Chapter 50
The enemy pushed frantically with the Baron buff. Top tier-two tower had a sliver of health; mid and bot tier-two towers were all gone. Minions pressed into the high ground towers, the entire jungle fell, and vision couldn’t be established.
Shen Yanjin made a crucial wall play in front of the high ground tower, catching and killing the enemy Mid and Support. But the remaining Top, Jungle, and Bot trio dealt enough damage for a team wipe, calling GG.
On the gray screen, the crystal exploded. Defeat.
Shen Yanjin opened the settlement screen. Scanning it—good lord, an Ascetic Monk with damage lower than a Mermaid. Truly a rare talent.
He took off his headphones and looked at Mao Qiude.
Mao Qiude rubbed his chin, pointing out his shortcoming straightforwardly: “You still don’t trust your teammates enough.”
Shen Yanjin frowned, seeming to want to say: I have to trust this kind of jungler? But he didn’t say it, and his brow relaxed, as if the emotional fluctuation just now was an illusion.
Mao Qiude actually appreciated such emotional self-control. Being trolled for a whole game, restricted to bind with a randomly feeding idiot, unable to display individual ability—he had been a player too and knew how disgusting and despairing this situation was.
He said, “Actually, you stabilized the early game. Although this jungler didn’t control Dragons and Rift Herald, scuttle crabs weren’t missed. Roaming with him was relatively safe, and vision was placed well. The enemy’s ganks in the early game were exposed under your vision. You’re a veteran; you should understand what I mean.”
Shen Yanjin indeed understood.
He recalled the situation just now: the jungler ganked air, wandered frantically, and flashed to feed. But under Shen Yanjin’s operation, his deaths didn’t cause too much loss. During the wandering, Shen Yanjin had the jungler’s protection, making vision placement easier.
Under such circumstances, although the enemy had a small economic advantage due to Dragons, the lanes didn’t suffer too much loss.
Developing like this, it wasn’t necessarily unwinnable when team fights came.
Seeing his understanding expression, Mao Qiude was a bit surprised. Sliver’s image as a thorn in the side was deeply rooted, and being a “cancer of the arena” wasn’t just talk. Unexpectedly, he was so easy to talk to.
Of course, maybe it was also for Duan Mingyue’s sake. Although Mao Qiude had no intention of interfering in the players’ love lives, making the best use of everything… He continued, “The major rhythm break in this game happened when you abandoned the jungler to catch mid. I ask you, if this Ascetic Monk was played by RedMoon, would you abandon him?”
Caught off guard by being cued, Duan Mingyue’s expression remained unchanged, still sitting there smilingly.
Shen Yanjin didn’t expect Mao Qiude to make such a hypothesis, showing a bit of panic on his face. He didn’t want others to know he had a relationship with Duan Mingyue beyond teammates—not to keep himself clean, but not to implicate Duan Mingyue.
Duan Mingyue tapped his arm very calmly. “Coach is asking you.”
Shen Yanjin lowered his head, ear tips a bit red. “…No. But Moon God probably wouldn’t make such plays.”
Mao Qiude saw he was a good seedling. Duan Mingyue not only had good mechanics but also a sharp eye, actually digging out a piece of uncut jade from such a deep pool. The flash interruption of the ultimate just now was too showy. Shen Yanjin was twenty-two, yet still having such mechanics and reaction was rare.
He continued, “Hypothetically, RedMoon felt unwell that day, had a fever, no substitute, insisted on playing, was muddled, and couldn’t establish an advantage at all. Who can he rely on at this time? You!”
In Shen Yanjin’s mind, a vague image appeared of Duan Mingyue flushed with fever yet insisting on playing. The handsome man’s face dyed with a sickly flush, unprecedentedly weak, involuntarily arousing a desire to protect.
Mao Qiude was still bluffing: “Not only can he not establish an advantage, but his mechanics are a mess, misjudging several flashes, falling behind in levels. In this situation, would you abandon him to roam alone?”
“I…” Shen Yanjin swallowed with difficulty. “No…”
If that situation really happened, not only would he not leave Duan Mingyue’s side, but he would also stick to Duan Mingyue like chewing gum, protecting him firmly. He’d fight anyone who came to catch him.
“That’s right!” Mao Qiude clapped his hands. “Remember, the core of the Jungle-Support roam isn’t the Support, but the Jungler. You can separate, but only when the Jungler’s safety is guaranteed. That’s why I said you don’t trust teammates enough. In previous matches too, you often abandoned disadvantaged teammates, choosing to roam alone to carry rhythm. Of course, this has its benefits, but—”
“Facing the current version, such a choice has more disadvantages. The rhythm version of Jungle-Support roaming should still focus on supporting.”
Mao Qiude patted Shen Yanjin’s shoulder earnestly. “I don’t know your situation in HG before, but arriving at our KW, I hope you try your best to trust your teammates.”
Shen Yanjin nodded.
Mao Qiude had said such words a lot recently. After all, Lu Yuan’s issue was too big, leading to these lengthy speeches rolling off Mao Qiude’s tongue now. He said, “Okay, start another game. Just as I said, treat your jungler as a seriously ill RedMoon.”
Hearing this, Duan Mingyue laughed shortly. “Why does it sound like you’re cursing me?”
Mao Qiude glared at him and told Shen Yanjin to queue.
While they chatted happily here, Kai in the back felt things were getting weirder the more he listened.
He frowned, tilting his head in confusion.
[Kai: Hiss… why do I feel it’s weird.]
[Circle: You don’t need to feel, it is weird.]
[Kai: …]
[Kai: To be honest, except for bringing the wrong person back, all developments now are within my imagination.]
[Kai: The problem is, the person brought back is wrong, dammit!!!]
Tans practiced last-hitting expressionlessly. The group chat in the bottom left corner beeped non-stop. These people didn’t date themselves but loved gossiping about teammates every day, making him involuntarily associate Kai’s round face with his auntie now.
Kai didn’t know he had become Tans’ auntie, still immersed in weirdness, shock, and disbelief.
He craned his neck to look at Sliver again.
Indeed a man, no mistake.
A guess was on the tip of his tongue, but looking at the young man’s ordinary, even slightly gloomy face, then at Lu Yuan’s glamorous face on the other side of the training room, he felt he was overthinking.
Impossible…
Captain can’t like men. Even if moved, wasn’t UOOW a woman?
Treating Sliver specially now… should also be because he’s the team’s new support. Everyone saw how troubled Duan Mingyue was because of Lu Yuan. Now a substitute support came, like someone saving them from deep waters and scorching fire; of course, he’d treat him better.
Coincidentally, Lu Yuan thought the same.
Their thoughts rarely coincided, but today they clashed together.
She thought: Anyway, as long as it’s not UOOW.
Lu Yuan had been in the same team as Duan Mingyue for so long and seen too many flirts. UOOW was the only hidden thorn that poked her sleepless repeatedly.
Although she didn’t know why Sliver took her place, this thorn was finally pulled out. She could sleep peacefully now.
Both Lu Yuan and Kai’s thoughts were built on the same premise—how could a man like Duan Mingyue be gay?
Honestly, Shen Yanjin thought so too.
But just now, Duan Mingyue pulled him into the dorm and pressed him against the wall, kissing him too hotly, making his lips still a bit swollen and hot. Plus those heart-pounding sweet words, Shen Yanjin still felt a strong sense of unreality.
Did… Duan Mingyue and I confirm our relationship?
Dating?
Duan Mingyue is my boyfriend now?
Shen Yanjin had been single for twenty-odd years. Giving away his first kiss today, and such a hot one at that, inevitably made his mind wander.
Feeling that if he thought further, he really wouldn’t have the mind to play, he hurriedly focused his spirit on the match before him.
But Duan Mingyue was being mischievous beside him. Mao Qiude told Shen Yanjin to treat the jungler as RedMoon to care for, so RedMoon himself was “dubbing” from the side.
Jungler entered the jungle; Duan Mingyue said, “Come, come, follow me.”
Jungler went top; he said, “Top lane looks good on this wave, help a bit.”
Jungler flashed and tower-dived fail; he feigned pity: “Condition isn’t good today, you won’t blame me, right?”
“…”
Shen Yanjin pinched the mouse, pursed his lips, and his ears hidden in the headphones turned redder and redder.
Duan Mingyue, possessed by a drama queen, was full of flirtatious energy.
The jungler this game wasn’t as ridiculously bad as the last one. Shen Yanjin followed behind him, the man’s teasing voice in his ear, actually tasting some meaning from it.
No matter what operation this jungler performed, just thinking it was Duan Mingyue—and a physically unwell Duan Mingyue—Shen Yanjin not only didn’t get angry but felt only heartache, following the jungler even tighter.
His awareness was more than enough for a Master game. Protection, supporting economy, and carrying rhythm all in one. Can’t win early game? Steal farm in the enemy jungle to develop. Enemy comes? Run with the jungler. Playing around recall timing differences, they took two Dragons. Back and forth, he actually supported this jungler into a big daddy.
Duan Mingyue started with a teasing mentality, saying a few words occasionally, but stopped talking later, fully focused on watching Shen Yanjin’s operation.
Just now when he went to help Shen Yanjin get peripherals, he took the chance to check Sliver’s personal profile. News about this ID mostly appeared five years ago when the teenager debuted. Core support, genius, macro view—a double-edged sword so sharp it allowed no doubt.
Flipping through briefly, under an inconspicuous fan Weibo post, he saw a photo of Shen Yanjin holding a keyboard walking off stage. At that time, the teenager’s features were tender and green, eyes bright, at his most spirited moment.
Comment below: Sliver’s keyboard is CHY’s Christmas Limited Red Switch, right? Flashy.
So he brought the CHY Red Switch Shen Yanjin was most accustomed to.
Scrolling through several news posts, Duan Mingyue found it stranger the more he looked.
From his experience duo-queueing with Shen Yanjin recently, Sliver’s form not only hadn’t declined but maintained very well. And being a veteran of the arena with more experience, the blade of this double-edged sword had been sharpened even keener.
Yet Shen Yanjin retired involuntarily because his form declined more and more severely. The last match was purely an ATM machine, fancy flashing to feed kills.
There were many players who slaughtered in RANK but were useless in matches. So Duan Mingyue watched Shen Yanjin play this ranked game with a wait-and-see attitude.
Disadvantaged support, random jungler, three lanes with no advantage.
But Shen Yanjin forcefully relied on individual strength, not letting lanes collapse, and supporting the jungler into a daddy.
The jungler was also witty, knowing his support had good awareness, obediently following Shen Yanjin’s signals the whole game.
Shen Yanjin knew his carries’ farm was average, so he didn’t team fight, taking the jungler to force ganks, forcing the enemy to group up and preventing split pushing. Finally, in the Baron pit, Shen Yanjin’s team control allowed the jungler to flash into the pit to steal Baron, then used slow and walls to split the battlefield. Mid and Bot carries arrived in time, actually winning this Baron fight.
Enemy crystal shattered. Shen Yanjin took off his headphones, looking not at Mao Qiude first, but at Duan Mingyue.
When silent, he loved lowering his eyelids, inevitably appearing gloomy. But at this moment, his eyes were bright, flashing with light, as if asking for praise—exactly the same as the teenager in the photo Duan Mingyue just saw.
Duan Mingyue couldn’t hold back, raising his hand to gently rub Shen Yanjin’s earlobe, praising in a low voice, “Really amazing.”
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