The Esports Big Shot Wants to Cuddle His New Teammate Every Day chapter 51

Chapter 51

After the New Year, the day to return to the team arrived in the blink of an eye.

As the team currently ranking first on the leaderboards, TWG only had two matches left to play: the semi-finals and the finals. As long as there were no major slip-ups, stepping onto the podium was practically a done deal.

However, the true goal was still the championship.

The version update was dropping in just two days, leaving the teams with very little training time. Although TWG had a relatively comfortable schedule compared to others, no one would complain about having extra time. After happily playing at the hot spring resort for a few days, Xu Ziyan and Xie Wei returned to the team base.

Bai Chen and Shen Xiao had returned a day earlier than them, while Yu Guangzhou had rushed back immediately after the New Year. The five of them had dinner together in the villa. At the table, Yu Guangzhou formally announced that normal training would resume starting tomorrow.

“Sigh,” Shen Xiao complained in a hushed voice. “Is esports really meant for humans? Tell me, we only get two holidays all year round, and they’re so short. They really don’t let us live.”

Yu Guangzhou glanced at him and said, “KW only gave five days for their annual leave. WOF started training the day before yesterday.”

Without comparison, there is no disparity. Shen Xiao said, “I suddenly feel balanced.”

Seeing that he stopped spouting nonsense, Yu Guangzhou felt a bit more at ease. He picked up some food with his chopsticks and said, seemingly casually, “A new substitute is joining the team tomorrow. Look out for him a bit.”

Substitute?

As soon as the words fell, three of the four pairs of eyes at the table looked toward Xie Wei.

Bai Chen said, “What was bound to come has finally come.”

Shen Xiao said, “Sigh, Captain Xie, don’t overthink it. No matter how awesome a person is, they will eventually face the day of retirement. Don’t worry, I’ll take good care of the team.”

Xu Ziyan looked worried. He hesitated for a moment but didn’t speak.

Xie Wei was almost angered into laughing. “Thinking of sending me away? You’re thinking a bit too early for that.”

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Yu Guangzhou said, “Cough, the substitute isn’t a sniper. It’s an assault.”

“You guys know this person, too. It’s Yuan from the second string.”

Shen Xiao was stunned upon hearing this. He calculated the ages of everyone present, and relying on his one-year advantage, he turned his head confidently to Bai Chen and said, “Sigh, Chen, don’t overthink it. No matter how awesome a person is, they will eventually face the day of retirement…”

Bai Chen looked at him coolly. “You should worry more about yourself. The person with the most unstable stats in the league this season is you.”

Shen Xiao choked and turned back to look at Yu Guangzhou. “No way? Is it really me? I’m still young! I just made the top ten in the assault rankings two days ago! The team can’t kick me out just because I’m willing to sacrifice my KDA for the sake of the team!”

Yu Guangzhou was annoyed. “It’s just a double insurance policy. Yuan has been performing well recently, and since we have to go abroad for the Mid-Season Invitational after the playoffs, bringing an extra person means getting an extra visa. It saves us from a situation where someone gets acclimated poorly or has a headache or fever and has to play while sick.”

Shen Xiao reluctantly accepted this explanation. Suddenly thinking of something, he said, “Speaking of assault, over at WOF…”

He stopped halfway, cut himself off, laughed, and changed the subject. “It seems YNG started training early too. TWG won’t be the last team to return, right?”

The mention of WOF just now seemed like a mere slip of the tongue.

Xu Ziyan said, “Yeah, when KK messaged me a few days ago, he was already playing scrims at the team base.”

Shen Xiao said, “So diligent.” He poked Bai Chen. “Learn from your little brother.”

Bai Chen couldn’t be bothered to acknowledge him.

After dinner, back in the room, Xu Ziyan turned on his computer. After logging into the game, he checked the ladder rankings.

Seamy had risen to fifth place, while Yuan was sitting at eighth.

To be fair, the assault line of TWG’s second string wasn’t weak, but it couldn’t be called very strong either. If they went to some smaller teams, they could definitely secure a starting position, but in front of TWG’s Seamy and Chen, they weren’t quite enough to look at.

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But Xu Ziyan looked closely at Yuan’s recent matches and was surprised to find that his stats had improved significantly compared to before. Not only that, but calculating from the offseason until this afternoon, Yuan Shaofeng’s ranking matches had almost never stopped; he had been grinding points fiercely.

The intensity was so high that it almost made Xu Ziyan, who had been eating, playing, and sleeping these past days, feel a bit ashamed of his own inadequacy.

Back when he was in the second string, Xu Ziyan’s relationship with Yuan Shaofeng was quite good. He had no intention of getting involved in the complex love triangle of ‘I like you, you like him’ between Yuan, Bai Ke, and Bai Chen. Speaking purely as a friend and teammate, Xu Ziyan welcomed him.

Just as he was thinking about whether to send a message to Yuan Shaofeng to say hello in advance, he received a new message on Line.

[Seamy: Hi hi hi, stream together tomorrow? Last two hours, wrap up after streaming.]

Xu Ziyan had no objections and replied: [Sure.]

For some reason, he suddenly remembered Shen Xiao’s hesitant look at the dinner table earlier. He hesitated for a moment, then typed.

[Ice: By the way, what were you saying about WOF’s assault?]

[Seamy: It’s not really a big deal.]

[Seamy: Uh, how should I put it… their other assault, the guy named Jin. I don’t know what’s wrong with him lately, but he’s been causing trouble. There were signs during the preseason, but after the preseason ended, he started clamoring for a raise. He even put out word that if they didn’t pay up, he’d throw the matches.]

To think there was such a weirdo.

[Ice: …? Is he not afraid of breaching his contract?]

[Seamy: What’s there to be afraid of? He hasn’t fixed matches, and he hasn’t broken rules. When the time comes, he’ll just insist he played that way because he sucks. No one can do anything to him.]

Xu Ziyan was shocked.

[Ice: Isn’t this just joking with his own career?]

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[Seamy: What career? This guy is about to retire anyway. He didn’t have any achievements or popularity to begin with. He’s probably jealous of Secret and wants to seize the opportunity to make a quick buck. Damn it, who does he think he is? This trash has been hugging Secret’s thigh to play matches, dragging the team down from time to time. He should be crying tears of gratitude that he can hold a spot on WOF’s first string, yet he has the face to play this threatening game.]

[Seamy: Rather than WOF signing him for a big price, they might as well sign me.]

Xu Ziyan didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. He asked: [How do you know all this?]

Shen Xiao replied as if it were a matter of course: [Secret told me himself.]

Xu Ziyan paused, then laughed.

Shen Xiao, that fool. Did he not stop to think—is Li Huanbin the kind of person with a loose mouth who goes around telling people about his team’s internal affairs? Nine times out of ten, he wanted to use the opportunity to garner sympathy and pull Shen Xiao over to WOF.

He opened Seamy’s ladder ranking history and took a look. He found that in the recent dozens of ranked matches, without exception, Secret’s shadow was present in the team. And in the matches where he was present, Shen Xiao was the MVP nine times out of ten.

Xu Ziyan teased: [Haven’t seen you for a few days, God Xiao. For the sake of points, you’re getting lovey-dovey with your former “enemy.”]

[Seamy: Don’t talk nonsense. He’s just a tool. Once I’m done using him, I’ll block him.]

Then why were you so righteously anxious on his behalf just now?

Xu Ziyan didn’t expose him and sent him a thumbs-up emoji.

The next morning, Yu Guangzhou led Yuan Shaofeng into the first-string training room.

Xu Ziyan had just finished a RANK match. Hearing the sound, he lifted his head to look.

Calculating fully, it had only been half a month since they last met, but in that short time, Yuan Shaofeng had changed a lot. His originally slightly long hair was shaved into a buzz cut. Without the fragmented bangs on his forehead, a vertical scar at the end of his left eyebrow was revealed, adding quite a bit of hostility to his overall appearance.

Yuan Shaofeng was already tall. Standing behind Yu Guangzhou in his team uniform without a smile, he looked much more composed.

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Probably considering that Xu Ziyan knew Yuan Shaofeng from before, Yu Guangzhou arranged their computer stations very close to each other.

After Yuan Shaofeng sat down, he turned his head and smiled at Xu Ziyan. “Ice, long time no see.”

“It hasn’t been that long,” Xu Ziyan said. “What happened to your hair?”

Yuan Shaofeng rubbed the top of his head. “Consider it a change of mood.”

Xu Ziyan was puzzled hearing this and tilted his head slightly.

Yuan Shaofeng shrugged, lowered his voice, and spoke at a volume only the two of them could hear. “The day KK left the team, I confessed to him.”

Xu Ziyan’s pupils contracted slightly, his face full of surprise. When Bai Ke came to the Xie family home for New Year’s, he really hadn’t noticed any clues.

“Then, as expected, I was dumped.” Yuan Shaofeng actually knew in his heart whether Bai Ke liked him or not. It was just that he had endured it for too long. Seeing that the person was about to leave TWG, combined with the encouragement of alcohol, his head spun, and he confessed.

Needless to say, Bai Ke refused directly. He didn’t even say a couple of joking words to ease the atmosphere; it was decisive, leaving no room for negotiation.

Xu Ziyan wanted to comfort him, but it felt inappropriate no matter what he said. Before he could rack his brains for a line, Yuan Shaofeng said, “However, I’ve figured it out.”

“If I like him, I should work harder to improve myself, rather than always being a second-string member muddling along in the minor league,” Yuan Shaofeng said. “KK is already the starting sniper for YNG’s first string. I should move forward too.”

No wonder. Since that day, Yuan Shaofeng’s ranking points had risen crazily, and his improvement was rapid. It turned out his mindset had shifted; one could say he turned heartbreak into power.

Xu Ziyan said, “At least this matter brought you a positive impact.”

Yuan Shaofeng nodded. “You could think of it that way. Duo queue later?”

Xu Ziyan said, “No, I have plans with Seamy…” As he spoke, he turned his head, only to meet Shen Xiao’s slightly appraising and scrutinizing gaze.

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Shen Xiao narrowed his eyes. “You guys seem to have a good relationship.”

Xu Ziyan said, “…It’s alright.”

Shen Xiao said, “Got it, got it. The old teammate is here, so it’s time to ditch me.”

A question mark popped up above Xu Ziyan’s head: ?

“Shen Xiao.” Xie Wei took off half of his headset and reminded him neither coldly nor warmly, “Want extra training?”

Hearing the words “extra training,” Shen Xiao immediately withered and sheepishly sat back at his own station.

Xu Ziyan smiled and didn’t take it to heart.

He fully expected that with Yuan Shaofeng joining the team, he would be playing in Bai Chen’s position—that is, the role of standing in the front row to tank damage and protect the back row. After all, both during his time in the second string and based on Yuan Shaofeng’s personal playstyle, he was more suited for such a role.

However, unexpected to everyone, in the following scrims, the person Yu Guangzhou had Yuan Shaofeng replace was not Bai Chen, but Shen Xiao.

“Seamy is too impatient and easily gets caught out,” Yu Guangzhou wrote a few notes in the data logbook in his hand. “Yuan, go up and try. Pay attention to advancing and retreating.”