Wen Ming parked his car in front of a commercial building. The sun was scorching at this moment, and the weather outside was sweltering. He wiped the sweat from his temples and, after much consideration, still went into the corner Starbucks to buy an iced Americano and a matcha Frappuccino.
“Rebirth Esports Club.” Holding the two cups of coffee, Wen Ming searched for a long time according to the address Ye Wanqing gave him. After wandering around for nearly half an hour, he finally stopped in front of a shabby little partition, looking with full confusion at the dusty grey door.
Is this the place? It is far too shabby.
“Yo, President Wen.” A rich male voice sounded from behind. Wen Ming turned his head slightly and saw a handsome young man wearing a white T-shirt and blue jeans. The latter was devouring a bowl of pork leg rice in large mouthfuls, wiped his mouth, and smiled at him, “President Wen, why are you standing there? Come on in.”
Wen Ming was stunned for a moment, then tentatively asked, “Are you Lin Chen?”
“Yeah, didn’t the captain tell you?” Lin Chen finally swallowed the last bite of food into his stomach and led Wen Ming into the studio.
Wen Ming looked around. Except for the top-tier computers, almost everything else here was old items, some even missing arms or legs, looking thoroughly shabby. To make matters worse, the trash can in the corner was piled high with unfinished boxed meals and spilled drinks everywhere. As the weather got hot, it emitted an unpleasant odor.
Wen Ming could not help frowning. In a place like this, let alone studying, his obsessive-compulsive disorder would flare up if he stayed another second.
“Why don’t you guys hire someone to clean up?”
Lin Chen had just turned on his computer when he heard this question and chuckled, “President Wen, please understand. Our studio was just established, and we are short on both funds and manpower. The fewer things we cannot afford, the better.”
Wen Ming was taken aback by his words, then lowered his gaze and said quietly, “I apologize.”
Lin Chen used his teeth to bite open a bottle of beverage, waved his hand to signal Wen Ming to come over, and smiled, “It is fine. Let us start. After the captain finishes his training match, I still have to go pick him up.”
Wen Ming nodded, obediently sat down beside him, took out a notebook and placed it on the desk, and looked at him seriously, “Let us start.”
Lin Chen looked at this series of actions with some surprise, scratched his head, and let out a sound of tongue-clicking, “President Wen, you are not here for remedial lessons. No matter how much fans hype up Phantom, at the end of the day it is just a game. You are making it so formal that I am getting nervous about teaching you.”
Wen Ming looked at him in confusion and stopped his pen, “Then what should I do?”
Lin Chen smiled and motioned for him to open his phone and enter the Phantom game interface, “Watch me play one round, and then I will carry you through one round. You will understand once you get the feel for it.”
Wen Ming nodded, then frowned and stared closely at the screen. Lin Chen felt his back go cold from being watched so intently, lost focus, and died several times. He said rather awkwardly, “Uh, that was a wrong demonstration just now. When you clear the minion wave and go to the bottom lane to support, you must be careful to check the bushes, or you might get ambushed by campers.”
Wen Ming let out an acknowledging sound, and with a blank expression, pointed at his respawn timer, “Why is your screen always black?”
Isn’t it because you are messing with my focus! Lin Chen cursed inwardly while keeping a smiling face on the outside, “This is quite normal. You can respawn after a period of time when defeated by the enemy, but if you die many times in a single match, it will affect the final rating.”
Wen Ming touched his chin, seeming to understand a little, and continued his earnest studies, “What do the positions you mentioned, like jungler and mid-laner, mean?”
“Oh, this.” Lin Chen smiled and pointed at the three lanes on the phone screen, “Look, the one playing in the middle lane at the start is the mid-laner, the one in the top lane is the top-laner, the bottom lane and support go together as the ADC, and this area here is our jungle area, which is where the jungler farms and grows.”
Listening to this, Wen Ming fell into deep thought. Suddenly remembering Liang Ling, he hesitatingly asked, “Then, Liang Ling, which position does he play?”
Lin Chen glanced at him, coughed twice, and smiled, “He is the jungler.”
Wen Ming stared at that patch of the jungle, paused for a moment, then raised his head and looked at him expressionlessly, “Then I will mainly study the jungle heroes.”