Chapter 2

Half a year later, in City A, the Ninth Experimental High School.

Carrying a black shoulder bag, wearing a white casual shirt, a pair of jeans, and a pair of white sneakers, Lin Xiao, the transfer student, walked down the corridor of the teaching building with his head drooping, feeling a bit drowsy.

It was 2:40 PM, right after the first class of the afternoon. As the pleasant sound of the bell rang, signaling the end of the class, the corridor was instantly filled with students eagerly rushing out of their classrooms.

The students gathered in small groups, enthusiastically discussing topics of mutual interest.

However, Lin Xiao, feeling listless, was temporarily uninterested in all of this—last night, he hadn't slept well and was now extremely sleepy...

Unconsciously, he had already walked to the back door of a classroom.

He looked up at the bright silver sign on the door:

B-214.

This was the classroom where the middle-aged, plump, and amiable principal of the academic affairs office had told him to go.

It seemed to still be the break time, so he would go in later—

For now...

Lin Xiao yawned widely:

He would just daydream and relax for a bit.

...

Just as Lin Xiao was lazily leaning against the railing at the door, letting his thoughts wander aimlessly, a noisy and chaotic sound suddenly came from inside the classroom.

Looking through the open back door, Lin Xiao saw a group of boys standing in a circle at the last row of seats, all leaning forward, seemingly engrossed in something. The noisy and chaotic sound was coming from the crowd.

Listening carefully, he could faintly hear some arguments and discussions:

"Hey, Ou Yang, your female gunner's last-hitting is really bad!"

"Fifty last-hits in fifteen minutes! You're like a primary schooler—"

"How can you blame me? He Rui's support is too terrible!"

"What's the point of playing? Just surrender after twenty minutes..."

Someone was playing League of Legends?

Lin Xiao became interested and, carrying his shoulder bag, walked into the classroom.

...

Walking to the last row of seats, Lin Xiao stood quietly at the back of the crowd, his gaze falling on the two computers in the middle.

Surrounded by a group of people, there was a long desk with two computers. Two boys were sitting in front of the computers, one hand on the mouse and the other on the keyboard, intently watching the screen.

Lin Xiao's gaze shifted to the screen.

At first glance, his eyes lit up.

The screens of the two computers clearly showed the familiar Summoner's Rift, with sounds of intense battles like "Hey!" "Ha!" "Boom—" coming from the speakers.

Sure enough, they were playing League of Legends.

After a closer look, Lin Xiao realized that the two boys were playing a duo queue in the bottom lane.

The boy on the left, with messy hair, was playing the ADC, using the champion Bounty Hunter Sivir.

The boy on the right, wearing black-rimmed glasses and looking more refined, was playing the support, using the champion Chain Warden Thresh.

However, it seemed that their current situation wasn't very good—

...

Lin Xiao's gaze swept over the top right corner of the screen showing Thresh's first-person view. The game time was already 15 minutes, and the glasses-wearing boy's Thresh had a score of 0/3/1.

On the other computer screen, the female gunner Sivir's score was 0/2/1.

And she had only 50 last-hits, with her equipment... boots, three Doran's Blades.

[Her last-hitting is really bad.]

[50 last-hits in 14 minutes, is this the will of the gods or just random last-hitting?]

[Boots, why would a female gunner buy boots early... it's such a waste of gold.]

[Three Doran's Blades, with that much money, you should have bought a Vampiric Scepter first.]

[And... well, in short, her last-hitting is really bad...]

These comments should have been kept in his mind, but Lin Xiao had a bad habit: when he was distracted, he often subconsciously spoke his thoughts out loud.

And this behavior had a very common and understandable description—

Muttering.

...

As the support Thresh in this game, He Rui felt a bit wronged.

When they entered the ranked room, he was assigned to the fifth floor, and the four floors above him left only the support position for him. The only support champion he knew, Blitzcrank, was banned by the other team, leaving him with this newly bought Thresh— he had only played two games with this champion in the bot matches.

However, at this moment, his mood was even worse.

Because, from some point on, a very annoying muttering voice had been coming from behind him:

"Oh? Is Vayne almost done with her Bloodthirster?"

"That disadvantage in the bottom lane is really significant..."

"But the combination of female gunner and Thresh shouldn't be so badly suppressed by Prince and Vayne in the early game."

"Ah, how bad is this..."

His companion, Ou Yang, who was using the female gunner, remained fully focused and didn't pay attention to the muttering behind him. But He Rui, whose thoughts were slightly distracted, could feel the veins on his forehead twitching.

And it seemed that this was just the beginning of a nightmare.

A moment later, Vayne made a positioning mistake. Under the excited urging of the crowd, He Rui nervously controlled Thresh to hook.

Unfortunately, he hit a minion.

Then he heard the muttering voice behind him again:

"Too off, sigh, the accuracy is too off..."

"Is this a plastic-level hook?"

"Even if you miss, you can keep the skill as a deterrent. Now you've just wasted mana—"

"Thresh has such little equipment, did he spend all his gold on blue potions and health potions..."

He Rui's mouth twitched along with the veins on his forehead, gritting his teeth:

I'll endure...

The battle was always full of unexpected changes. After Thresh's hook missed, the next moment, the purple team's jungler Prince used his EQ combo to charge out, picking up the female gunner, who had no mobility skills, and throwing her into the air.

His companion, Ou Yang, was already screaming for help. He Rui, who had been startled out of his daze by the annoying muttering behind him, hurriedly clicked the right mouse button, controlling Thresh to rush forward. He used the E skill "Flay," but missed Prince, only pushing a few purple minions.

Then He Rui heard the annoying muttering voice again:

"The E skill is also at a plastic level."

"Too inexperienced..."

"Playing like this and still choosing Thresh, you're just ruining the game for your teammates..."

He Rui was so frustrated that he wanted to kill someone:

Damn it, who the hell is muttering behind me!?

The battle on the screen continued. The female gunner, who had been thrown into the air, was hit by Vayne's E skill "Condemn" and stunned against the wall. She was then hit with a full combo, and only managed to survive by using both her Flash and Heal.

After forcing the female gunner to use both summoner spells, the purple team's Vayne and Prince didn't plan to continue the tower dive. One of them leisurely went back to last-hit, while the other crouched in the bushes again.

A narrow escape.

The two boys controlling the female gunner and Thresh, along with the crowd watching behind them, all breathed a sigh of relief.

Damn, that was too close!

After regaining their composure, the students watching behind them couldn't help but criticize:

"Hey, He Rui, your Thresh is really bad."

"You missed such a good opportunity."

"Even if you played with your feet, you wouldn't miss every hook, right?"

"I... I don't play Thresh much..." The accusations from the students made He Rui feel extremely ashamed, but then, from the back of the crowd, a sigh floated over:

"Even if you don't play much—"

"You shouldn't be this bad..."

Snap—

This was the sound of a nerve in He Rui's brain snapping.

Having been bombarded by the annoying muttering for a long time, he finally found an outlet to vent his frustration and anger. He suddenly turned around, raised his voice, and shouted: "Damn it, who the hell has been muttering all this time!?"

"Have the guts to stop talking!"

"If you can do better, then you come up and play!!—"