Thanks to Zhuoyue, Yan Shu’s life in the second team was far from easy.
Within the team, except for Qi Le, who believed in Yan Shu unconditionally, the rest of the members, especially the second team, maintained an exceptionally hostile attitude toward him.
Over the past week, Yan Shu’s routine consisted solely of training and running errands for the second team. He was the one who collected training reports from the coach every day, picked up food deliveries, and handled all the logistics during live streams. During internal practice matches, the second team members simply refused to let him play.
On this particular day, the second team was scheduled for their weekly Monday evening practice match against the first team.
After finishing his training in the afternoon, Yan Shu expected to be benched as usual. However, the second team’s jungler developed acute gastroenteritis before dinner and was rushed to the emergency department of a nearby hospital by the team’s medical staff.
As he was leaving, the jungler grabbed his teammate’s hand, his face twisted in pain as he struggled to get his final words out, sounding strangely like a deathbed testament.
“Call someone to take my place. We, the second team, must give it our all.”
The second team’s captain was the marksman. Seeing his teammate in such distress, he gritted his teeth and agreed, even making a bold promise: “Don’t worry. I will find a substitute. We are going to finish all five rounds of this best-of-five training match.”
As for who would fill in, Yan Shu was the only substitute on the entire second team. If they didn’t use him, finding someone from the youth squad would be even less reliable.
The captain stood at the door watching the ambulance drive away. After much deliberation, he pulled out a pack of cigarettes. After smoking an entire one, he finally made his decision.
“Yan Shu, you’re in for tonight’s practice match.” Still smelling of cigarettes, the captain informed Yan Shu of the decision as soon as he stepped back into the training room.
Yan Shu had been helping a teammate adjust live-streaming equipment. Upon hearing the news, his eyes lit up. He looked at the captain with surprise and nodded vigorously to accept.
“Everyone, let’s work hard tonight. Our jungle king wanted to play all five rounds even in that much pain,” the captain said, his voice suddenly rising. “Did you hear me?”
“Got it,” the others replied half-heartedly.
When the time came, the two teams were arranged in the large training room, sitting opposite each other.
As soon as Yan Shu sat down, he felt someone staring at him with a gaze so piercing it felt like it could see right through him. He finished calibrating his phone and, upon looking up, met a pair of unfathomably deep eyes.
Zhuoyue’s gaze was fixed firmly on Yan Shu. His expression was unreadable, making it impossible to discern his mood.
The coaching staff of both the first and second teams took these matches very seriously, as they were the best way to identify the gap in individual and team performance. After each match, personnel adjustments were made based on the data.
The coaches followed the standard procedure and shook hands.
“The match begins!” the head coach announced.
As the practice match officially started, they entered the ban-pick phase.
The second team’s coach, Madou, walked over to Yan Shu. He was particularly concerned about Yan Shu’s state because the management had spoken to him about it a few days prior.
“Everyone, listen to Yan Shu for team commands; he has more experience than any of you. Do you hear me? You can bicker all you want in private, but on the field, I will not tolerate conflict. If there is a problem, it gets solved after the match,” the coach explicitly warned.
“Guys, the other side banned Luna,” the second team captain said, confused. “Are they afraid that our jungler is too good?”
“Exactly. Our jungler isn’t even that strong,” the top laner laughed.
Yan Shu ignored his teammates’ veiled mockery. He assumed it was just a habit of the opposing team. However, they then banned Kai. With two consecutive bans targeting the jungle position, Yan Shu began to sense that the first team was specifically targeting him.
The mid-laner, who was in the first slot, remained silent, concerned only about which hero to pick first.
“Since the first team captain is playing, they are definitely running a jungle-core system,” the captain said, banning Fire Dancer. “Their jungler is already aggressive enough; adding a magic assassin would be a huge problem.”
After the second team used up their four bans, the first team revealed their final two choices.
“Yao and Mirror? Is Zhuoyue crazy? They banned four junglers in a row?” The captain stared in disbelief at the four jungle bans.
The quiet mid-laner suddenly spoke up: “Are they targeting Moon?”
“Yan Shu?” The top laner’s tone was filled with disbelief.
The first team ultimately chose a Han Xin-centered jungle-core system, while the second team selected the Luban combo.
Yan Shu chose Zhuge Liang for the jungle, but he knew the team wouldn’t prioritize him. As long as he ensured he wasn’t caught early on and his economy didn’t fall too far behind Han Xin, he would be fine.
“Welcome to Honor of Kings. Enemies will reach the battlefield in five seconds. Get ready.”
Once the game started, Yan Shu spoke only to provide intel. He stayed silent, focusing on farming and clearing lanes, and was very cautious when attempting ganks. He understood Zhuoyue’s habits as a lone-wolf jungler and his strategies for ganking, so he planned to counter-gank Han Xin.
“Zhuoyue will come to eat the mid-lane minions. Qingfeng, help me ambush him. Captain, rotate to mid immediately after clearing the lane,” Yan Shu proposed.
The captain was playing Luban, who had no movement abilities and was easily caught. Even eight minutes into the game, he was afraid to make a move.
“You want me to act as bait? Are you crazy?”
“Qingfeng, clear the lane. Use your ultimate to clear it and save one skill to freeze Han Xin.” Yan Shu realized the captain wouldn’t help, so he ordered the mid-laner, Wang Zhaojun, to clear with her ultimate while he waited in the bushes.
Three seconds later, the enemy mage appeared in the development lane, exposing the positions of all three bottom-lane players.
Han Xin soon appeared in the mid-lane. Zhuoyue, intending to farm, set his sights on Wang Zhaojun. With a few dashes, he entered the turret, chipped away most of Wang Zhaojun’s health, and retreated to clear the minions.
Just then, the low-health Wang Zhaojun turned back.
Zhuoyue, assuming Wang Zhaojun was being reckless, dashed toward the front of the first turret.
“Winter is coming…” Wang Zhaojun unleashed her second skill, perfectly predicting Han Xin’s movement.
Lin Qi of the first team noticed his captain being killed in the mid-lane and rushed from the bottom lane along with the support and mid-laner. As they neared the mid-lane bush, Zhuge Liang suddenly jumped out. Combined with Wang Zhaojun’s cooled-down ultimate, Yan Shu secured a perfect triple kill.
“Triple kill!” The voice echoed.
“Did we just get lucky?” The captain attributed it to Yan Shu’s luck, refusing to see anything impressive in the play.
Because of that advantage in the mid-lane, the second team unexpectedly won the first game.
“Very good! Very good indeed!” Coach Madou applauded. “Stay united. If Luban had rotated earlier during that mid-lane kill, we could have won even faster.”
While the coach and team reviewed the game, Yan Shu accidentally locked eyes with Zhuoyue. Zhuoyue gave him a meaningful look, quickly looked away, and left his seat.
Before the second game, the first team’s lineup changed. Zhuoyue, who had just left, did not return, and a substitute took his place.
Seeing that Zhuoyue had left for personal business, the second team felt even more confident.
“Zhuoyue is gone. We might actually win all five rounds today,” the captain said hopefully.
Forty-eight minutes later, the captain looked at his team’s three-game winning streak, his brain failing to process the situation.
In the two games after Zhuoyue left, thanks to Yan Shu’s various intel and predictions, the opposing team had been ambushed multiple times.
In the final round, they happened to use Guiguzi as a support. The second team moved unpredictably, keeping the first team trapped inside their own turrets.
“Guiguzi played well.” The captain didn’t want to admit Yan Shu’s tactics were brilliant, so he turned to praise the support.
The support, a small person who usually sat in the corner and went unnoticed, remained silent for a moment before whispering: “It was Yan Shu; his commanding was excellent.”
The last words were faint, but the captain, who was nearby, heard them.
The captain turned to look at Yan Shu. Just as he was hesitating about what to say, he realized that Yan Shu had already left.
The match ended early, and Yan Shu was in a hurry to return to the second team’s training room for extra practice. During the three rounds of the match, he had clearly felt that there were still issues with his technical play.
Under normal circumstances, very few people practiced on their own after a training match. Thus, from the moment Yan Shu started his extra practice until he finished, he was all alone.
At midnight, Yan Shu turned off the training room lights and prepared to head to the dorm.
In the pitch-black corridor, he was surprised to see lights on in a distant training room.
So late, and someone is still training?
Yan Shu was curious about who could be more dedicated than himself, so he walked toward the light.
The corridor was so quiet that even as Yan Shu approached carefully, his footsteps were loud. He stopped as soon as the person inside noticed him.
The person turned around. Their handsome features, set against the cold white light, carried a sense of aloofness that kept others at a distance.
“Who’s there?” Zhuoyue turned. He saw someone at the door. Upon recognizing the person, he narrowed his eyes, his expression turning contemptuous again.
Yan Shu hadn’t expected Zhuoyue, who had left earlier, to be training upon his return.
Caught in this situation like a small, white rabbit, he didn’t know whether to stay or leave.
Seeing that Yan Shu had no intention of leaving, Zhuoyue stood up and walked over to the rabbit in a few strides.
“I heard your second team went on a three-game winning streak today. What, is this small achievement enough to make you proud?” Zhuoyue raised an eyebrow.
Yan Shu shook his head.
Zhuoyue chuckled, took a few more steps toward Yan Shu, and then bent down to whisper in his ear: “In that mid-lane play, I had already guessed you would be there. I intentionally sent the double-C and support there.”
“What?” Yan Shu was in disbelief.
Zhuoyue stopped smiling. Without explaining why he did it, he returned to his seat to continue training.
Standing outside the door with a blank mind for a long time, Yan Shu only walked back to the dorm with stiff legs once his thighs began to ache.
As he opened the dorm door, he didn’t notice the extra person inside.
“Oh, you’re back, Moon God?” Qi Le looked like an excited puppy seeing its master, his tail wagging hard.
The captain, sitting next to Qi Le, also stood up, looking slightly awkward: “You were practicing until now? Good work. Today’s match was all thanks to you.”
Qi Le stood up from the edge of the bed and moved along the narrow dormitory aisle. When he opened the door, he asked Yan Shu with a lack of confidence: “Will you be playing more in future training matches?”
Yan Shu was slightly stunned, then answered without hesitation: “I will.”