Receiving the notification to join the first team, Yan Shu stared blankly at the dense schedule of the first team while sitting on the edge of his dorm bed.
Qi Le returned from taking a shower and, seeing Yan Shu there, offered his congratulations in high spirits. “Moon God, you are finally going to the first team! I knew it would not take long before you made it there.”
“Thank you.” Yan Shu casually placed the schedule on the bedside table.
Curious about the first team’s specific arrangements, Qi Le leaned over the desk, his mouth opening in astonishment. “Morning training this early? I thought the first team had a schedule similar to ours, but it turns out their intensity is even higher.”
“That is to be expected.”
“Moon God, once you transition to the starting lineup later on, does that mean we will not be able to live together anymore?” Qi Le suddenly thought of this problem.
That was a matter of course. Yan Shu paused his actions of organizing his change of clothes, flashed a smile at Qi Le, and comforted him, “Come to the first team.”
“Really? Can I go to the first team?” After coming here and being crushed by all sorts of geniuses, top players, and freaks of nature around him, Qi Le had long forgotten that his initial dream was to become a starter.
Yan Shu’s eyes were light brown, and when he looked at someone with gentleness, it really could melt anyone’s heart. He blinked and nodded with a smile.
“As long as you work hard, any wish can come true.”
“Great! Starting tomorrow, I am going to wake up at the exact same time as you to train, Moon God!” Qi Le raised his fist high, speaking with high morale.
Early the next morning, before the sky had even fully brightened, Yan Shu woke up abruptly from a dream.
When he opened his eyes, he was covered in cold sweat, breathing heavily, with tears still clinging to the corners of his eyes.
He had suffered another nightmare. He dreamed of being accused by his teammates when leaving the arena four years ago, dreamed of being surrounded and reviled by a mob of anti-fans on the street after the scandal broke, and even dreamed of radical individuals stepping forward to beat him.
After waking up, Yan Shu was shaking uncontrollably. To avoid disturbing his roommate’s rest, he carefully opened the drawer and pulled out a box of medicine from the very back.
Because the episode hit him too suddenly, Yan Shu had no water at hand. He could only take out a pill and swallow it dry. The bitter medicine slid down his throat, but his breath failed to smooth out, leaving an itch in his windpipe.
Covering his mouth, Yan Shu bolted out of the dorm and only let out his pent-up coughs where he would not disturb anyone. He squatted on the ground, curled into a tiny ball, bearing the dual torment of physical and mental agony.
After his condition improved slightly, Yan Shu realized it was already getting late. Morning training would start in twenty minutes, so he could only support himself against the wall to stand up, return to the dorm to quickly wash up and change into his team uniform, and head toward the training room.
The first team’s morning training was scheduled for six o’clock. Since plenty of people in the team loved staying up late or pulling all-nighters, waking them up at this hour felt practically like torture.
When Yan Shu arrived at the training room, the other members had not arrived yet, and only one person had arrived early.
Zhuoyue was sitting in the gaming chair with his back to the door, watching a friendly match between two certain teams from a few days ago.
Currently, the teams of the GPL league were distributed across various divisions, and Suzhou, where the SR team was located, had four teams alone.
The match Zhuoyue was watching was a friendly competition held a few days prior by two other teams in Suzhou. Those two teams were AW, an established veteran team from Suzhou with a solid record last season, and the Lion team, a newly rising challenger whose first-team captain was formerly a member of the Snake team, a perennial powerhouse in the GPL.
“So early today?” Hearing movement behind him and thinking a teammate had arrived, Zhuoyue looked back. The curve of his lips vanished the moment he saw Yan Shu. “It is you?”
“Mm.” Yan Shu stood in place, not daring to take another step forward.
The gaming chair spun half a circle. Zhuoyue adjusted his posture, propping his arm on the armrest and resting his chin on his slender hand. He sneered and let his face drop. “So earnest. Thinking that entering the first team gives you a way out?”
“I will not consider you a member of the first team, and I will not manage your training.” Zhuoyue’s implication was that he did not regard Yan Shu as part of the team at all. “However, you are not allowed to show your face online. Do not let your presence drag our entire team through the mud. Originally, when I threw all that money at you the other day, I wanted to see if you would dare to stream your real face. I never expected Er Dui to make you cross-dress.”
So that wealthy female fan had actually been Zhuoyue, and throwing all that money around was merely meant to humiliate him.
“I let you join the first team simply to keep you under my nose.” Zhuoyue spun his chair back around, turning his back to Yan Shu once more. “Do not try any dirty tricks with me. If you dare to pull anything, I can kick you out at any second. Though I would much prefer it if you had the self-awareness to leave on your own.”
Yan Shu had just finished taking his medicine, and his emotional fluctuations were minimal. Even facing harsher, more provocative language, he would not react strongly.
“I will train,” Yan Shu simply said those few words.
When the designated time for morning training arrived, the members of the first team trickled in right on the dot.
Seeing an extra person standing in the training room and recognizing him as Yan Shu upon closer inspection, Lin Qi wore an expression of disgust. “Captain, why did you actually let him in?”
Ye Xuanqing glanced at Yan Shu, said nothing, and merely frowned to express his displeasure.
The reactions from the mid-laner, Luo Yan, and the support, Xu Ya, were much stronger.
“Captain, how could you let him come here? Are you not afraid that a single rat dropping will ruin the whole pot of soup?” Luo Yan had a rushed and explosive temper, easily provoked by nothing at all on ordinary days, let alone encountering such a distressing situation.
Xu Ya loved echoing others. Following right behind Luo Yan, he chimed in, “Exactly, exactly, Captain.”
“Duck, you are leading the team run today.” Zhuoyue sidestepped the issue.
Xu Ya’s gaming ID was duck, and coupled with the homophone of his name, many people called him Xu Ya.
“Oh.” Xu Ya had the smallest guts; whatever the captain said, he would execute immediately without the slightest dare to disobey.
The first team’s morning training consisted of running laps followed by watching match recordings of various teams to conduct game analysis.
Morning was the most suitable time for a jog, and Xu Ya led the first team members to gather downstairs at the base. Once the team formation was complete, Xu Ya took the lead at the front.
Yan Shu ran alone at the very tail end of the team, keeping pace from the first lap all the way to the last.
The first team had to run five laps around the base every morning—a rule set by Zhuoyue. Only after finishing all those laps could they go eat breakfast.
“Xu Ya, slow down!” Lin Qi was the thinnest person on the team, belonging to the type who ate without gaining weight. Unfortunately, lacking body mass meant his physical stamina was far inferior, making him a running-challenged regular on the team.
Xu Ya did not hear him and sprinted wildly at the front of the pack.
By the moment the morning light broke through the clouds, the running group had scattered into a ragged line.
Yan Shu had started at the very back of the pack, but as they ran, he gradually overtook Lin Qi.
“I am kidding, running this fast? Is he not twenty-four already? I… I am only twenty, I cannot fall behind.” Lin Qi gritted his teeth, closed his eyes, and sprinted forward.
Whether it was because of Yan Shu or not, during the morning run today, everyone on the first team pushed themselves exceptionally hard, with no one willing to fall behind.
After finishing the laps, Lin Qi collapsed directly onto the ground, panting heavily. His entire body was soaked through with sweat as if he had just taken a bath.
Lin Qi peeked sideways at Yan Shu, only to discover that aside from breathing somewhat heavily, the man was not sweating at all.
It was already May, yet someone could finish running and not sweat at all—what kind of monster was this?
Sensing a gaze on him, Yan Shu turned his head back, only to find that Lin Qi had already scrambled up from the ground and prepared to leave.
“Xu Ya, Sanhu, Brother Dao and I are going to grab breakfast first today.” Lin Qi went ahead with Ye Xuanqing.
Yan Shu also prepared to go eat breakfast, but after taking two steps, he remembered that Zhuoyue still seemed to be running.
Even though he had already run five laps, he was still adding more. Yan Shu hesitated for a moment and decided to continue running laps around the base to build up his stamina.
After two more laps, Yan Shu truly could not run another step. He half-squatted beneath a tree to catch his breath, cold sweat breaking out on his forehead despite the heat of the day.
At that moment, Zhuoyue swept past Yan Shu like a gust of wind. As they brushed past each other, a flash of surprise crossed Zhuoyue’s face; he had not expected anyone else to voluntarily add extra laps besides himself.
When morning training concluded, Yan Shu went to the cafeteria for breakfast.
The morning food supply at the SR base was somewhat stingy, and arriving late made it easy to miss out on food entirely.
By the time Yan Shu arrived, anything that could fill a stomach had already been taken by others.
He grabbed only a steamed bun and a carton of soy milk, sitting quietly in a corner to eat them.
Qi Le, who had just woken up, saw Yan Shu sitting alone and bolted over from the youth training team’s dining table to Yan Shu’s table.
“Moon God, why did you not wake me up this morning? I ended up having to rely on my alarm clock,” Qi Le pouted with a wronged expression.
Seeing that Qi Le was sleeping soundly that morning—and considering that growing kids needed plenty of rest—Yan Shu figured sleeping in a bit longer was better for him. He smiled softly behind his hand. “You are only seventeen, no need to rush. I am not young anymore, and I do not know how many matches I have left to play, so of course I have to seize the time.”
“Moon God, I saw you adding extra laps this morning. You are working this hard, and since I am so young, I certainly cannot slack off.” Qi Le swallowed a dumpling in one bite. After finishing it, he noticed that Yan Shu’s breakfast was pitifully meager and definitely wouldn’t fill him up.
As Yan Shu raised his head, a steaming hot dumpling was pushed right to his lips, slipping through the gap of his mouth. It was a corn and fresh pork dumpling, extremely juicy.
“Moon God, that little bit of food is definitely not enough. Eat mine, I brought way too much breakfast.” Qi Le habitually grabbed several more dumplings and placed them on Yan Shu’s plate. “You are too thin, eat more.”
Everyone in the club knew about Yan Shu’s scandal, and they never expected someone to still be on such good terms with him, let alone someone from the youth training team.
The first team members sat at the neighboring table, witnessing the scene of Qi Le serving dumplings to Yan Shu.
Luo Yan tossed the dumpling in his hand straight onto his dining tray and spat heavily. “Eating the same stuff as him makes me feel sick.”
Lin Qi remained unfazed. “Hey, do not waste food. If you are not going to eat it, give it to Brother Dao; he loves eating these.”
“There are saliva droplets on it, I will pass,” Ye Xuanqing politely declined.
Lin Qi turned to look at the captain. “Captain, look at Sanhu’s temper. During training later, are you not afraid Sanhu and Yan Shu are going to get into a fistfight?”
“Leave me out of it. If anyone starts a fight, it will be Xu Ya. I heard from the captain that Yan Shu is a substitute support.” Luo Yan bumped his shoulder against Xu Ya’s upper arm. “Hey bro, are you pissed about being replaced by a match-fixing dog?”
Xu Ya had not reacted much initially, but upon hearing that Yan Shu was here to substitute for him, he immediately lost his composure. “Captain, you are having him substitute for me? That is way too…” As he spoke, he caught Zhuoyue glaring at him with a dark expression, causing him to swallow the rest of his words back down his stomach.
Zhuoyue finished his soy milk, crushed the paper cup in his hand, and tossed it into the nearest trash can.
“I brought him to the first team, not to have you treat him as a teammate. Just act like he is invisible, and we will train the exact same way we always do.”
“Understood,” the other four replied in unison.
Zhuoyue picked up his empty dining tray. “Finish eating and get to training immediately. Next week are the qualifiers.”
The starting lineup of the first team stood up one after another to leave. Yan Shu had only eaten a few bites of breakfast when he hurried to follow.
“Moon God, are you not going to rest for a bit?” Qi Le asked.
“No, heading to training.” Yan Shu stood up with his dining tray. “Right, thanks for the breakfast.”
Starting at eight in the morning, the first team officially launched a full day of training.
Considering the upcoming qualifiers, the team needed to familiarize themselves with the combat styles of the other three teams in the same region. Zhuoyue pulled up recordings of three recent matches from those three teams, displaying them on the big screen for the members to watch and analyze.
Entering the training room and finding no seat assigned to him, Yan Shu had no choice but to pull up a chair and sit at the very back.
Match analysis was something Yan Shu had practiced every single day during his four years abroad. Unable to step onto the stage to play matches, he spent every waking moment watching them instead. Even outside the GPL league, he was thoroughly familiar with the combat styles of all the major domestic heavyweights.
The videos of the three teams played all morning. Several members of the first team were the restless type who could not sit still, running to the pantry to grab a drink of water after every single match before coming back.
Only Yan Shu remained seated in his spot from start to finish.
Before the lunch break, Zhuoyue instructed the members to submit their match analyses onto his desk. Clutching his few pages of notes, Yan Shu ultimately mustered the courage to place the papers on the captain’s desk.
When afternoon training matches rolled around, Yan Shu saw that his match analysis had been returned; the captain was the only one who did not want his. During the training matches, Yan Shu did not play a single game, spending the entire time doing solo training off to the side.
When Yan Shu first arrived at the second team, he had also been given the cold shoulder for a period, but eventually, he won over the second team captain with his skills. Now that he was in the first team, would Zhuoyue…
The answer was no.
Just as the day’s training sessions concluded, before leaving, Zhuoyue specifically turned to Yan Shu and stated, “Stay further away when we are training, stop staring at us all the time. If you really want to play as a substitute, at least beat me in a solo match first.”
Yan Shu stayed silent. Fearing that another solo match against Zhuoyue would end in total defeat, he did not rush to reply.
Mistaking his silence for cowardice, Zhuoyue scoffed. “If you do not dare to fight, just sit nicely on your bench. That is the ending you deserve for match-fixing.”
Yan Shu clenched his fists tight, yet found no way to retort against Zhuoyue. He could only blame himself for being sick, blaming his own lack of strength.
Depressed and low on morale, Yan Shu did not stay for extra practice. He wanted to return early to rest and figure out what to do next.
The moment he pushed open the dorm door, a pungent wave of herbal medicine hit his nose.
Qi Le, sitting on his dorm bed, quickly wiped away the tears on his face and laboriously applied medicine to his own arm with a single hand.
Yan Shu reacted quickly. The moment he stepped inside, he caught Qi Le wiping away tears and noticed a large, angry red patch covering Qi Le’s right arm.
Closing the door behind him, Yan Shu walked over to Qi Le’s side and asked, “What happened to your right arm?”
“I… I am fine.” Qi Le sniffled, though his eye sockets refused to lie, remaining frighteningly red from his recent crying.
A bad premonition arose in Yan Shu’s heart. He could not shake the feeling that Qi Le’s injury might be connected to him.
When Yan Shu pressed him a few more times, Qi Le still refused to spill the truth.
“If you will not tell me, I will go ask your teammates.” Yan Shu made a move to head out the door.
Panicking, Qi Le raised his voice. “No! They will hurt you too!”
“Hurt me too?” Yan Shu stopped in his tracks. “What on earth is going on?”