Chapter 63

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That afternoon, there was a particularly high turnout of Titans and Noah’s Ark fans, especially for the latter.

Noah had achieved their best record to date this year, and any fan could see how hard each member worked. Now that they were in the final stages of the competition, the teams coming to the fore were the strongest of the strong, and there would undoubtedly be times when one ran up against an iron wall.

Despite the fact that they were playing Lincoln, Noah’s players showed no signs of discouragement as they waved and smiled at the cheering crowd, taking each step with poise and determination.

When the round four competitors entered the arena, the Titans walked right alongside Noah’s Ark, and Yao Sen, uncaring of the numerous spectating eyes, lifted a hand and rubbed Shao Han’s head, smiling as he said, “I’ll be waiting for you.”

Shao Han was both helpless and moved as he heard a vague chorus of exclamations among the fans. He let out a small laugh. “Mm.”

After seeing Shao Han off, Yao Sen turned his head, the smile leaving his lips. With one look, the other three members could see that their captain had already switched into his god-killing mode.

Their opponent for this round was NL—not the strongest, but certainly the most unusual.

Titans’s uniform was modified two years ago, adding dark red patterns to the cuffs and collar of the previously all-black garb—the reason being that some thought the all-black was too dull and lifeless.

Though their uniforms were now black and red, the black remained the dominant colour. As the densest colour, black was peerless and impenetrable, so if the path they’d taken to get to this point could be seen through and easily replicated, then they weren’t deserving of this colour.

Under the stadium lights, every single member of Team Titans appeared intense and steadfast. Yao Sen stood face to face with Cheng Rui and extended a hand towards him.

As the two shook hands, Yao Sen peered at the other man and suddenly muttered, “If I were you, I’d be offended that the first thing that comes to mind when they think of me is that I’m a copycat.”

Cheng Rui lowered his eyes, as if he had recalled something, yet his expression remained nonchalant. “I don’t mind.”

“Really?” Yao Sen smiled faintly. “Guess I can’t do anything about that.”

*

Jiang Yang had gotten together with his relatives who resided in America the day before. He’d planned to leave early that night because of the Titans vs. NL game the next day, but he couldn’t resist his eager relatives and ended up spending the night at their house.

As a result, he accidentally got up late this morning and got stuck in traffic on his way to the stadium, and he was so anxious that he wanted to get out of the car and sprint the rest of the way there.

The fourth round was already on its third or fourth match when Jiang Yang arrived at the stadium after much difficulty. He walked over to the audience entrance, tense, fearful of missing another second.

Jiang Yang had seriously blown his top when the former pro player pointed out undeniable evidence of NL copying Titans. If that twat surnamed Cheng had been standing in front of him at the time, Jiang Yang wouldn’t have been able to keep himself from suckerpunching the guy in the face.

Yao Sen was Jiang Yang’s idol, someone he’d admired for a long time, and for his idol to be imitated like that, he naturally couldn’t restrain his anger. Even if Cheng Rui’s play resembled or outperformed Yao Sen’s, in his eyes, Cheng Rui was nothing more than a shady knockoff.

Jiang Yang was about to rush to the audience entrance when he noticed a familiar figure flash by his peripheral vision. He immediately called out, “Zhou Ziyu!”

“Jiang Yang?” Zhou Ziyu said in surprise after turning his head. “What are you doing here? You’re not watching the match?”

“I just got here. Got held up by traffic,” Jiang Yang explained. “Why aren’t you in the audience? How’s the match going?”

Jiang Yang, who had rushed the entire way here, had been checking the time on his phone and hadn’t had time to check the livescores.

“I came out to go to the toilet…” Zhou Ziyu paused. “The match just ended. Captain and the others should be out in a bit.”

Jiang Yang was taken aback—the match had already ended? He fished his phone from his pocket and checked the livescore, discovering that the round four scores had just been updated, and the Titans vs NL matchhad ended the earliest, with Titans winning 3-0 just two or three minutes ago.

Right then, the door to the player’s hallway was opened, and the Titans’s entire team marched out, their distinctive red-patterned black uniforms catching everyone’s attention.

When Jiang Yang saw Yao Sen, who was walking at the very front, he let out a lengthy exhale. How could their captain, the strongest player in all of Asia, be easily surpassed by a knockoff?

As Jiang Yang made his way towards Titans, he caught a glimpse of NL a dozen metres away, their expressions dejected and fists tightly clenched.

Having spotted Jiang Yang, Yao Sen threw a hand around his shoulder and prodded him away from NL, saying, “Why don’t you guys head over to the hotel first? I’m gonna wait for Noah.”

Jiang Yang slowly exhaled. He gave a nod, then left with the rest of the Titans.

Yao Sen’s gaze followed his departing teammates. If he was being completely honest, the reason he stayed behind was not only to wait for Shao Han. Turning around, he looked towards Cheng Rui, who was preparing to leave with his team, and his lips curled up into a sudden smile as he said, “Captain Cheng Rui, can I have a few words?”

Only Cheng Rui’s expression remained completely unchanged as the other NL members all looked at Yao Sen with shifty and nervous expressions. After a brief silence, he simply nodded, his face displaying neither shock nor dejection at losing the match and failing to advance to the next round.

The two of them went to the lounge, where Yao Sen bought two bottled beverages in passing and gave one to Cheng Rui. “My teammate watched your interview a while back,” he smiled after sitting down on the sofa. “You said that you watched a cup I played in before I became a member of the main team? I was pretty surprised, I bet not a lot of people in our club knew I was in it.”

Cheng Rui: “It’s because I also participated in that competition.”

“Really?” Yao Sen raised an eyebrow. “I don’t remember seeing you in the finals?”

“I only played until the quarterfinals. Something urgent came up at home, so I withdrew halfway,” Cheng Rui explained. “But I watched the matches on a stream. I paid attention to you—I knew for sure that you would win.”

Yao Sen laughed softly. “How’d you know I would win?” he asked, stretching out a little on the sofa.

“Because you’re strong.”

“Your reasoning needs more work,” said Yao Sen. He paused for a beat before continuing, “When I first became Asian champion, many people told me that I played like Caesar, and that sucked for me. Even though no one can control how you achieve victory, we play for ourselves, and I choose to do so with a clear conscience.”

“You have the strength and the insight—you don’t need to imitate me.” Yao Sen chuckled. “How should I put this… To be honest, I have a very good understanding of myself. I know when I want to do something and when I will do it, and that’s why you can’t score points off me. You imitate me so well that you can act all high and mighty in front of others, sure, but in front of me? It’s no advantage.”

“Your club should probably change the way you train. Imitating Titans’s style doesn’t seem to suit everyone on your team.” Yao Sen rubbed his chin. “You’re pretty good, but the rest of your team is a little green.”

Yao Sen gazed at him and said indifferently, “But—it’s your game. I have no right to interfere with what you guys choose to do.Go ahead and pursue this path if you want, but I’ll never acknowledge you as an opponent. But if you want to compete with me on your own terms, I’ll be ready to accept your challenge.”

Cheng Rui remained silent the entire time, his gaze trained to the floor.

It was true that he had admired Yao Sen long before his name became well-known, that he had watched him play countless matches, that he had copied every single one of his plays, and that he didn’t even mind that the accolades he should’ve received on his own abilities were shrouded in Yao Sen’s shadow.

The only reason he joined a newly formed club was because NL was adopting Titans’s playstyle. Every member of the NL team had grown with this overly practical approach to training, but for him, it was just another manifestation of a somewhat paranoid form of worship.

Yet now Yao Sen was telling him that his imitating ways had rendered him unworthy and unqualified to become his opponent.

NL had suffered a crushing defeat. Cheng Rui had tried everything and still hadn’t been able to score a point against Yao Sen, and Titans had anticipated every move NL made. Perhaps, it was as Yao Sen said—he knew himself too well, something that most people can’t achieve 100% of the time.

As matters stand, Cheng Rui’s stubborn worship appeared to have slightly waned. He was a little at a loss—if he didn’t utilise Yao Sen’s style, would he really be able to get this far with his power alone?

“That’s all I have to say.”

When Yao Sen looked up at the big screen displaying match scores, his gaze was drawn to one of the teams, and the look in his eyes slowly deepened. “Excuse me, I have somewhere else to be right now,” he quietly said, rising from the sofa. “I hope that by the next time we meet, I’d be willing to shake your hand.”

Yao Sen opened the door of the lounge and tossed his empty bottle into a corridor bin. The bottle was empty, but it collided with the inside of the bin with a loud thud, showing just how much force Yao Sen had used.

The Titans-NL match triggered another round of online buzz, with the latter’s defeat sending Titans’s fans to re-trend the “The legendary Sen-style can’t be copied” phase.

On top of that, there was another incident that left the Chinese esports community lamenting.

@Little Star the Esports Addict: Noah and Lincoln’s match has ended, and Noah has been eliminated. The girls in the rows in front of me were all crying their hearts out. The members’ eyes were red when they shook hands at the end, especially Lan-ge. Lan-ge is about to retire, so every game is important to him, and this year, he captained Noah to achieve a personal best since joining the league, which is already a perfect finish! No matter what, our Noah darlings are the best! We will always support you!

After reading this Weibo post, Yao Sen locked his phone screen, just in time to see Noah members filing out of the player’s hallway.

He had to admit that Shao Han really suited the light blue team uniform. It was fresh and cool, but not cold. Shao Han was still surrounded by fans when he looked up and saw Yao Sen, his eyes flickering.

The fans naturally had a lot to say to the team, so Yao Sen stood to the side and didn’t cut in. He didn’t approach them until after the fans reluctantly saw them off at the exit.

When Shao Han gazed up at Yao Sen, who had come to a halt in front of him, and instead of sporting a look of disappointment, he gave Yao Sen a small smile and said, “I tried my best.”

Yao Sen: “Mm. You’ve tried your best.”

They returned to the hotel together, whereupon Shao Han packed his belongings and immediately went to Yao Sen’s room, where he curled up on the bed to watch the Titans vs NL match replay. Yao Sen spent the entire time taking stock of Shao Han’s emotions; even though Shao Han appeared to be fine, Yao Sen was still a little worried about him.

“Baby,” Yao Sen perched on the edge of the bed. “It’s okay to be sad.”

Shao Han froze. “I’m fine,” he replied.

Yao Sen chuckled helplessly, then leaned over to kiss Shao Han’s forehead. “I’ll go shower first then.”

Yao Sen stood up, gathered his pyjamas, and headed towards the bathroom, but just as he was about to open the bathroom door, he abruptly heard the ruffle of a blanket and the sound of bare feet on the carpet behind him. He turned around, but Shao Han’s warm body and forehead were pressed against his back as he was hugged from behind.

Shao Han’s fingers curled around the hem of Yao Sen’s shirt, his voice quivering with uncontrollable choked sobs. In the end, the intensely amplified emotions brought on by the security of having Yao Sen by his side were too much for him to bear. You may be able to hide your sadness in front of strangers, but you will never be able to hide your tears from the person closest to you, the person you trust the most.

Heavens knew how hard he tried to keep his eyes from turning red the moment he stepped out of the arena and saw Yao Sen.

“We lost…” Shao Han’s muffled voice was laced with sadness and resignation. “I really wanted to win.”

☆ ☆ ☆

Thank you to Somebody for the kofi!

Chapter 62 | TOC | Chapter 64

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