Chapter 1 ◎ Why Is It Him? (Revised) ◎
June marked the beginning of the LPL Summer Split.
High temperatures were never a good way to describe the weather.
The house was completely silent, as if meticulous preparations were being made for a farewell.
“Xiao Mo, are you really going to that club to play video games?” A woman’s worried voice rang out from inside the room.
“Yes,” Lin Sumo smiled at his mother. “Mom, don’t worry. I’ll be fine.”
With that, Lin Sumo grabbed his suitcase and opened the door. Before leaving, he didn’t forget to run back and give his mother a hug. “I’m leaving now, Mom. Bye-bye!”
He was a little bird leaving the nest, swept up by gust after gust of wild wind. The wind seemed to say: This is a gift of growth for you.
And he was happy to accept it.
Lin Sumo got into the car he had hailed in advance and headed to the airport.
Before the flight to Luowen City took off, Lin Sumo sent a message to Song Hong, the manager of the Trust Club.
[Lin Sumo]: [Manager Song, I’m on the plane.]
Song Hong replied half a minute later.
Manager Song Hong: [Message me before you get off the plane. I’ll have the driver pick you up.]
[Lin Sumo]: [Okay, thank you, Manager Song.]
Lin Sumo glanced at the time. Just as he was about to switch his phone to airplane mode, another message popped up. It wasn’t from Song Hong.
[Pei Yun]: [On the plane?]
Seeing the name “Pei Yun” on his screen, Lin Sumo rolled his eyes directly at the phone.
Pei Yun was Lin Sumo’s childhood friend. He lived right next door, so they had grown up together.
However, unlike other childhood friends, Lin Sumo and Pei Yun did not get along.
In elementary school, they would break off their friendship at the drop of a hat or call each other idiots. Both sets of parents treated it as children playing around and didn’t take it too seriously.
But this “playing around” lasted for twelve years, and their relationship gradually shifted from petty squabbles to sharp, pointed hostility.
The name-calling in elementary school was harmless, but things changed in middle school.
During an argument in junior high, Lin Sumo had finally snapped, “Get the hell away from me. Just looking at you makes me sick.”
Pei Yun, however, had stepped closer to Lin Sumo. “Is that so? Then let me make you sick a little longer.”
Lin Sumo was furious. “Pei Yun, screw you!” He shouted, and they started fighting again.
Sitting on the plane, Lin Sumo sneered and typed back: [Have you ever heard the saying about the weasel paying a New Year’s call to the chicken?]
[Pei Yun]: [Say it or don’t.]
After that sentence, there was no further response from the other side.
Lin Sumo couldn’t be bothered with him. He switched his phone to airplane mode, closed his eyes, and settled in to catch up on sleep.
All the chaos and noise faded away with the airflow, becoming smaller and smaller, like tiny dust motes visible only under a spotlight.
The dust drifted away, taking his worries with it.
Three hours later, the plane landed on time at Luowen International Airport.
Lin Sumo messaged Song Hong as promised, but Song Hong first said the car was at Terminal 2, then claimed he made a mistake and it was at Terminal 3. Lin Sumo had to circle around for quite a while before finding the car. By the time he got in, more than forty minutes had passed since landing.
To Lin Sumo’s surprise, there was someone else in the car besides the driver.
“Hi there, you must be Solve.” The man smiled at him, revealing two canine teeth. “I’m Trust’s captain, Charm. You can also call me Yu Pei.”
Lin Sumo politely shook Yu Pei’s hand. “Hello, Captain Yu. Just call me Lin Sumo.”
Yu Pei couldn’t stop smiling as he looked at him, seemingly taking an instant liking to him. “Just call me by my name, no need for ‘Captain Yu’.”
He spoke with familiar ease. “Mo-mo, you’re about to take the college entrance exams, right? I can’t believe your family agreed to let you play esports.”
Lin Sumo was stunned.
Over a month ago, when he received the reply from Team Trust, he had spent a long time pestering and pleading with his mother before finally getting her approval.
Now, his future captain was throwing this statement at him. was it genuine concern, or was it laced with other emotions?
Incomprehension? Disdain? Rejection?
Lin Sumo pursed his lips, thinking about how to reply.
Then he heard Yu Pei continue, “If it were me, my mom and dad would have beaten me to death!”
Lin Sumo couldn’t help but burst out laughing.
Captain Yu seemed to possess a truly interesting soul.
His earlier worries turned out to be overthinking. Lin Sumo truly relaxed, his anxious heart soothed gently by a sudden breeze.
The two chatted the whole way. Twenty minutes later, the car drove into the Trust base.
Song Hong led Lin Sumo to the dormitory to drop off his luggage, then said he would show him around the base.
If nothing else, the decoration of Trust’s base alone screamed wealth. Entering the lobby, one was greeted by European-style décor, with a massive crystal chandelier illuminating the entire hall in golden splendor.
The floors, the walls—everywhere the eye landed was adorned with luxurious decorations. Lin Sumo briefly wondered if he had walked into the wrong place.
Each member had their own independent bedroom with an en-suite bathroom. The arrangement of the space inside was entirely up to them.
Lin Sumo looked everywhere with curiosity. The novelty of entering a new world overrode the part of his brain labeled “composure,” making him look like a little demon visiting the human world for the first time.
Lin Sumo followed Song Hong to the training room. Song Hong said, “This is the First Team’s training room. This computer station is yours.”
Song Hong pointed to an empty seat nearby.
He checked his watch. “We start training at 2:00 PM. It’s only a little past 11:00 now, so most of them aren’t up yet.”
“I’ll send you the schedule in a bit,” Song Hong said as he walked.
Lin Sumo acknowledged him. Song Hong added, “You’re the youngest in the team. If you have any issues, feel free to bring them up.”
“Oh, speaking of which, our club had another rookie join a month ago.” Song Hong seemed to remember something and suddenly said, “He plays ADC. He’s the same age as you, but he plays well, so like you, he entered the First Team directly.”
Lin Sumo couldn’t help but be curious. “Who is it? Can I meet him?”
Before Song Hong could speak, footsteps came from the stairs. A few seconds later, someone walked down.
“There,” Song Hong said after seeing who it was. “That’s him. ID: Print.”
Lin Sumo looked in the direction of the voice.
To be honest, he was looking forward to meeting this legendary Print player.
At their age, it was natural to admire the strong. To them, playing games well was enough to be called a king.
Moreover, in this isolated new environment, having a peer of the same age was the best kind of comfort.
Lin Sumo waited with anticipation.
Until Print on the stairs looked up, and he and Lin Sumo locked eyes in a staring contest.
Lin Sumo: “……?!”
Fuck, Pei Yun?!
Why is it him?!
Time seemed to freeze.
The moment he met those ink-black eyes, Lin Sumo felt the whole world turn upside down.
He felt dizzy.
Lin Sumo froze in place, his jaw nearly hitting the floor.
Pei Yun nodded at him politely and distantly, as if meeting him for the first time. “Hello.”
This “Hello” almost scared Lin Sumo into fainting.
It wasn’t a hallucination. That was Pei Yun’s voice.
So, what was the situation?
Shouldn’t this guy be holed up at home cramming for the college entrance exams right now?!
Why was he here?!
“Solve?”
“Huh?” Realizing Song Hong was calling him, Lin Sumo quickly snapped back to reality.
“Is something wrong?” Song Hong asked.
“Nothing.” Lin Sumo stepped forward, grabbed Pei Yun, and turned back to Song Hong. “Sorry, Manager Song, I need to have a few words with Print.” With that, he dragged Pei Yun upstairs.
Song Hong stood there, confused. “?”
Second floor, stairwell.
Lin Sumo slammed Pei Yun against the wall. “Pei Yun?”
Pei Yun’s face didn’t show much expression. “What?”
Lin Sumo frowned. “Why are you here?”
It was bizarre. He had never cared about this so-called childhood friend; Pei Yun was just a stranger who shared a label with him. Why was he now willing to consider his situation and the reasons behind it?
He was held back by a mysterious force, whispering in his ear again and again. Even though he struggled against it, it seemed useless.
Pei Yun looked at him and asked calmly, “Here to pay a New Year’s call?”
Lin Sumo: “……”
Great. The bullet he fired three hours ago had now hit him right between the eyes.
Why did a perfectly good person have to have a mouth?
Lin Sumo grabbed Pei Yun by the collar and said, word by word, “Pei Yun, I’m fucking serious.”
He asked in an unfriendly tone, “You’re not taking the college entrance exam?”
After saying it, he surprised even himself.
This matter didn’t seem to have anything to do with him.
Was it an emotion called ‘concern’ acting up inside him?
No.
Lin Sumo exhaled and released his grip on Pei Yun.
His hand hung in mid-air, hesitating whether to drop or not, much like Lin Sumo’s current situation.
He shouldn’t interfere.
Pei Yun glanced at him, then pushed his hand away. “Just worry about yourself.”
With that, Pei Yun straightened his collar, ignored Lin Sumo, and walked straight downstairs.
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