Just half an hour ago, when they were in the training room, they had happily agreed that after finishing their training, everyone would rest up and continue again tomorrow.
What was this called? After saying “good night,” did everyone meet up again in the game?
He thought back to the first time he met Pei Shiyu online, back when he did not know who he was. Originally, he had not left much of an impression, but after getting to know Wan Yi and the others, they had mentioned it countless times in his ear.
He had even been forced by Wan Yi to watch the edited videos online. Now, meeting Pei Shiyu in the game as the Red-Haired character once again, Xu Qing inexplicably felt a weird sensation of being caught in the act.
Pei Shiyu, who had also been forced by Wan Yi to watch the posts, felt equally bizarre, mixed with an itchy-handed urge to kill his own teammate.
This time, Pei Shiyu was in the jungler role, while Xu Qing was filling in as support.
When Xu Qing was part of the Eternal game’s IT team, the only role he had never tested data for was support. Looking through his list of game characters, he barely managed to find one he apparently owned: the Deer Spirit.
Logically speaking, the Deer Spirit was a relatively easy character to pick up. However, because it was easy to play and could hop onto the heads of other characters using a specific skill, it had been a character that was frequently trolled.
Perhaps because he was lost in thought at the start of the match, Xu Qing followed his body’s instincts and habitually walked into the jungle bush where the jungler usually camps. Then, he found himself face-to-face with the match’s jungler, Jingzhe.
Jingzhe looked at the red-haired character standing motionless in front of him. To be honest, he wanted to go over and kick him twice.
The red-haired character, coming to his senses, realized he had gone to the wrong lane and hurriedly operated his character to leave. In his panic, he accidentally slipped and triggered an emote, dancing a seductive cha-cha right in front of Jingzhe.
Red-Haired: … Jingzhe: … CP Fans: Ah, I ship it! Red-Haired returns after two months, and the first game he plays is with Jingzhe, opening with a hug. If this is not love, what is? This is public opinion, hey!
Inside the game: Their team’s marksman was the antithesis of the cautious player type. Regardless of how many enemies were on the other side, he was reckless. He rushed forward like he had activated a speed boost, throwing himself into a pile of wild dogs like a meat bun, only to be eaten until not even his bones remained.
After the marksman fed the enemy several times, he began to blame Xu Qing, launching a barrage of questions: “Support, can you protect me? Support, what are you doing? Support, why are you hiding behind me? Support, do you even know how to play?”
Before Xu Qing could respond, their mid-laner, who clearly frequented the forums, turned on his mic: “Do you know who you are flaming? That is the Red-Haired player who reigned for four consecutive seasons on the V-server Top Rank, had top-ranked characters in top, mid, jungle, and ADC roles, is elusive, has no friends in the game, and vanished for two months!”
Xu Qing: … That is enough, that is enough. He was Red-Haired, not Ice-Haired.
Their marksman was clearly a genius. From the long list of descriptions, he pinpointed the flaw: “That means he has never played support at all, right?” After grasping this point, the marksman began to flame him relentlessly, feeding two more kills in the process.
Red-Haired: “If you want to offer New Year greetings, just say them. Why are you gifting kills instead?” The marksman did not react for a second. Marksman: “What did you say?” Red-Haired: “I-said-stop-feeding!”
Seeing someone get trolled by Red-Haired, Pei Shiyu, behind the screen, could not help but lift the corners of his mouth. It was quite amusing when Red-Haired was trolling someone else.
Twelve minutes had passed in the match, and the marksman was clearly dead weight. He was the kind of dead weight where even if the enemy took his head, it would count as cheap, worthless pork.
The current situation was that the jungle was still under Jingzhe’s control. Since the marksman was useless, it was better to funnel resources toward him. They might not lose in the late game; there was still a chance to fight. Xu Qing clearly understood this.
Red-Haired’s Deer Spirit hopped over to Jingzhe’s side. Red-Haired: “Jungle King brother, I am here.”
Jingzhe’s actions visibly stiffened. Also stunned was Xu Qing outside the game. He had been so immersed in flaming the marksman that he had forgotten Jingzhe was Pei Shiyu. There was a weird sense of embarrassment, like streaking in front of an acquaintance.
After playing for another two minutes, Xu Qing, thinking about how that was Pei Shiyu, felt like being cheap again. After all, Pei Shiyu was usually cold-faced, and he was curious, just a tiny bit, to see what he was like.
In the next game: Red-Haired followed Jingzhe like a little tail. Every time he used a skill, he asked: “Jungle King brother, was my skill placement okay?” “Should I put it here? Or there?” “Was that skill I just used good?” “Jungle King brother, you are so amazing~~” “You got a double kill, wow~” “Let me dance for you.” …
If Pei Shiyu had responded to Red-Haired’s skill questions at the beginning, thinking it was just jungle-support coordination, by now, he was certain: this guy was doing it on purpose. So, he stopped responding.
Fortunately, although Red-Haired had not played support much before and would even use skills wrong when the match started, his game sense was top-tier, even better than what Pei Shiyu had seen in KOL professional tournaments. He was the kind of presence that made you itch with hatred when he was your opponent but feel incredibly reassured when he was your teammate.
If only he would not type “brother” in the public chat after every operation.
They had pushed the towers to the high ground, but thanks to the marksman acting like a gift-giving package and their team being outnumbered, they gave the enemy top-laner a chance to sneak out and take the Dragon. Jingzhe was entangled by several enemies and could not break free.
Red-Haired’s Jungle King radar clearly went off; he forgot to call him “brother,” and as a soft-support, he hopped and skipped to block the top-laner, who was riding a big horse and holding a 20-meter long blade.
He popped two stun balls, only to be hacked back into his deer form by a single basic attack. While running, Red-Haired yelled in the public chat: “Oh no, oh no~ I am going to die, save me, save me, Jungle King brother~~~~”
Just as Red-Haired transformed back from a deer into a human, with a sliver of health left and the great blade bearing down on him in 0.0001 seconds, Red-Haired saw a teammate in his field of vision. He did not care who it was and used his skill to attach himself to the teammate.
After the enemy top-laner was counter-killed, Red-Haired noticed that the person who came to save him was Jingzhe.
Red-Haired: “I said it! Only you, my Jungle King brother, could cross half the map like a god descending to save me. Love you. Love you.”
The match was won amidst Red-Haired’s enthusiastic, one-after-another calls of “Jungle King brother.”
In the community: 441L: What did I tell you! Jing-Hong Dance is real! 442L: The Jungle King’s lover is also a Jungle King. 443L: For you, I became a support; for you, I became obsessed. 445L (Anti-fan): Does anyone still remember Jingzhe was banned for three years? 446L: To the person above, this is the romance channel. …
Xu Qing did not see the wailing in the community, but the match had indeed been exhilarating. He was still spirited and wanted to start another one, but thinking about the team matters for tomorrow, he gave up.
He muffled a laugh in his dorm, his throat feeling a bit tight. He walked out of the dorm toward the club kitchen to get some water. After picking up the water, he turned around and saw Pei Shiyu standing at the kitchen doorway, who had also come out to get something.
Xu Qing’s mouth moved before his brain could stop him: “Jungle King brother.”
Pei Shiyu: ?