Chapter 54
Following his entry into the team came the official announcement. In Mi Yonghui’s words, this was the first critical point of public relations and absolutely could not be delayed.
Otherwise, once the draw was signed and the participant list released the day after tomorrow, their team’s PR would be placed in a completely passive position.
Shen Yanjin naturally let them handle it. Later in the afternoon, while Duan Mingyue and the others went to play a training match, he would follow Mi Yonghui to take the official announcement photos.
It had to be said that Mi Yonghui was efficient and thorough; in just one day, the team uniform had been rushed out. The black and red jacket collar was embroidered with the word “Sliver.” Shen Yanjin gently stroked the uneven embroidery with his thumb, a trace of heartfelt joy flowing from the depths of his eyes.
Sporting two massive dark circles under his eyes, Mi Yonghui urged him, “Put it on and see if the size fits.”
Shen Yanjin put it on as told. It wasn’t too small, but rather a bit loose and empty.
Watching from the side, Duan Mingyue remembered the little Support saying he had spent the last half-month in the hospital. His heart ached, and he stepped forward to tidy Shen Yanjin’s collar.
Shen Yanjin glanced at Mi Yonghui in a panic and whispered, “Moon God, I’ll do it myself.”
“It’s fine.” Duan Mingyue arranged his collar, then suddenly leaned slightly to whisper in his ear, “There are still tooth marks on your collarbone. Be careful when taking photos later.”
Shen Yanjin immediately felt a surge of numbness rush to the area mentioned by the man. He looked up at the “culprit” before him with a look that was half-complaining, half-shy, and let out an “En.”
Duan Mingyue smiled, straightened up, and distanced himself like nothing had happened. “Go on.”
Mi Yonghui looked at Duan Mingyue strangely: Since when did this guy become so motherly?
Lu Yuan, coming from the other end of the corridor, happened to bump into this scene. From her angle, she could only see Duan Mingyue’s back and Shen Yanjin’s coquettish look.
She remembered the news she heard from Fever yesterday, and a layer of goosebumps instantly rose on her back.
Sliver couldn’t possibly like Duan Mingyue, right?
Lu Yuan frowned, while a vague memory from a long time ago surfaced in her mind.
Five years ago, there was once a famous passerby King Support whom every team was fighting over. Duan Mingyue had even duo-queued with him for a while.
That Support also seemed to be a homosexual who liked Duan Mingyue.
What was his name again?
…She forgot.
But that person knew when to back off. After she used some small tricks, he obediently disappeared. This Sliver, however, had already danced right in front of her face.
Lu Yuan wasn’t stupid; she would definitely keep such a crucial knife firmly in her hand, hidden behind her back. So, although she felt very annoyed and disgusted, she only gave Shen Yanjin a deep look, said nothing, and turned into the training room.
As for Shen Yanjin, he didn’t notice Lu Yuan’s appearance. Bidding farewell to Duan Mingyue, he followed Mi Yonghui to the shooting location under his urging.
The sky was slightly gloomy, pale with gray edges rolling in, though fortunately, there was no sign of rain. Pressing down the car window, the city’s noise mixed with the cool wind poured into the carriage. Shen Yanjin’s hair was messed up by the wind. From the faint reflection on the glass, he realized his hair had grown a lot longer.
Mi Yonghui shivered from the wind. Just as he wanted to ask Shen Yanjin to close the window, he turned his head and saw the young man staring out the window in a trance. His side profile was cold and hard, the whole person exuding an indifferent aura of “don’t disturb if not important.”
So he swallowed the words he had prepared. He silently turned up the car heater a few degrees, thinking: Is Sliver unhappy today? Wasn’t he fine when talking to Duan Mingyue earlier?
Unexpectedly, Shen Yanjin noticed his action from the corner of his eye and closed the window without saying a word.
They arrived at the Alliance Headquarters in silence. People coming in and out here were all staff and pro players related to esports. Many were familiar faces. With the development of internet information, popular players like Duan Mingyue, Kai, and Shi Feng were about as well-known as minor celebrities, so the security facilities and checks for entry and exit were very cumbersome.
There was a dedicated place for taking photos on the first floor of the headquarters. After taking the photo, one could register player information right out the door, which was very convenient. As the manager of a powerhouse team, Mi Yonghui rolled down the window; he didn’t even need to show his ID, simply scanning his face to enter the gate.
Getting out of the car, Mi Yonghui finally spoke, “The photographer and makeup artist have been booked in advance; they are our own people, right in the lounge on the first floor. Can you go alone? If you can, I’ll go redo your player rating first.”
Shen Yanjin nodded. “I can. I arranged the team processing back in HG, so I know the procedure.”
Mi Yonghui felt relieved hearing this. He gave him the lounge number and key, clutched his document bag, and hurried away. On the way, he made a call to the PR department, telling them to get the press release ready to send out in a bit.
Back then, Shen Yanjin was sprayed like that just for reposting a Weibo post from Duan Mingyue’s fan club. When the official announcement drops later, public opinion on the internet will only be worse, not better.
After hanging up, Mi Yonghui shook his head with a sigh. Sigh, I don’t know what exactly happened with UOOW. If she had joined the team as arranged, wouldn’t there be less trouble now? …Forget it, a worker’s soul is a worker’s soul. Don’t think about it, go to work.
He seriously suspected that half of the reason his workload had increased out of thin air over the past month was the result of him frequently annoying Duan Mingyue about UOOW. He had now developed an epiphany from working overtime: unless it was a special situation, he would never mention the word “UOOW” again.
Shen Yanjin stood by the car and slowly smoked a cigarette. After thinking for a while, he took off the KW team jacket, stuffed it into his backpack, and then walked into the headquarters. He had hidden this cigarette in his luggage and fished it out to put in his pants pocket before leaving.
He advised Duan Mingyue not to smoke, but he couldn’t help it himself.
Once addicted to something, it was hard to quit. Moreover, during HG’s last season, beset by difficulties internally and externally and tortured by illness, he wouldn’t have persisted without this little bit of comfort and numbness.
He knew clearly what Sliver’s reputation was like, and he also knew the efforts Mi Yonghui made for this PR.
So, before the PR draft was released, Shen Yanjin felt it was better not to let others know in advance that he had joined the KW team.
Otherwise, if these people posted on Weibo and spread rumors, who knew what it would turn into.
Without the jacket, it was still a bit cold when the wind blew, but fortunately, the central air conditioning in the headquarters building kept it like spring all year round.
Walking into the headquarters, Shen Yanjin looked up and saw a player he used to know, who was now controlling the thunder in the secondary league. Seeing Shen Yanjin, the curiosity and scrutiny in his eyes swept over without concealment.
Shen Yanjin pretended not to notice, walking straight toward the lounge without looking sideways.
However, luck was neither good nor bad; not far ahead, he ran into a few old acquaintances again.
HG Team’s Top, Mid, and Jungle, as well as Shi Feng.
With the draw coming up soon, many teams were here at this time to shoot makeup photos for promotion. You see people you know everywhere in this palm-sized place; it wasn’t strange to see anyone.
But Shen Yanjin still felt very unlucky.
Shi Feng also saw Shen Yanjin. He came alone today to take his makeup photo. Aiai had said he would come with him, but ended up secretly taking his earlier, leaving him looking like an orphan.
Seeing Shen Yanjin, he opened his mouth just wanting to complain, but the three people from HG Team spoke up first.
The one speaking was the Jungler.
He scanned Shen Yanjin up and down with a strange and mocking look, saying sarcastically, “Yo, a rare guest. I thought I wouldn’t be able to see Sliver gracing the headquarters with his presence anymore.”
Shen Yanjin looked at him calmly, didn’t speak, and continued walking forward.
But this was taken by the Jungler as a sign of guilty conscience. “Don’t go. Oh right, sorry, I forgot. People in the secondary league also go through the motions of an official announcement. What’s the verdict? Is it YDG or CYG?”
Both were teams at the bottom of the secondary league. The secondary league also had its “point-gift boys”; basically, they wouldn’t survive past the second season, miserably exploding.
Shi Feng, who walked over, only heard “the bottom” and missed the cause and effect. He looked confusedly at the three HG members, then at Shen Yanjin. “YDG, CYG? Sliver, you meow-ing would rather go to the secondary league than come to our team? Didn’t we agree you wouldn’t play again unless RedMoon personally begged you to join KW?!”
“…” Shen Yanjin felt his head swelling to the size of two. He really wanted to sew these people’s mouths shut.
The few people from HG knew Shi Feng. Team TWG was a veteran powerhouse. Originally, when they heard TWG had invited Shen Yanjin, their expressions turned ugly for a moment. But immediately hearing the latter part, it was like they heard the biggest joke in the world, laughing loudly.
Shi Feng’s expression was still very blank. He couldn’t even figure out the twists and turns in his own team, let alone the dirty business between HG and Shen Yanjin. He just treated them as former teammates.
But he could still hear the malice in their laughter.
Shi Feng furrowed his brows. “What’s so funny?”
That Jungler pointed at Shen Yanjin, laughing back and forth. “KW? Just based on you entering KW? Who do you think you are? UOOW? Are you worthy?”
If it was just sarcasm just now, this sentence meant tearing off the face.
Shen Yanjin looked at him and sighed. An idiot is an idiot; he couldn’t even muster the interest to refute. Saying one more word to this kind of person would lower his class.
Shi Feng, however, got somewhat angry. He was already in a terrible mood recently because of Aiai’s matter, and now encountering such a weirdo, rage rose in his heart. “You motherfu—”
“Enough.” Shen Yanjin stopped Shi Feng. He swept his eyes to the side. They were making quite a commotion here; people were already watching the drama, and some were secretly recording with their phones. “Forget it, let’s go.”
Why lower oneself to the level of this kind of person? What’s the point of gaining a momentary advantage with words? Having the time to bite back at a dog, it would be better to finish things quickly and return to the base for training. The official announcement was just a matter of these two days. Bickering with this group of people now out of momentary anger would only drag down his reputation and bring hate to KW.
Just as he grabbed Shi Feng’s arm wanting to leave, he suddenly heard a “Shen Yanjin” from behind.
Shen Yanjin’s steps paused. His body was faster than his brain; before he could react, he had turned around.
He saw Duan Mingyue pushing through the crowd, walking over unhurriedly.
“Where is Manager Mi? Why can’t I get through to his phone?” Duan Mingyue acted as if he didn’t see the few people beside them at all. He went straight to smooth Shen Yanjin’s wind-blown messy hair and took a small card from his pocket, handing it to him. “Coming to register information without even bringing your ID, do you want to rely on drawing by hand?”
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