Chapter 7

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Shao Han blanked out. The fork in his hand lightly knocked against the edge of his plate and a hint of distress appeared on his face, which was soon covered up behind lowered lashes.

Seeing that there was no objection, Shen You indifferently set aside the topic, “Why aren’t you participating in the competition?”

Shao Han: “It’s because our team’s substitute player has never played in a competition. We’re letting him play to gain some experience, that’s all.”

“Then there’s also need to substitute you out, is there?” Shen You said. “If you’re not playing, your team’s chances of winning will be much lower.”

“There’s nothing special about me either.”

The two men engaged in idle chatter for a while, the topics entirely superficial. Their table’s atmosphere was somewhat stagnant, and the occasional sound magnified their existing silence.

Shao Han took the lead to finish eating and got up with his plate, “Shen You, I have to go back to oversee the youth training team’s review in the evening. I’ll be going first. Enjoy your meal.”

Shen You nodded, said goodbye to Shao Han, and also collected his cutlery and left. Yao Sen sat at a table away from them, his head propped up, watching Shen You’s retreating back, brows creased lightly.

In the evening, Yao Sen returned to his room and sure enough, Bai Yue and Song Mingzhe had come to visit again. Bai Yue reclined on Yao Sen’s bed, complaining about Old Song’s snoring at night.

Yao Sen: “Bai Yue, why are you on my bed? Have you even showered?”

Bai Yue curled his lips and sat up. “So many demands.”

“Hold on, let me ask you something,” Yao Sen pulled Bai Yue who was about to get up. “Did you and Shao Han train in the same youth team as Shen You before?”

Stunned, Bai Yue paused. “Yeah, how did you know?”

Instead of answering his question, Yao Sen turned to ask, “What do you think of Shen You?”

“He’s easy to get along with, and there’s nothing unusual about him.” Bai Yue inquired, “What’s up with him?”

“Then what about him and Shao Han? Did anything happen between them?”

“This…” Bai Yue recalled for a while. “There’s also nothing… I think they have a pretty good relationship. Anyway, in those days the three of us were often together, but later on, when we were about to separate from the club, they didn’t seem to be that close anymore. But at that time everyone was busy signing with clubs and it was inevitable that they would all be separated from each other in the future.”

Staring at Bai Yue for a while, Yao Sen felt that Bai Yue really didn’t know a thing. After all, to his fans, Bai Yue was a certified straight guy through and through.

On the side, Wang Yuxi piped up, “Yao Sen, why are you always so interested in Noah’s Ark’s vice captain?”

“It’s not easy to run into someone who can compete with my level of attractiveness,” Yao Sen replied readily. “Why can’t I be interested?”

Bai Yue broke off the dialogue between the two, “Tomorrow is the top sixteen finals between our youth team and Blue Fantasy’s, what do you think the final score will be?”

Wang Yuxi: “I’m guessing it’ll be three to zero.”

“It’s not that likely,” Yao Sen said. “Blue Fantasy’s youth training team has recruited a few decent newcomers. I think it’ll be two to one.”

Bai Yue: “Then what about you, Old Song?”

“If the boss says it’s two to one, then it’ll definitely be two to one.” Song Mingzhe, the brainless fan that he is, unflinchingly continued to lift his Yao Sen up and raise a flag, “You guys have never won against the boss in guessing the score.”

Wang Yuxi: “You’re so quick to plant a flag, just wait till your face gets slapped.”

It turned out that Yao Sen’s flag did not collapse as the Titans beat out the new domestic team, Blue Fantasy, in the next day’s top 16 finals with a score of 2 to 1. After the top 16 matches, the remaining eight teams advanced to the next qualifying round. Unfortunately, the Titans youth training team were grouped together with Team Noah, and it was estimated that their time in the domestic competition would end at the quarterfinals.

However, contrary to everyone’s expectations, each and every member of the Titans youth training team were all in high spirits as they rolled up their sleeves for battle, wanting to experience what it was like to compete with the other clubs’ main teams.

Yao Sen also carefully watched the match from start to finish. Noah’s substitute player took Shao Han’s place, and while his abilities were very comprehensive, he couldn’t compare to Shao Han in scoring skills. Noah’s captain Lin Lan’s commands were also very competent. Even though the opponent was a mere youth team, he stayed very meticulous.

Lin Lan was an experienced esports veteran, and the difference between old players and newcomers lay in their hands-on experience. Yao Sen had just led Titans to win the Asia Championship last year, and he could clearly sense that Lin Lan’s command was more seasoned than himself.

Titans’s youth training team unsurprisingly lost to Noah 0-3, but the group of 17 or 18-year-olds didn’t feel upset. They were grateful from the bottom of their hearts that Noah didn’t underestimate the enemy and all bowed deeply one after another when they shook hands with the opponent to express their thanks.

After the quarter finals were over, Noah’s Ark, Cobra, and two other youth teams remained. Noah and Cobra were paired up with each of the youth teams in the semi-finals, so the final was no doubt bound to be a showdown between these two teams.

Yao Sen and his teammates discussed that day’s matches along the way back to the hotel. As soon as they entered the hotel lobby, Yao Sen caught sight of Shao Han by the vending machine near them. To the remaining three people, he dropped the sentence “I’m gonna buy a bottle of water” and conveniently walked over.

Shao Han bent down to take out a bottle of iced black tea from the outlet, then looked up and met Yao Sen’s eyes.

Yao Sen: “Hey.”

Shao Han: “Good evening.”

“Your team played really well today,” Yao Sen said. “Your captain is serious trouble. His commands are much more sophisticated than mine.”

“Thank you.”

Yao Sen suddenly caught sight of the light blue wristband around Shao Han’s wrist. With Noah’s team emblem on it, it was probably their team merchandise.

“Your wristband looks very nice,” Yao Sen said. “Can you buy it at the merchandise store?”

“You probably can.” Without much thought, Shao Han took off the wristband and handed it to Yao Sen, “I’ll give it to you if you like it. The manager has lots of them anyway.”

Shao Han paused, suddenly thinking of something, then put his hand down again. He seemed to feel that his behavior was a little impolite: “Sorry, I’ll go back and get you a new one.”

“It’s okay, this one’s fine. Thank you.” Yao Sen took the wristband and said, “If the new one is too tight, it might restrain the hand.”

“……All right,” Shao Han stared at Yao Sen. “Then I’ll go back first.”

“Mmhm, bye-bye.”

Watching Shao Han leave, Yao Sen got into the elevator in a good mood. When he returned to his room, Bai Yue and Song Mingzhe had apparently stopped dropping by. He lay down on the bed, carefully examined the wristband for a while, then wore it on his wrist.

Wang Yuxi came out of the bathroom, saw that Yao Sen had returned and said, “Didn’t you go to buy water? Where’s the water?”

“All gone.”

“Yo, what’s that on your hand? A wristband?” Wang Yuxi squinted, “Noah’s merch?”

“Mm.”

“Why did you buy their merch? How much was it?”

“It’s from Shao Han.”

“From Shao Han?” Wang Yuxi could not help exclaiming, “You succeeded in infiltrating the enemy team!”

Yao Sen didn’t say a word and instead opened Weibo, clicked on Shao Han’s profile, and found that he had posted about going live ten minutes ago.

Yao Sen tuned in to watch Shao Han’s live broadcast. Sure enough, Shao Han’s voice really helped him sleep. It was cool and also light, like a bass orchestra in his ear, and it made people feel relaxed.

Yao Sen had a good night’s sleep that night and ran a few kilometres in the hotel gym early the next morning. This afternoon’s semi-finals weren’t very interesting. Noah’s Ark and Cobra both had a stable style, and they were both at an advantage in the five-game points system. The matches against the youth training teams were easily won.

The final was the focal point of this year’s domestic competition. Cobra’s overall ranking in Asia was higher than Noah’s, but the average of their team members’s individual ranking was lower than Noah’s. The two teams were neck and neck.

However, in this match, due to the absence of Noah’s vice captain Shao Han, the majority speculated that Cobra would win. After all, in Noah’s main team, Shao Han has the member with the highest scoring rate. Without Shao Han, it was bound to be more difficult for Noah if they wanted to beat Cobra.

In the first two games, Noah and Cobra tenaciously chased each other, and the gap between their scores was miniscule. Cobra began to increase that gap in the third game, and Noah’s Ark’s captain Lin Lan began to take the initiative to score points. They managed to slightly catch up in the fourth game, but the gap still remained.

In the fifth game, Cobra adopted a relatively defensive strategy. Noah was slightly inferior in matching them with offensiveness and finally lost to Cobra by a margin of less than ten points.

Yao Sen paid special attention to Shen You, whose operation had a flow that many professional players have been unable to achieve for many years. It was abundant with pure professional technique, and there were no frills nor flukes at all. It seems that the people who were trained towards a professional direction since they first came into contact with esports did not have the bad habits of those who played non-professional and competitive games.

Shen You took the team along with him in a down-to-earth manner. Although such a role didn’t score top points, it was nevertheless a very important core figure in a team. In a team with the support as the core, it’s necessary to create opportunities that help teammates score at any moment. It acts as a hinge that connects a team’s different roles.

Shen You was really strong, although such a role was not regarded as very eye-catching in the current professional esports circle that focuses on a player’s role–he was still strong in silence.

Yao Sen saw this point clearly. If he ignored this kind of player, it would definitely cost him dearly once he runs into them in the future.

This domestic competition ended with the proclamation of the champion and runner-up, and after the awards were handed out, each team also held a small meet and greet. When Yao Sen met his fans, he couldn’t even hear his own voice due to the fans’ loud shrieks. He painstakingly managed to finally leave under the cover of his teammates.

After he got on the bus, Wang Yuxi scolded, “Every meet and greet, I always feel like I’m playing AD for real. I still have to cover you.”

“I don’t want it either,” Yao Sen said. “I’ll just pretend to be sick in the future.”

“The club might explode with condolences from your wife fans.”

“That’s better than me exploding from getting squished.”

The party went back to the hotel to pack their bags. They had to go back to the Titans Esports Club in S City early the next morning. Yao Sen had just finished sorting out his things when he received a call from Manager Guo.

“Yao Sen, did you wear a Noah’s Ark wristband at today’s meet and greet?” Manager Guo said. “The fans saw it and there were a few complaints. Although it’s not a big deal, you’d better post an explanation on Weibo as soon as possible.”

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⟵ Chapter 6 | TOC | Chapter 8 ⟶

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