ROE’s 2v2v2 mode has only one map: Sky City.
Players also call this mode “chaos battle”, three teams spawn on three separate floating islands in the sky, the islands linked by steep, narrow 【bridges】.
In this mode the respawn points are fixed, players must defend their own while attacking the enemies’. Wiping out all opponents wins.
A black-haired and a white-haired character were squeezed onto one small spawn point.
All of Nan Zhiyi’s alts use the same character design as his main: white hair and fluffy animal ears.
You Xin’s in-game character, though, matched his real-life hairstyle exactly, short on top, longer underneath, slightly wavy, with gray-gradient tips. Only the eyes were emerald green.
Nan Zhiyi tried his best to ignore the strange ID floating above the character in front of him, but 【Dahundan No. 001】 seemed determined not to let him have any peace. From the start of the match it kept running ahead, the name swaying constantly in his field of view.
Nan Zhiyi: “……”
In chaos mode, both players picked their classes very casually.
You Xin chose the rarely-used 【Red Elf】, while Nan Zhiyi instinctively took an 【Archer】 to support him.
But he was distracted the whole match, landing only one arrow out of ten. You Xin’s Red Elf had already charged straight into the enemy’s face, and as Nan Zhiyi followed across the bridge, he lost his footing and slipped.
【Archer】AngelYi fell to his death.
“…………” Nan Zhiyi had to speak up to explain. “I didn’t do it on purpose! I just got distracted.”
The next second, new text appeared in the chat box.
【【All】 AAApple: You suck】
The opponent had even found time, mid-fight, to type out a jab at his skills.
After all, in Sky City plenty of people get knocked off bridges by enemies, but very few actually jump off on their own.
“It’s fine.” You Xin said calmly. He raised the magic vine in his character’s hand, attacking from both sides, in a few quick moves, he turned the two opponents into corpses on the ground.
【【All】 AAApple: ???】
【【All】 AAApple: wtf???】
When Nan Zhiyi respawned, You Xin had just returned to base and brought him the gear the slain enemies had dropped.
Maybe because the same character model belonged to the “yux” who dominated tournaments, 【Dahundan No. 001】 looked extremely murderous, giving off a deeply unapproachable aura.
The first match ended quickly. The two of them won without any suspense.
Back in the lobby, You Xin clicked ready right away.
“Next game?” he asked.
He didn’t just ask out loud, he also deliberately turned his head to look at Nan Zhiyi.
…Nan Zhiyi felt he couldn’t keep playing dumb any longer.
“Um… that.”
He closed his eyes, steeled himself, and forced the question out.
“…Why did you choose this ID?”
You Xin looked at him quietly, not responding for a long time.
Nan Zhiyi had no choice but to endure the gaze that felt like it might burn right through him.
After a long while, You Xin finally looked away.
“I thought you weren’t going to ask,” he said casually.
Nan Zhiyi: “……”
He really had done it on purpose!!
He had definitely, absolutely already seen that video!!
And here Nan Zhiyi had been thinking the man hadn’t looked at Weibo at all…
But thinking it over, that made sense too. Besides Weibo there were so many other platforms, and that clip had long since been spread everywhere by marketing accounts. You Xin wasn’t some hermit living in a cave, how could he possibly not have seen it…
“Sorry.” Nan Zhiyi lay face-down on the desk, speaking awkwardly. “I drank too much that day, I didn’t mean to insult you… I don’t remember any of it…”
“You said I was,” You Xin seemed to be helping him recall, “hm, a bad guy, a little bastard, and a big jerk?”
“………………” A flicker of pain crossed Nan Zhiyi’s face. “I really don’t remember! I don’t know why I’d say that…”
One of You Xin’s eyebrows lifted slightly, as if asking a silent question.
“On finals day, you came to watch my match,” he suddenly pointed out.
Another thunderclap.
Nan Zhiyi was caught completely off guard.
But You Xin kept going. “You were holding a banner at the time.”
“…” Wait, wait.
“On it, it said,” You Xin paused very deliberately, as if carefully recalling, “‘My husband’s face, this wife’s glory’?”
Nan Zhiyi felt like he could no longer breathe. At this point he really wanted to find a hole and bury himself in it.
“Sorry! I’m really sorry… That wasn’t something I wrote, it was already like that when I got it!”
He added weakly, “Please stop talking…”
Seeing him bury his face in his arms, only the completely red tips of his ears showing, You Xin paused, then seemed to be in a very good mood and chuckled softly.
“I was joking. You don’t need to apologize to me.”
After a pause, he added quietly, “Except for that day, when you pretended not to know me. I was really sad.”
There wasn’t a trace of real sadness in his tone. But Nan Zhiyi was already too dizzy to have any thinking capacity left.
“Then… what should I do?”
“Make it up to me.” You Xin answered almost instantly, as if he’d had the answer ready long ago.
“…What do you want as compensation?”
You Xin thought for a moment.
“Have me on your show,” he said. “You decide the content. Just the two of us.”
On AngelYi’s account, besides Nan Zhiyi’s own little research achievements, he also invited friends to take part in video recordings. Sometimes the friends played “victims” of pranks, sometimes they teamed up with him to mess with innocent passersby. Many streamers, and even some pro players, had appeared in this content, so his fans jokingly called it “going on the show.”
Nan Zhiyi stopped rubbing his face against his arm.
He lifted his head slightly, revealing his eyes. “Just… that’s it?”
You Xin: “Unless you have a better idea.”
“No, no, no.” Nan Zhiyi raised his head, then used his forearm to cover half his face again. With a trace of hesitation, he said, “If I post that kind of video, it’s actually… not very appropriate.”
yux vanishing from public view for three months, and his first appearance after coming back being an entertainment collab with a streamer? No matter how you looked at it, it felt inappropriate.
At that, You Xin shifted in his chair.
“Why is it inappropriate?” he asked. “Am I bad at the game? Not presentable? No entertainment value?”
Nan Zhiyi was stunned by the rapid-fire questions and almost wanted to laugh.
“No, why would you think that? It’s just that I usually film these videos with streamer friends. After you go back, you’ve still got matches to play. It’d easily give people something to stir up…”
“Oh.” You Xin said. “So you’d still rather record with your ‘friends.'”
“Like your roommate? Qiu the City Lord? That’s his name, right? The one we got matched with the other day, he played terribly. And you even picked a Cat and clung onto him.”
Nan Zhiyi: “……”
How did this suddenly turn into comparative slander?!
“Or the Moon you often stream with? Shuoshuo? Or that Tangyuan?” You Xin went on listing names one by one.
Nan Zhiyi had no idea how he remembered all his friends’ IDs so clearly. “That’s not what I meant…”
“—Even when they steer narratives against you on stream and just stand by while you get flamed online, doing nothing?”
Nan Zhiyi was slightly taken aback.
“Let’s shoot a video,” You Xin said calmly. “Any content’s fine. Just clear up those rumors.”
Nan Zhiyi blinked, and his heart softened a little.
So it wasn’t “wanting compensation,” and he hadn’t changed his ID to make things hard for him… He just wanted to help him clear his name.
He couldn’t help lowering his eyes slightly. At that moment, You Xin went on: “I saw that video early that morning. I wanted to post something to clarify it, but my account wasn’t in my hands.”
Nan Zhiyi froze.
“CG took your account?”
“Mm. Not just Weibo.” You Xin said. “Every account I have on every platform, Stars, even my Asia-server game accounts, they changed all the passwords.”
Nan Zhiyi was even more shocked. “Even your game accounts?”
No wonder yux hadn’t logged into his main or alts for over a hundred days, it turned out management had seized them, afraid he might say something bad for the club.
For You Xin, this basically meant he had no way left to speak or express anything under the identity of “yux.”
“Why didn’t you have someone help explain? Your fans have been really worried about you.” Nan Zhiyi couldn’t help saying. “Baiyu said he messaged you on WeChat but you didn’t reply.”
“This is between me and CG. I don’t want to drag others into the mess.” You Xin said.
“As for WD’s Pigeon…” he went on, a faintly disdainful look crossing his face, “I don’t want him to know. If he knows, basically the whole world knows.”
Nan Zhiyi: “……”
There really was no arguing with that.
“Fine.” In the end he gave in. “I actually do happen to have an idea I never got to film…”
That night, on a certain game forum.
【All-Star schedule’s out. yux debuts February 14? Does that mean he’s participating normally?】
【Have you yux fans found your Xiao You God a new team yet? Don’t let him actually end up delivering takeout.】
【CG fans, come talk, what’s your current read on yux?】
【Schedule’s out! yux is really teaming up with AngelYi, and the other two players are wind and milk. This is going to be hilarious.】
Among all the regularly red-highlighted “team-building” posts about yux on the front page, one title stood out in particular.
【Has anyone seen yux’s EU-server account? What does his new ID “Dahundan No. 001” even mean??】
0L (OP)
And he spent a whole afternoon duo-queuing with someone called “AngelYi”???
Holy crap, can someone slap me awake? Has our Xiao You God lost his mind? One side doesn’t work out, so suddenly the other side does? Is he learning the entertainment industry’s fine traditions, when something goes wrong, warm up first, then get ready to “go down the road of fanservice shipping” to clear his name?