Chapter 23: Sleep Secret. The Little Jungler-god Does Not Lie
Ning Luzhao maintained the expression management personally coached by Zuo Chi, wearing his crooked, loose jacket as he returned to the training room.
“…Ning-god, Ning-god?” Fugui peeked back stealthily, seeing that Coach Zuo was currently tinkering with the tea tin at the water dispenser with his back to them, before whispering, “Ning-god, Coach Zuo called you out… what did he say?”
“Nothing much. He just mentioned some mistakes from the scrim earlier. After all, I’m one of the primary shot-callers. Since the team didn’t play well, I bear a lot of the responsibility.”
“Coach Zuo even scolded you that hard…” Fugui sighed with emotion.
If they had to name the person who was the most meticulous in their daily training, it was definitely Land. Furthermore, Land hadn’t participated in the discussion about going out to play this morning. If it weren’t for their improper attitude leading to a poor state in the scrim, why would it have come to this…
Fugui grabbed his hair and said resolutely, “If I don’t master this Battle-Axe Giant today, I’ll write my name backward!”
To the side, Beyond pulled out two tissues and handed them over: “Um… Coach Zuo isn’t too angry with us, is he?”
Wall: “Let’s focus on playing ranked first. We can’t fail the scrim and then lose our ranks in the ladder too.”
Wu Yang: “Y-y-eah. If t-t-hat h-h-appens, Coach Zuo w-w-ill d-d-efinitely b-b-e m-m-ore d-d-isappointed w-w-hen he s-s-ees us t-t-omorrow m-m-orning.”
Ning Luzhao pursed his lips. Seeing the young man turn back from the water dispenser out of the corner of his eye, he didn’t speak.
The other players also heard the movement. While they secretly stiffened their backs and stared intently at their screens, they couldn’t help but spare a bit of attention to monitor Coach Zuo’s movements.
Naturally, these small actions were all captured by Zuo Chi.
He pulled over a chair and sat in an empty space in the middle of their seats, letting out a light cough.
Ning Luzhao cooperated perfectly: “Coach, it’s past eleven. You should go rest first. We’ll play for a bit longer.”
“You guys play; I’ll do the review.” Zuo Chi clicked on the recording of the earlier scrim. Amidst the sound of mechanical keyboard clicks, he said slowly, “Beyond, did you drink your milk tonight? Fugui, sit up straighter. Don’t hunch your neck, or you’ll get cervical spondylosis later.”
The heavy atmosphere suddenly eased up.
He took a sip of the specially brewed strong tea. The bitterness made him instinctively frown, but this bitterness was indeed refreshing.
After the players answered his questions in low voices, they quickly began to communicate about in-game strategies and coordination.
At 1:00 AM, the players exited their ranked matches and began practicing last-hitting and skill combos on their own.
Zuo Chi was making review notes.
At 2:00 AM, the players started a five-man queue to practice their team composition systems.
Zuo Chi continued making review notes.
At 3:00 AM, the players were so tired they were yawning constantly. Zuo Chi stared at them one by one until they went back to the dorms to sleep, then he gulped down half a cup of strong tea.
So bitter.
But he was awake again.
He continued the review.
The cubs, who had been driven out of the training room, looked back reluctantly, only seeing their Coach Zuo repeatedly dragging the progress bar and filling document after document with dense notes.
Fugui gritted his teeth: “I think I can play a few more rounds. Let’s pull an all-nighter!”
“If you go back now, the coach will really be angry.” Ning Luzhao stopped his teammates who all wanted to turn back. “If you pull an all-nighter today, where will you get the energy to train tomorrow?”
“But Coach Zuo—Coach Zuo is still doing review notes.”
“It’s probably because we made too many mistakes in the scrim, so the review is quite troublesome.”
Ning Luzhao calmly used the “misery play” he had just learned from the coach.
“If the coach doesn’t finish the notes today, he won’t be able to lead us through the in-game review immediately tomorrow.”
“But—”
“The coach has his own arrangements; he’ll find a chance to catch up on sleep.”
Fugui muttered disapprovingly, “Ning-god, you care way too little about Coach Zuo…”
Ning Luzhao, who “cared way too little about Coach Zuo,” returned to the third-floor dorm with his teammates. After a quick wash, he quietly opened the door and doubled back to the second floor.
Most of the lights in the training room had been turned off, leaving only two by the window.
The young man was wearing a deep blue sweater. His ink-black short hair seemed to have been ruffled, with a few tufts poking up fluffily. The bright light from the computer screen reflected off his fair skin and a faint circle of dark shadows under his eyes.
The water cup on the desk was no longer steaming.
Zuo Chi let out his n-th yawn of the night. He habitually reached out to feel for the water cup at his side, but his fingertips touched a bit of warmth first. Tilting his head, he watched helplessly as the cup containing his tea was taken away.
“Land?” He let go of his hand. “Didn’t I tell you all to go back and rest? Why are you back?”
Ning Luzhao placed the cup far away: “The water is cold. Don’t drink it anymore. Didn’t the coach say I was your ‘co-conspirator’? There’s no such thing as abandoning a ‘co-conspirator’ to go sleep by oneself.”
Zuo Chi couldn’t help but laugh: “What kind of crooked logic is that…”
He tapped the spacebar, pausing the match recording playing on the computer screen. He looked up at Ning Luzhao. A few bloodshot streaks had also climbed into the other’s eyes, showing a bit of exhaustion.
“I only have a little bit left to finish… you go back. If you’re late for training tomorrow, I won’t be able to practice favoritism.”
“Since there’s only a little bit left, let’s finish it together.” Ning Luzhao sat down beside him. After watching for a few seconds, he asked, “This isn’t the scrim recording?”
“Mm. I’ve already finished the review notes for the scrim recording. Right now, I’m watching the recording of your five-man queue from tonight.” Zuo Chi pressed his brow. “I accidentally brewed the tea too strong. I can’t sleep even if I want to, so I might as well watch a bit more… you really shouldn’t stay up with me.”
He was the coach; he could occasionally slack off and sleep for a bit during the day. But Ning Luzhao had to train constantly. If he didn’t sleep well and had poor energy, the training effectiveness would be greatly compromised.
“I have a method to fall asleep very quickly.”
While Zuo Chi was dazed, Ning Luzhao had already snatched control of the mouse with professional hand speed. He closed the recording video and even clicked the shutdown button.
“You—”
Fine. As expected of a professional player’s hand speed; he hadn’t even seen clearly before the computer had shut down.
“Let’s go. Back to the dorm to rest.” Ning Luzhao stood up. His dark gray phoenix eyes seemed to have a few faint specks of light flowing through them in the night. “If the coach is late for training tomorrow, it’ll be hard for me to explain it to Fugui and the others.”
There was a hint of a smile at the end of his voice.
Zuo Chi slowly moved his chair back: “…Then let’s go. What was that method you mentioned for falling asleep quickly?”
“Once we’re back and finished washing up, the coach will know.”
Half an hour later, Zuo Chi, who was lying in bed in his pajamas, heard the voice of an old, kindly university professor playing from Ning Luzhao’s phone in the adjacent bed.
“Students, please turn your Higher Mathematics textbooks to the first lesson. Today, we will discuss functions and limits…”
Zuo Chi: “…”
“This is the ‘sleep secret’ you were talking about?”
“Mm… the coach graduated from a prestigious school; you won’t get hooked listening to it, right?”
“I’m not that ‘perverted,’ and besides, my college major didn’t require Higher Math…” Zuo Chi rolled over. After listening for a while, he actually felt a bit of sleepiness brewing and fell into a dazed slumber.
Higher Math hypnosis—the Little Jungler-god truly does not lie.
Translator’s Note:
- Higher Mathematics (高等數學): Often referred to as “Gao Shu” in China. It is notoriously difficult and a common joke among Chinese students that a Gao Shu lecture is the best cure for insomnia.
- Cervical Spondylosis (頸椎病): Chronic neck/spine issues common in gamers. Zuo Chi is really acting like a team “mom” here!
- Favoritism/徇私枉法: Literally “to twist the law for selfish ends.” Zuo Chi is using a slightly dramatic term to joke about being a biased coach.
- Co-conspirator (同謀): Referring back to their secret plan to trick the team into taking training more seriously.
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