Is that so? I’m also a Mai Shiranui player on the national server, but I haven’t heard of this opponent. How about this, let’s take the initiative to pick Mai Shiranui this match. There’s no need to waste a ban on a hero.” The streamer who spoke also played in the mid lane.
Seeing his teammates boast so much about the opponent’s mid laner, he felt uncomfortable and his competitive spirit was ignited.
Yi Lin obviously didn’t understand his teammate’s sarcasm. Seeing that Mai Shiranui couldn’t be secured for Ji Xingchen, he relaxed a bit and said, “That works too, as long as we don’t give it to him.”
So after the first round of hero bans, the opponents first picked Mai Shiranui.
Seeing the prized hero being taken by the opponent, Feng Liu couldn’t help but lament, “Damn, who is this guy on the other side? Damn coward, if you have the guts, don’t just first pick Mai Shiranui!!”
After angrily venting at the opponent, Feng Liu immediately switched to a subdued tone and quietly asked Ji Xingchen, “Brother Star, since Mai Shiranui’s gone, do you have any other specialty heroes you want to play?”
Feng Liu’s change in attitude caught Ji Xingchen off guard. He replied, “Aren’t you playing mid lane this match?”
This question from Ji Xingchen was purely inquiring, without any other implications.
However, Feng Liu thought Ji Xingchen was upset about the last match where they fought over the mid lane, so he quickly apologized, “I won’t play it, I was just joking with you last match. I can play support or side lanes too, just don’t make me play Sun Shangxiang.”
After finishing his apology, Feng Liu checked the remaining time for hero selection, only fifteen seconds left. He hurriedly asked Ji Xingchen, “Bro, what mage do you want? I’ll grab it for you, time’s running out~”
Ji Xingchen glanced at his teammates’ commonly used heroes and said, “You can pick for them first. I’ll play Wan’er this match, to avoid being targeted early.”
Most of Ji Xingchen’s teammates in this match were smaller streamers, but they seemed more astute. After hearing Feng Liu’s words, they all tacitly agreed that Ji Xingchen was the
carry. In the second round of hero bans, they actively banned Chang’e and Zhang Liang to protect Ji Xingchen’s Wan’er.
Ji Xingchen’s treatment and status in this match were comparable to top-tier streamers. However, once the game started, Ji Xingchen’s Wan’er didn’t disappoint his teammates. After reaching level four, he started dominating the mid lane, and later on, he was unstoppable.
The strength of Mai Shiranui and Wan’er is actually evenly matched.
In the end, the streamer on the opposing side who secured Mai Shiranui was completely outplayed by Ji Xingchen’s Wan’er, showing ignorance of the situation, life, and direction.
Although both matches featured Mai Shiranui, in the previous one, Ji Xingchen carried alone, while in this one, the opposing team collectively suffered under Ji Xingchen’s onslaught.
The contrast was stark, evident even to laymen, revealing Ji Xingchen’s true strength.
With Wan’er economically dominating and carrying the game, the opposing team couldn’t even afford to get their ¹Witch’s Cloak before it ended.
Ji Xingchen’s Wan’er performance was outstanding, earning him another MVP. He took advantage of his good form and played two more consecutive matches.
By the 2 PM deadline, he had played a total of four ranked matches and won them all, earning MVP each time!
After the four matches, the total points page displayed today’s settlement.
Because of his four consecutive wins and four MVPs, Ji Xingchen earned a base score of 40 points and an additional 32 points.
Later that day, a diligent viewer privately compiled the points of all participating streamers.
In the end, on MeowMeow TV, Ji Xingchen ranked first on the streamer points leaderboard with a total of 72 points and a flawless record for the day!
¹”Witch’s Cloak” refers to the item “Guardian Angel” in the “Honor of Kings,” which revives a character upon death with a portion of their health intact, enhancing their survivability.