The League’s Hei Yueguang Has Fought His Way Back [E-sports] Chapter 17

Chapter 17: Livestream — Collapsed? As if.

[Baby, what are you saying? Why can’t I understand?]

[juice fans woke up to find the sky has collapsed.]

After Mu Jiu’s identity was exposed, the livestream’s popularity exploded, topping the trending searches and flooding the forums. For a time, everyone was discussing this matter.

On the other side, Lü Shan’s livestream popularity naturally got siphoned away. Seeing his livestream’s income drop off a cliff, Lü Shan could no longer maintain his composure, turned off the stream, and kicked his chair hard.

juice—how could he be Nine?

Traffic is a double-edged sword. Mu Jiu had many anti-fans, which showed he had even more fans before.

After three years, this was Nine’s first public appearance. It would be strange if the fans didn’t go crazy.

Not long after Mu Jiu started the stream, a wave of clearly premeditated “rhythm” was brought up.

[So what if he’s Nine? Does that prove he didn’t use a proxy player?]

One look and you could tell it was “navy” (paid trolls) bought by a certain someone. However, it didn’t stir up any waves at all. Before Mu Jiu could even speak, they were flamed to bits by the viewers in the livestream room.

[LMAO, Nine using a proxy player.]

[Have you even watched the league before? This is the domestic circuit’s OB grandmaster. You can flame him for anything, and I might agree with a few words, but using a proxy? I really can’t go against my conscience on that one.]

[Nine’s fans are also interesting. Can’t you recognize your own idol when he returns?]

[Replying above… he was still a minor when he played matches before. He wore a mask when he appeared and had bodyguards when he went out. Swen protected him like a zongzi (rice dumpling).]

[People will always fall in love with the same person over and over again (solemn face).]

[Baby, baby, you’re really a little cake. Who cares who he is, let me kiss you first.]

Right now, most of those in the livestream room were still juice’s fans, who had a filter for Mu Jiu and were more tolerant, or Nine’s fans who were carefully hiding their identities.

After all, given the e-sports environment back then, having been a fan of Nine was no different from having a criminal record.

Mu Jiu looked at the screen filled with “kisses” and “babies” and his eyes widened in bewilderment. Finally, he pretended not to see them and picked a few more reserved bullet screen comments to answer. His ears, which were turning blood-red, still betrayed him.

“Yes, I will return.”

Sponsored

“Team? Currently unemployed.”

“Personal reasons, not convenient to disclose.”

As the livestream’s popularity continued to rise, a large wave of anti-fans also flooded in, instantly burying the rational questions from fans with their spam.

[The Forfeit Dog has the nerve to come back?]

[The internet has a memory. You did such a disgusting thing and you’re afraid people will talk?]

[Swen stands alone, refusing to be associated.]

[Now you’re showing your face? You’re just banking on fans who look at faces, right? Sorry, e-sports doesn’t look at faces. If you want to make money, why not just go sell yourself instead?]

[Those who became fans just because someone is good-looking are also shallow enough.]

They were cursing very harshly. Before, Nine’s fans had always taken the hits without fighting back and lived low-key lives, but the new fans from the Gaoxiao Bei had never suffered this grievance and didn’t indulge them at all.

[Think you’re so high and mighty. I’ll fan whoever the f*ck I want, what’s it to you?]

[Just went to catch up on what happened before. I don’t deny Nine was indeed in the wrong, but you’ve been chasing and cursing him for three years, that should be enough. Does Nine have to spend his whole life atoning for you?]

Seeing the livestream turn into a flame war, Mu Jiu had no way to control it and directly shut down the stream.

The forum topic of the day: Did juice’s house collapse? As if.

Saying his house collapsed—he didn’t use a proxy player. Saying it didn’t—he is Nine.

Nine’s house had collapsed into a pile of ruins long ago.

Mu Jiu leaned back in his e-sports chair. He went to the same internet cafe private room he had booked before; he was already familiar with it. He habitually pressed a button on the chair, and the backrest tilted further.

Earlier, to focus on the stream, he had turned his phone to silent. Now that he opened it, it was already filled with messages.

One from Bleach before he started the stream: [Is juice you? Calm down, don’t be impulsive, Swen is still out of town and hasn’t returned.]

The mystery of why SG would invite him was finally solved, but for Mu Jiu now, it wasn’t very important anymore.

He typed back: [Too late, already been impulsive.]

Sponsored

Bleach: […]

Bleach: [That really sounds like something you would do.]

Mu Jiu smiled and closed the chat interface.

Lies. He was calmer than ever. He had already prepared himself to face all the public opinion. Letting the clubs that sent invitations know the truth was a sign of mutual respect.

Then there were his roommates who knew Mu Jiu was going to stream and had been waiting. They had originally been fighting on the front lines for Mu Jiu in the livestream room, but later, as things got bigger and spiraled out of control, their brains directly crashed.

The other two roommates didn’t watch the league, but Li Qingming did.

He knew Mu Jiu looked familiar!

He was really living in a fantasy; the national champion is my roommate?!

In the dorm group chat, Li Qingming’s messages had been spamming for a long time.

[Qingming: No, brother?]

[Qingming: Mu Jiu, you’re playing for real.]

[Qingming: You can’t judge a book by its cover.]

[Qingming: @Straight-A Student @yun I told you he was hiding something! You didn’t believe me!]

[Straight-A Student: …]

[yun: You’re the smartest, okay.]

They were also surprised. They knew Mu Jiu was hiding something, but they didn’t expect him to be hiding something this big.

[9: Sorry for not telling you from the start. I’m on my way back.]

Mu Jiu was packing his things and walking toward the dorm after getting his deposit back from the front desk. He looked at his phone again.

[Qingming: Yeah, I’m heartbroken.]

His heart tightened when he saw that. He had almost no friends before, and even though he had only known them for a few months, he really didn’t want to lose them.

Sponsored

His phone dinged with a voice message from Li Qingming, “Take your brothers to rank up and I’ll forgive you,” his cheeky tone making it easy to imagine him grinning into his phone on the other end.

The other two roommates sent disdainful emojis, and the atmosphere became light again. The stone in Mu Jiu’s heart finally fell.

Back in the dorm, he was immediately surrounded by Li Qingming, who pounced on him and inspected him from head to toe.

Only after confirming he was completely unharmed did Li Qingming breathe a sigh of relief.

Then, he stood there turning Mu Jiu around and around to look at him, even making “tsk tsk” sounds.

“Brother, you’re amazing!”

He thought Si Yan’s background was big enough, but he didn’t expect Mu Jiu to be even more deeply hidden. Anyone looking at their team, Shaonian Xianfeng Dui, would have to sigh that it was a gathering of hidden dragons and crouching tigers.

Saying so, he pulled Mu Jiu back to his seat and pushed him down. He shoved all the snacks he usually treasured in front of Mu Jiu. Looking at his smile, Mu Jiu felt it was somewhat ill-intentioned and felt a chill down his spine, moving back inconspicuously.

Li Qingming opened a bottle of Wangzai milk and handed it to him without a word. Only after Mu Jiu accepted his bribe did he ask sycophantically: “Come, reveal some insider info to your brothers. Which team are you planning to go to?”

As a fan, since Mu Jiu was so strong, he naturally wanted to fight for his own favorite team—for example, SG, where Mu Jiu’s former captain was.

Mu Jiu took a sip of the Wangzai milk. The sweet taste instantly filled his mouth. He smiled helplessly, “You’ve also seen my reputation. Not every team dares to sign me.” What choice did he have?

TUG and OHE, who had sent him tryout invitations before, had gone silent. The SG contact person had even directly declined him.

Li Qingming looked serious, narrowing his eyes and holding up a finger to Mu Jiu, shaking it like an old strategist, “No, no, no, you don’t understand.”

He pulled up the starting lineups and historical records of several domestic teams on his phone and analyzed: “TUG and OHE are the ones lacking OB the most. They will definitely spare no effort to fight for you. The reason there’s no news now is probably that they’re applying to their superiors to increase the budget.”

After all, juice and Nine were indeed on different levels.

He looked at Mu Jiu, felt it was a great pity, and continued: “SG is also interested, but that public opinion pressure… is indeed too big.”

Whether considering the internal team atmosphere or Mu Jiu’s future development, it wasn’t a good choice.

He was originally a fan of SG and Swen, but times had changed. From now on, he was a fan of Mu Jiu! Following the belief that brotherhood is greater than anything, Li Qingming was deeply moved by himself.

Mu Jiu listened seriously. After finishing the milk, he pursed his lips and looked at Li Qingming, blinking. His lips were shimmering with moisture. Li Qingming was stunned for a moment and forgot what he was going to say next.

Before Mu Jiu could ask, he blurted out: “Brother, are you gay?”

Sponsored

Before the words even finished, Mu Jiu kicked his chair. The chair had wheels, and Li Qingming was immediately kicked far away, shouting as he uncontrollably spun in circles, “Just kidding—”

After he finally stopped, he slid his chair back to Mu Jiu’s side to introduce other clubs to him.

Mu Jiu heard him getting more and more exaggerated, as if he were a hot commodity that everyone was fighting over. He signaled him to calm down, “What you’re saying is all from three years ago.”

Just as Si Yan said, he hadn’t played matches for three years. Why should others believe in him?

“You’ve fought for half your life and returned still in your prime. You’re only nineteen, what are you afraid of?” Li Qingming retorted, unable to stand him putting himself down.

Great youth, top-tier talent—he couldn’t understand how such a player could be unwanted.

As if to confirm his guess, Mu Jiu indeed received new messages.

Besides TUG and OHE, several other clubs even reached out to him. However, they were likely just joining in, unable to compare to the two major clubs, TUG and OHE, who directly offered astronomical signing fees.

Even the contact people were more professional than before, since they were previously only inviting a newcomer for a tryout.

Mu Jiu scrolled down, but didn’t find what he wanted to see. His eyes dimmed for a moment.

SG—as expected—did not invite him.

Li Qingming poked his head over. Looking at the signing fee the other party sent on Mu Jiu’s phone screen, a string of zeros that made his head spin, and the other side saying they could still negotiate, he suddenly sucked in a breath of cold air. He slowly stood up from his chair, bowed, and cupped his fists to Mu Jiu, saying seriously: “Brother, if you become rich and powerful, do not forget me!”

Mu Jiu kicked him back into his chair, caught between laughter and tears, “Get lost.”

Was he short of money? He indeed was.

Translator’s Note

“Collapsed? As if” (塌了吗？如塌) is such a perfect summary of the chaotic fan reactions! In web novel slang, a “house collapsing” (塌房) is when an idol’s reputation is ruined. Mu Jiu’s house was already in ruins, so there was nothing left to collapse! Also, “Wangzai milk” (旺仔牛奶) is a super popular, sweet milk drink in China—seeing Mu Jiu drink it makes him seem so much like the “baby” his fans call him. Poor Li Qingming almost turned gay for a second there, haha! See you in the next chapter!

📖 Return to Table of Contents

« Previous Chapter