Chapter 25: Continue Next Time
The Mermaid’s knock-up skill was a straight rectangular trajectory. Coincidentally, Tata’s flying kick after hooking was also a linear skill.
The result was that the Water Ball smashed impartially right into Tata’s face. From a bystander’s perspective, it looked like he had actively slammed into it.
So, the Tata who had just flown out was forcefully smashed back to his original spot.
The control duration of the hook chain ended. Shen Yanjin unhurriedly walked to a relatively safe position, not forgetting to renew the slow effect on the opposing Jungle-Support duo.
As if by prior agreement, Duan Mingyue grabbed the Tata who had been knocked back, pinning him down for a fierce beating.
As for Wanzi, clearly a squishy Mid laner, no one thought to target her the entire time. She stood by the side dealing damage continuously, her output environment incredibly comfortable.
Tata and Bell Spirit’s portraits soon turned gray, starting the respawn countdown.
The enemy Mid laner, who arrived a step late, saw this and decided there was no need to come anymore, silently retreating under the tower to farm minions.
Duan Mingyue and Wanzi took one kill each—a 4/0/1 Jungler and a 2/0/1 Mid laner. In contrast, the opponents, who had built a composition around the Jungle-Support roam strategy, had their core Jungle and Support sitting at a pitiful 0/2. A catastrophic start.
Wanzi thought she was going to feed a huge rhythm, but unexpectedly, the situation turned around. Not only did she not feed, but she also made a profit.
Wanzi typed happily in the chat box: [Sister, you are too strong! Awesome, awesome, awesome!]
Shen Yanjin was long accustomed to being called “Sister” by the opposite sex. Seeing this, he calmly replied with a cute emoji.
It was rare to meet girls in high-ELO games, let alone a young lady who played so well, could protect herself, and protect you.
On one hand, Wanzi genuinely wanted to interact with her more; on the other hand, it was because of the rapidly rising heat in her live stream room. She continued typing: [Sister, your Mermaid is truly a one-trick pony level! I’ve never met you in high ELO before~ And your Jungle King! Also so amazing! Are you guys boyfriend and girlfriend?]
The first half of the sentence was fine, but the second half made Shen Yanjin extremely embarrassed.
My Jungle King… boyfriend and girlfriend…
He deliberated for a moment and decided to ignore the second half. “I liked playing before~ Now I decided not to torture myself, so I rarely play it, wuwu.”
Shen Yanjin was an old hand at this; he mimicked a young girl’s tone perfectly.
Wanzi didn’t suspect a thing, even saying to the bullet screen in her stream, “UOOW is really so cute, she must be a very pretty little sister in real life~”
[I agree. Suggest she quickly dumps the Jungle King and duo-queues with me. Let the Jungle King duo with my girlfriend. Win-win.]
[Let you win everything, huh?]
[Words shouldn’t be spoken so absolutely. What if she pulls it out and it’s huge?]
[What is huge? Please clarify.]
[Is the car starting already?]
[Unlikely. I looked at UOOW’s profile; it’s completely a girl.]
[True. Anyway, I don’t believe a grown man would use a pink bear avatar, a bowknot frame, and love saying QAQ.]
Shen Yanjin, who used a pink bear avatar, a bowknot frame, and loved saying QAQ, sneezed.
He rubbed his nose and muttered, “Someone on the enemy team must be cursing me.”
taking advantage of the enemy Jungle and Support’s absence, Duan Mingyue scavenged map resources. Shen Yanjin ran to the bot lane to protect the AD and took down the tier-one tower.
Winning meant being arrogant. The Mermaid, a sewer-tier character, dared to roam alone now. It drew a lot of aggro, but honestly, no one dared to touch her.
Shen Yanjin cleared the vision very thoroughly, making it impossible for the enemy to guess Duan Mingyue’s position. He bullied others by relying on his powerful backer, going wherever he pleased, extremely free and dashing.
Hearing him mutter to himself, Duan Mingyue scoffed. “No way. You gave them so much free heat; they’re probably thanking you to death.”
Shen Yanjin froze. Just as he was about to speak, he heard another set of footsteps coming from Duan Mingyue’s side. Immediately after, Duan Mingyue said coldly, “What are you doing?”
Clearly, someone had come in.
Who is it?
Shen Yanjin pricked up his ears to listen carefully.
“Brother Moon.” Lu Yuan’s voice carried a hoarse sob. “Others told me you were going to the Youth Training Camp. Is it true?”
After speaking, without waiting for Duan Mingyue’s answer, she sobbed again. “I’m sorry, Brother Moon, I’m really sorry. My condition in training matches recently has been really bad, I know it myself. I’m not here to explain anything to you, I… I just want to say, if the team wants to find a substitute player for me, you don’t have to hide it from me. I completely agree.”
“Brother Moon, can you not… hate me?”
[Your teammate has slain an enemy.]
Shen Yanjin was listening intently when the system kill notification suddenly sounded in the game. He looked up. Hah, Lu Yuan was crying her heart out beside him, while Duan Mingyue was slaughtering everyone in the game, completely undisturbed.
“Finished? If you’re finished, get out.”
Duan Mingyue’s tone had no fluctuation. It was so vastly different from his usual smiling self that it was almost frightening. “Substitute or not, that is the team’s decision. Whether you have an opinion or not, telling me is useless. If you have a problem, go find the coach or the manager.”
Lu Yuan flinched.
She bit her lower lip hard, looking at the man in front of her with teary, misty eyes. “Brother Moon, you don’t hate me, right? Everything is for the team’s tactical needs, right?”
Shen Yanjin heard Duan Mingyue sigh softly.
“Get out,” he said.
The training room returned to silence.
These past few days, KW’s training matches had been a mess. A suffocating low pressure pervaded the team. The other team members had all hidden in their rooms to stream or train, leaving only Duan Mingyue sitting in the training room daily, unmoving as thunder.
Shen Yanjin recalled to buy items, silently following behind Duan Mingyue, not daring to breathe loudly.
This weird silence lasted for a while before Duan Mingyue suddenly laughed. “Why aren’t you talking? Scared?”
Shen Yanjin hurriedly said, “No, I was just afraid you were unhappy, Brother Moon…”
Duan Mingyue paused. “What?”
Shen Yanjin realized he had slipped up and regretted it instantly. “No, I-I was led astray by her!”
Hearing him anxious enough to stutter, Duan Mingyue found it amusing and curled his lips. “It’s fine, calling me that works too. Anyway, I’m older than you; calling me Brother is no problem.”
Anyway, when we could only type, you called me Brother plenty of times.
Shen Yanjin was stunned, muttering, “That’s true…”
This conversation felt familiar, but this time, Shen Yanjin didn’t refute it.
The advantage in this game was huge. In the late game, Shen Yanjin felt like he just casually strolled around and slacked off, yet they won. Gaining points was easier than breathing.
Unfortunately, today couldn’t be counted as a lucky day for ranking up because just as this game finished, someone else walked into the training room asking Duan Mingyue to go see the coach.
Shen Yanjin was very sensible. Before Duan Mingyue could speak, he preemptively said, “Bye-bye Moon God, see you next time.”
Duan Mingyue joked, “So anxious to leave?”
Shen Yanjin acted innocent. “No, I’m not.”
Duan Mingyue said, “Let’s add a contact method. Convenient for scheduling times in the future.”
Shen Yanjin was well prepared for this.
In fact, he had rehearsed this scene hundreds of times in his heart.
He switched to the alt account he had prepared in advance—the one with the pink, soft, cute avatar—and said, “Okay, okay, Moon God, let me add you.”
Duan Mingyue recited a string of numbers, then said, “Alright, I’m going. See you next time.”
Shen Yanjin replied affirmatively.
Exiting the voice channel, he covered his face and collapsed onto the sofa, his heart full of joy.
See you next time.
It really was a beautiful phrase.
Too many good things happened today. Now that he was alone, the joy surged up belatedly, making Shen Yanjin feel a bit overwhelmed.
He rejoiced by himself for a while, then picked up his phone and contacted someone.
[Sliver: Shi Feng, what if RedMoon really personally begs me to go to the KW team? I have a premonition.]
[TWG-Wind: Hahaha, aren’t you thinking too much? If that really happens, I’ll call you Daddy.]
Shen Yanjin couldn’t suppress his smile and replied with a “Deal.”
Duan Mingyue pushed open the door. “Coach, you looked for me?”
KW’s coach office was on the first floor, convenient for managing the second team and youth training members. Inside were several desks and chairs, and two large bookcases occupied a lot of space, filled with personal profiles and data of KW members. To make way for them, even the display cabinet full of trophies and medals had been moved to the hallway.
Generally speaking, the coach spent most of his time in the replay room or the training room. This office was only used when he wanted to talk to a player alone or when coaches needed to look up data to discuss tactics.
KW’s coach was named Mao Qiude. He was also a former professional player who chose the coaching path after retiring.
Seeing Duan Mingyue, he first sighed, then got straight to the point. “What do you think about the support situation? A substitute definitely needs to be found. I have a few candidates on hand right now; take a look?”
Since UOOW’s matter wasn’t confirmed yet, Duan Mingyue didn’t want to say much. He reached out and took the documents from Mao Qiude’s hand.
However, he didn’t rush to read them. Instead, he asked, “Did Lu Yuan come to find you?”
It was better not mentioned. As soon as it was mentioned, Mao Qiude started getting a headache. “She did come. The problem is her attitude—she came in crying and wailing, making me look like the villain.”
Mao Qiude didn’t have Duan Mingyue’s psychological resilience, nor was he thick-skinned enough. The moment a beautiful, fragile girl shed tears and spoke so pitifully, he was thrown into disarray.
Fortunately, his heart was still set on the team’s victory. No matter how Lu Yuan cried, he didn’t give a single word of assurance.
Hearing this, Duan Mingyue smiled indifferently. “Six years.”
Mao Qiude understood his meaning and sighed with similar emotion. “Yeah, old teammates who fought side by side for six years. Why did it have to come to this? …By the way, I heard you’re going to the Youth Training Camp. What’s up? Is there someone you have your eye on, or something you need to do?”
Duan Mingyue hadn’t figured out the full story of the Youth Training Camp yet, so he didn’t answer. He just lowered his eyes and flipped through the documents in his hand.
Mao Qiude had mostly selected active players from other teams, along with a few who had recently retired and were still in form.
Suddenly, Duan Mingyue flipped to a page and paused.
Sliver, former HG Team Support.
Duan Mingyue narrowed his eyes. He remembered this person seemed to have retweeted a post from his fan club when he returned to the country, causing Mi Yonghui to rant heartbrokenly for quite a while.
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