Chapter 37: Uh, My Name is Zuo Zhao. My Name is Ning Chi
Before the other party could say a second sentence, Zuo Chi walked into the crowd and unobtrusively blocked Beyond behind him.
“I’m sorry, Beyond is shy around strangers. Thank you for your concern. Our little marksman is still very young and will keep playing.”
With the words “I’m sorry” and “thank you for your concern,” Zuo Chi’s tone carried a hint of lightness, as if he were being polite, but upon closer inspection, it sounded like a warning.
Ma Song, who had been talking to Beyond just now, seemed to think of something. The expression on his face, behind his sunglasses, stiffened for a moment, but he soon took two steps forward, took off his sunglasses, and glanced at Beyond behind him.
“Beyond, being this shy all the time and letting your coach speak for you—that really won’t do… I hope you really can keep playing.”
Zuo Chi shifted his gaze and gave a brief greeting to the rest of WIN: “The players are going home for the New Year holiday today and have to board in half an hour, so we’ll be heading in. We can chat again when we have the chance next time.”
After helping the cubs carry their suitcases to the boarding gate while they went through the check-in procedures, he invited Ning Luzhao to the small supermarket on the side to buy them some snacks and drinks.
“Coach seems to be in a bad mood.”
“…Am I?” Zuo Chi’s expression relaxed for a moment, and he raised his hand to touch his cheek.
“Yes. Since the stream ended last night, it hasn’t been great, and it looks even worse after meeting the WIN players outside just now.”
When they bumped into the WIN players, Ning Luzhao was still in the taxi helping Fugui with his luggage, so he couldn’t have heard their conversation clearly. But the little jungle-king was always sharp, and he had picked up on something unusual.
Zuo Chi didn’t speak, and Ning Luzhao took several bottles of mineral water and potato chips to pay.
“Did someone bully Beyond?”
Zuo Chi’s eyes snapped up. Ning Luzhao spoke these words very softly, yet his tone was very certain.
“It seems so. Coach suddenly got out of the car just now and walked over aggressively. It didn’t look like you were going over to greet the WIN players.”
They returned to the original spot, where the cubs had just finished their procedures and were gathered together chatting and laughing.
Beyond’s face wasn’t as deathly pale as it had been outside, but beneath his black-rimmed glasses, his gaze was vacant, looking somewhat distracted.
The announcement reminding passengers to check in and board rang out. Zuo Chi distributed the snacks he’d just bought to the few cubs. When he came to Beyond, he softly added a line: “If anything happens during the holiday, you can send a WeChat message or call me. If you want to return to the base early, you can tell us, and Land and I will drive to pick you up.”
Beyond’s wrist trembled slightly as he gripped the potato chip bag, and he nodded obediently: “Mm!”
“Go on. Remember to drink your milk every day after getting home and don’t be a picky eater. When you train every day, report what you’ve eaten for the day along the way.”
“Okay, Coach Zuo… I’ve remembered everything.”
The silhouettes of the cubs disappeared into the boarding gate.
Zuo Chi opened the map on his phone and located a new Spring Festival fair that had opened in Nancheng this year: “Relaxation time is here. Shall we go eat something there first and then have a good stroll?”
The main gate of the Spring Festival fair was a traditional Zhuangyuan gate in an ancient style, with red pillars and gold lacquer. Two bright red lanterns hung above it, and two staff members stood at the entrance distributing free hand-written Spring Festival couplets and stamp-collection postcards for the fair.
The stalls in the fair were basically a festive red. Some sold specialty snacks, while others sold various handmade products. Tourists came and went in a constant stream. Stepping into the market, a strong atmosphere of the New Year suddenly surged toward them.
“Come, come, come! Freshly baked meat and shrimp pancakes!”
“Water chestnut cake, sweet and soft, have a taste?”
“Authentic lamb skewers, cut and grilled on the spot, no deception!”
As they passed a stall, another item of food would appear in Zuo Chi’s hand. After walking only a short distance, the two of them were almost unable to hold all the food in their hands.
Zuo Chi took a bite of a pancake, and the salty-sweet juice immediately overflowed: “As expected of a snack stall with a long queue. It’s delicious!”
The stretch of road ahead looked even more congested. He didn’t know what good things were being sold.
“Latest activity of the Spring Festival Fair, the New Year Arena! Participation comes with a prize! No matter if you’re National-tier or Bronze, a grandmaster or a rookie, as long as you dare to come, take exquisite gifts home!”
“Latest activity of the Spring Festival Fair…”
Zuo Chi was burying his head in gnawing on a pancake when he vaguely heard something like “National-tier.” Just as he cast a glance at Ning Luzhao with his peripheral vision, the other had already stepped forward and asked the promoter for a flyer.
[Arena New Year Arena!
To celebrate the game Arena reaching over 200 million domestic users, this New Year Arena event is specially launched!
Participation condition: Unlimited!!!
Arena Rules: The gatekeepers are Top-500 ‘Road Kings’ from the National server. Challengers engage in a single-game solo match with the gatekeeper. There are no hero restrictions. Challengers who win can receive a 1,000-yuan red envelope. Those who lose receive a participation prize: a wooden puppet x1.]
A picture of a wooden puppet was attached at the bottom of the flyer—a Chibi figurine, both male and female, wearing festive red jackets. They were very cute. It was also specifically noted that one could choose a “blank” puppet without facial features and draw the puppet’s expression themselves.
Zuo Chi’s heart was deeply moved. He finished the pancake in a few bites and said indistinctly with his cheeks bulging: “Go!”
Ning Luzhao gave him a napkin: “To participate in this arena?”
Zuo Chi looked at the tide of people continuously surging over, then looked at his and Ning Luzhao’s attire—although they weren’t wearing team uniforms, they were wearing masks. Generally, they wouldn’t be recognized walking on the fair’s main street.
But if they went up to play in the arena, it would be hard to say. At least dozens or even a hundred people would be watching below. Everyone who came to participate in the arena had played Arena, and some were bound to follow the league.
For professional players to participate in this arena was somewhat like bullying people.
It would be best if they could buy a hat and be fully armed…
While he was looking around, his sleeve was suddenly tugged lightly. He followed Ning Luzhao to a small stall selling old-fashioned knitted wool hats. The advertisement beside it read: Loose, soft, pure wool. Men, women, young, and old can all wear it.
Zuo Chi tidied the snacks in his hands, freed one hand, picked up an ink-black hat, and tried it on. The hat was indeed very loose and soft. Without using much strength, he pulled it down, and his entire head was covered under the hat.
His vision went black in an instant, and he could only see the scene before him through the tiny holes between the wool.
He heard Ning Luzhao give a few low laughs, the laughter sounding somewhat mischievous. Then he saw the other hold his phone screen up before him—the front camera’s photo preview.
With the black hat over his head, he looked like a masked bandit from a Hong Kong police-and-robber film, ready to rush up and hijack the wooden puppets at any moment.
Zuo Chi couldn’t help but be amused.
Although his face was covered this way, it seemed even more embarrassing.
He took off the hat and asked the stall owner if there were any slightly smaller hats.
Stall owner: “Our hats are all standard size… the smaller ones are only for children.”
Before he could open his mouth to refuse, Ning Luzhao had already picked out a red hat with a snowy-white fluffy ball on top from the pile of hats and held it against his face.
“This one is just right.”
“Is the size right?” Zuo Chi was suspicious. He tried it on, and it just happened to press against his brow bone. Combined with the mask, it almost entirely covered his face, leaving only a pair of eyes exposed.
“Is this color a bit too bright?”
“Hats for children are all very bright in color. Red is just right.”
the young man’s almond eyes were clear, handsome, and soft, and his skin was fair. Wearing a red hat wasn’t abrupt at all; it only made his features appear even more handsome and vivid.
The stall owner on the side also nodded repeatedly, and Zuo Chi was convinced: “Alright then… you pick a hat too. I’ll go win a wooden puppet, and you go win the thousand-yuan grand prize.”
Following the crowd to the vicinity of the arena, they were surrounded by several circles of people, most of whom were there to watch the fun.
“Winning a single solo match can get you a thousand-yuan prize? Is there really such a good thing?”
“Easier said than done. The gatekeepers are Top-500 from the National server. Do you know what that concept means? If you think you can win, then go on up!”
“This arena has been set up all morning. Masters have come to play too, but unfortunately, after a fierce battle for ten-odd minutes, they still lost.”
“It’s fine if you can’t win. I think that wooden puppet prize is pretty good too.”
…
Two young men wearing hats and masks, muffling themselves up tightly, walked to the registration point.
Staff member at the registration: “Registering for the arena? Name and game ID.”
“Uh…”
“Name?” The staff member looked up in confusion. Seeing the two fully armed, he was even more confused.
“My name is Zuo Zhao. I forgot my game ID; can I borrow an account?”
“Yes. Next.”
“Ning Chi. I also forgot my game ID.”
The staff member nodded with increasing confusion: “There are no challengers right now. You can go up directly. The computers are on, and staff will help you log into the accounts…”
“Hey—someone’s gone up to challenge!”
“This person… his attire looks like he has the air of a master.”
“Why did he log into a Bronze account?”
“He probably joined just to get the wooden puppet. Just playing casually.”
To let the audience on-site see the solo match clearly, there was a big screen behind their computer desks on the stage, which would display the game footage from both sides in real-time—along with the challenger’s name.
The first person up was “Zuo Zhao.” He was a bit nervous.
The gatekeeper sitting next to him had likely been playing all morning and was a bit tired. He was using eye drops on the side and asked him while doing so: “Brother, what position do you play?”
“About… all of them?”
“What rank are you?”
“A bit lower than you.”
“Alright, let’s start.”
Zuo Chi: “Do you want to rest a bit more?”
Playing a solo match while fatigued would result in much slower reaction times and such.
“No need, no need. Don’t look at me playing in an arena right now; I actually came out of a youth training camp before!”
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