Chapter 80
Shen Yanjin was already very familiar with the routine of plundering the enemy’s jungle resources and squeezing the enemy jungler dry from countless past collaborations.
In this match, he was playing Faerie Cat, so rather than using mechanics to coordinate with Duan Mingyue, his role was more about observing the lanes and predicting the enemy Jungle-Support movements.
However, Shen Yanjin originally thought Song Aiyu’s Mid lane play would be rusty. Contrary to his expectations, Song Aiyu’s Chrono was full of details from laning to positioning. He didn’t lose out in trades at all. Five minutes into the game, he was already pinning the opponent under their tower.
With Mid lane having priority, the Jungler could be even more comfortable.
“Aiai’s Chrono has some substance.” Duan Mingyue circled behind the Mid tier-one tower, cleanly threw cards to secure First Blood, and drifted out of the tower’s range under the cover of the Faerie Cat’s shield. “What does UOOW think?”
Shen Yanjin paused. “What do I think… it’s pretty good.” Only after speaking did he realize Duan Mingyue was asking about Aiai’s Chrono from a professional standard.
So he moved his mouse vision back there. To be fair, Aiai’s reaction speed wasn’t fast; he would get hit by many non-targeted skills. But he would use his experience to seize gaps to regain the health disadvantage. Every auto-attack woven into his movement was perfectly timed, and he barely missed any CS.
These sounded like very basic things.
But it was these very basic things that constructed an entire match. All players, including geniuses like Duan Mingyue, Kai, and Shi Feng, had to practice these boring things every day, day after day, just to ensure every fourteen gold in the match.
Aiai’s mechanics couldn’t be called flashy, and he certainly couldn’t compare with SeeD or Kai, but there was a very stable feeling.
This reassurance was something that could only be obtained through hard work and sweat; talent couldn’t provide it, and there were no shortcuts.
So Shen Yanjin thought for a moment and said sincerely, “Very solid.”
“True, after all, he’s quite unyielding.” Duan Mingyue smiled. “Someone’s coming. Hold tight, kitten. Let’s go.”
Saying this, with two jumps, the Queen surrounded by poker cards hugged the kitten in her arms, nimbly crossing bushes and walls. She brushed past the enemy jungler’s hook, escaping dashingly with two enemy jungle camps and the Red Buff.
Shen Yanjin was stunned hearing this, then smiled. “Yeah.”
When he saw the team prefix disappear from Song Aiyu’s ID, his first thought was that Aiai was leaving TWG.
Maybe humans are just creatures like that, always looking for commonalities in others’ misfortunes and then generating inexplicable empathy.
Shen Yanjin had to admit, in that instant, what he saw was himself—washing his face with cold water in the empty restroom after losing his retirement match against FTK months ago.
Empty, possessing nothing. Having never conveyed his feelings to the person he loved most, he had stumbled out of the game.
He didn’t even notice that his tone carried some unspeakable disappointment.
But Duan Mingyue noticed. That was why he used such an indirect way to tell Shen Yanjin that Aiai hadn’t given up; he was still struggling. A professional transition at twenty-five was unprecedented in WL history. It wasn’t an exaggeration to call it impossible, but Aiai still embarked on this path without hesitation.
Shen Yanjin thought, Yes, Aiai hasn’t admitted defeat yet. Whether to the game or to Shi Feng.
That’s good.
This gratification, in Kai’s words, was: Getting old, can’t stand seeing others have a Bad Ending.
Faerie Cat didn’t require hand speed or mechanics to play; looking flashy depended entirely on prediction and teammates.
Shen Yanjin rarely played such characters. They were too soft; the help they could give teammates was limited, and they needed protection instead. But now, using the UOOW ID, he absolutely didn’t want anyone to recognize any similarity between his operation and Sliver’s.
However, Duan Mingyue actually felt such worry was superfluous.
After all, if not for various external factors aiding him, he definitely wouldn’t have believed UOOW and Shen Yanjin were the same person.
Holding the kitten, Duan Mingyue smiled with interest. Playing like this, appreciating his little boyfriend’s trembling and panicked behavior, was actually a bit more fun than he had imagined.
Thinking this, he glanced sideways at the bullet screen and casually picked a comment to reply to. “Yes, Moon-U didn’t lose. Moon-U can still be renewed.”
“Bro… Moon God!” Shen Yanjin wished he could fly downstairs to the training room and cover his mouth to stop him from being cheeky about this.
So Duan Mingyue changed his tone. “Of course, I’m speaking from the perspective of duo partners.”
He had said similar words to Lucida, saying they would only be teammates. But any fool could hear the difference in tone between the two sentences. The former was full of rejection, while the latter was mostly teasing.
Even a rabbit bites when cornered. Shen Yanjin felt this couldn’t go on. Gritting his teeth, he said, “That’s right, Moon God and I are just duo partners. Because I already have a boyfriend.”
[Huh?????] [What is this development? My question marks aren’t enough.] [Is this the legendary friendship? (Laughs)] [Just asking, why does there seem to be a green light in this stream room?]
Duan Mingyue chuckled, the smile in his voice deepening. “Oh—then, does your boyfriend treat you well?”
Shen Yanjin didn’t expect him to continue the topic. “…Treats me very well.”
“Then is he handsome? Is he tall? Does he sound nice? Does he play games as well as I do?”
Shen Yanjin braced himself and replied, “He’s… handsome, tall, sounds nice…” The more he spoke, the higher the temperature on his face rose, as if he were about to be cooked through. “Ga-games… he plays about as well as you.”
Duan Mingyue teased him, “Then you must like him very much?”
“…” A long silence came from the voice channel. It was so long that Duan Mingyue almost thought Shen Yanjin wouldn’t answer, when suddenly he heard a soft “En” through the headphones.
“Like,” Shen Yanjin said, his face red, fighting back his shyness. “I like him very much.”
Duan Mingyue was stunned. Rarely, he felt a bit bashful too. He coughed lightly and consciously changed the subject.
[Damn, what is this atmosphere.] [Pink + Green = ?] [Is UOOW serious? Who is her boyfriend? Plays as well as Moon God? She must be living in a dream.] [Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. Little girl, understandable.] [Moon God seems to be flirting with UOOW. Are they really not a couple TAT] [Probably a sister, just a sister.] [Here it comes, the Sister Theory ww] [Whatever, Moon-U Eternal God, that’s all that matters.] [Um… am I the only one who thinks UOOW’s boyfriend is Moon God, and this is just a little flirting game between the two?]
However, this bullet screen comment, which was closest to the truth, flashed by and was quickly drowned out by others.
After all, for most fans, they were more willing to accept the “truth” that Duan Mingyue was still single.
Duan Mingyue intended to restrain himself a little. However, Shen Yanjin, having been teased too much, refused to respond to him anymore, as if he were really angry.
Even so, when the Card Queen jumped into the Mid lane and was ambushed by the enemy Top, Jungle, and Support trio, the kitten still jumped off the Queen and blocked the hook for her at the perfect moment.
But he couldn’t escape himself, and under focused fire, he was quickly sent back to the fountain.
Duan Mingyue’s expression shifted slightly. “Thank you.”
Shen Yanjin said awkwardly, “It’s nothing. You have a bounty on your head, you absolutely can’t die.”
Duan Mingyue said, “Okay.”
To ensure the kill on Shen Yanjin, the opposing three used two ultimates. Song Aiyu teleported in support, coordinating with Duan Mingyue to successfully clean up the three enemies who had exhausted their skills.
This support was already very timely. Even so, Song Aiyu typed “sry” in the chat box to apologize for not saving Shen Yanjin.
If his teleport had been one second faster, his awareness a bit better, he could have coordinated a triple kill without sacrificing anyone.
This made Shen Yanjin a bit surprised and a bit happy: Aiai was serious about switching positions, which was why he held himself to such high standards.
And Duan Mingyue, having promised Shen Yanjin not to die, truly didn’t die once for the next ten minutes until they pushed the enemy base. Only kills flowed into his account continuously.
Once the game ended, before Shen Yanjin could say anything, Duan Mingyue spoke first in a low voice, “Today’s stream ends here.” Then, with lightning speed, he turned off the computer and ran out of the training room.
Kai, who had witnessed everything, hesitated for a while before lowering his head to send a message in the three-person group chat: “Captain looks so bewitched by beauty that he’s forgotten his duty. Why do I feel a bit of a ‘Lu Yuan No. 2’ vibe?”
Tans hadn’t queued into a game yet and was playing Dou Dizhu (Fighting the Landlord). He glanced at his phone in between playing cards and replied: “Did Captain miss training? Did his form drop? Did he miss the review?”
Kai thought back and said weakly, “Well, no…” Not only that, his form was even better than before. He was simply a monster whose form was aging in reverse.
Tans had a “then that’s fine” expression, too lazy to reply further, focusing on calculating his cards.
And Kai’s worry was indeed superfluous. The next day, Shen Yanjin, back in the training room, sat at his station immovable as a mountain from 10 AM to 10 PM. Solo queue, basic training, and scrim reviews—his seriousness didn’t diminish by half. Led by him, even Duan Mingyue’s training time increased by two hours.
📖 Advance Access: Complete Novel
- Option 1: Note your email on PayPal/Ko-fi.
- Option 2: Email proof to beezzzreads@gmail.com.
- Option 3: Comment below.
Recommended Reads
