Chapter 96:
If the hidden attribute of a medic is to sacrifice himself for his teammates, then the hidden attribute of a sniper player was to deceive; snipers were very proficient in playing one way in front of you and another way behind your back.
Puppy gave Yu Sui a simple reminder before turning his head and creating a new group chat with the same name as Free’s “A whole family on friendly terms”.
It couldn’t be more obvious that he was being a wolf cub with a savage heart.
However, Puppy just wanted to mess with his own family. He just wanted to see whether Chen Huo or Old Qiao makes a fool of themselves. But by sheer coincidence, NSN’s team group chat also this universally applicable name.
Wawa was the first unsuspecting victim.
At noon, Shi Luo was woken up by Yu Sui and he went to brush his teeth and wash his face in a daze. After hurriedly washing, the two of them had breakfast in the room.
He had gone to bed a bit late last night and Shi Luo was so sleepy he could hardly keep his eyes open. He mindlessly stuffed bread into his mouth. He would take a drink of milk after every three mouthfuls. It was a good combination for him.
Yu Sui was playing on his mobile phone while eating. After a while, he said nonchalantly, “Wawa is gossiping about you.”
Shi Luo didn’t react. He didn’t even raise his head as he asked in a dull voice, “What?
“It’s nothing…” Yu Sui looked at the phone, tone as usual, “Nothing important.”
Shi Luo didn’t take it seriously and continued eating. Three minutes later, he’s had his fill with five breads, a box of salad and a bottle of milk. He picked up his phone to check the time and his eyes narrowed slightly. “What’re they talking about in the group so early in the morning?”
Shi Luo unlocked his phone and took a look at the group.
[NSN-Awa]: [Shi Ge and Yu Shen came to see us yesterday. ]
[NSN-Awa]: [I saw the official photos. Among the Free team members, only the two of them came. ]
[NSN-Awa]: [I really think they’re very well-matched. The more I look, the better their pair-up seems. ]
Shi Luo: “…”
Shi Luo quickly clicked on the group member list and with a glance, he more or less guessed what this group was about. He then exited the list to see that the group was still chatting.
Wawa was not the only one who was fooled.
[NSN-ROD]: [So what if they came to watch the game together? What ‘well-match’? Fans of our team keep saying that you have had a relationship with Shi Shen, is that true? ]
[NSN-Awa]: [Of course not. Only pure brotherhood exists between my Brother Shi and I. However, they obviously have a better relationship. ]
[NSN-Awa]: [How can I compare to Yu Shen? I am just a small pa.s.ser-by who pa.s.sed through the life of Brother Shi. Yu Shen is Shi Luo’s white moonlight and red rose. ]
Yu Sui hadn’t finished eating yet. While watching the group, he tore a piece of bread and smiled, “…white moonlight and red rose.”
In the group, Wawa was still acting recklessly. [NSN-Awa]: [Really, don’t you all think those meaningful glances they exchange are just beautiful? I’ve noticed it for a long time. ]
NSN’s manager and the whole of Team Saint were also in the group. Shi Luo couldn’t afford to lose this person. He opened a private chat with Wawa and had him shut up. The group instantly became quiet.
“Wawa, this idiotk2026;” Shi Luo gritted his teeth, “Is he blind? Can’t he see that this is a new group?”
Yu Sui didn’t have an opinion one way or the other. While eating, he said easily, “Just let him talk. He’s not saying anything bad.”
Shi Luo packed up his food containers. He frowned and said seriously, “He’s being so unbridled with his words. If he’s not careful, someone’s going to be able to guess it!”
Yu Sui wanted to speak but stopped. Inwardly he thought that no matter what Wawa said, could he match how unbridled your own side account is being? In a few days, even idiot Chen Huo would probably know your side account.
Yu Sui couldn’t bear to expose him, though. Looking at Shi Luo, he said, “Are you angry with him?”
“Not really.” Shi Luo laughed, “This is a bit of a mess, that’s all. I swore at him for a bit to shut him up. It’s fine… I’m done eating. I’m going to the training room.”
Yu Sui nodded, Shi Luo picked up his jacket and headed for the training room.
First thing Shi Luo did when starting training was to go to the custom server to warm up his hands. After booting up the game, he saw that Wawa had sent him several messages in the game’s messaging system.
[Awa]: [Kneeling three times and kowtowing nine times! I’m sorry, Shi Ge. Please don’t stop replying to my messages. Sorry, sorry, sorry, QAQ. ]
[Awa]: [Sorry, I kowtow to you, bang bang bang. ]
Shi Luo wasn’t angry in the first place. But seeing that Wawa had chased him into the game, he couldn’t help replying,
[Free-Evil]: [Then continue with your kowtow. ]
[NSN-Awa]: [Bang bang bang! ! ! Kowtowing til I’m bleeding. ]
[NSN-Awa]: [QAQ This really is the first time I’ve talked about you behind your back. I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry, Bang bang bang…]
[Free-Evil]: [It’s fine. ]
[NSN-Awa]: [Phew… That’s a relief. I was scared to death. I was so afraid that you and Yu Shen got really angry. It’s fine so long as you two aren’t angry. I’m sorry. I’m sorry. ]
Shi Luo entered the custom server and glanced at the chat interface. He replied to Wawa: [Did you look for him to apologize? ]
Wawa responded quickly: [Yes, I wanted to apologize to both of you at the same time, but I don’t have Yu Shen added as a friend and I didn’t dare add him. I apologized in the group. You can take a look and see. ]
Shi Luo picked up his phone and took a look. In the three-team group chat, Wawa @-ed Yu Sui, kowtowed and apologized. He sent a long string of kowtows, in the end, Yu Sui only replied with “It’s okay.”
Yu Sui didn’t get angry easily and he reacted normally. Shi Luo loaded his gun. Wawa, on his end, wouldn’t stop responding.
[NSN-Awa]: [Kowtowing once again. Sorry, I’m sorry. ]
[NSN-Awa]: [Although I might just be asking for a beating, I still want to ask. Are you two really not together? ]
[NSN-Awa]: [You can see how Yu Shen is completely indifferent to others. Really, even when just adding friends. He was in our team for so long and he only added our captain as a friend. It felt like everyone else was dispensable. Only towards you, he’s…different. ]
[NSN-Awa]: [I’ve been shipping the two of you for so long.]
The corners of Shi Luo’s mouth slightly ticked up and he stopped paying attention to Wawa.
He couldn’t tell anyone. If he couldn’t help showing off, best to use his side account. It was safest.
Shi Luo made a post using his side account and continued to practice his gun operation.
With a powerful training partner like Saint, the quality of that day’s practice match was guaranteed. Saint was also very principled. Before the training match, Angel Sword sent a message in the group chat, promising that he wouldn’t pry on the two team’s game pieces, they were only there to be training partners. Not a word of a team’s tactics will not be disclosed to the other party.
Yu Sui, Chen Huo and Puppy had already arrived in the training room at this moment. Puppy glanced at the group chat. “Angel Sword…should be a trustworthy guy, right?”
Chen Huo sat down, “In any case, I believe him. Can someone who’s risked that much for his teammate be unreliable?”
“Emotionally, I believe him.” Shi Luo was still in the custom server. While doing simulation training, he said, “Rationally, Saint is already out for this season. We have no compet.i.tion with them. Unless they’ve gone crazy, it makes no sense for them to sell us out.”
“No need to think about this.” Old Qiao opened his own computer and said happily, “They didn’t even ask a penny from us to be our training partner, what’s there to think about? Besides, we need to train well now. I’ve been hiding it and hiding it all day long. I’m going to die from holding back. If we don’t practice our ultimate moves, they’re going to rust away. Let’s practice! Practice, practice!”
Zhou Huo looked at the group in confusion. He asked, hesitating, “You…what are you talking about? Why don’t I understand?”
“We…” Chen Huo moved his shoulders, looking happy, “are judging whether Saint is trustworthy or not and we have now decided that they are, so we’re getting ready to properly play a couple of matches.”
Zhou Huo was at a loss, “Weren’t you already playing properly before?”
“We have, but there are some routines we didn’t dare find a strong team to try out on.” Puppy blinked at Zhou Huo. “Remember before how we said that Saint shouldn’t reveal too many tactics early on? Now it’s our turn.”
Zhou Huo suddenly had a realization. He turned off the camera in his hand and said, “Okay, okay, okay. Then you guys practice hard. Make sure it stays confidential. Turn off all live broadcasts and phones. I won’t take any photos or videos.”
“I know.” Old Qiao opened an in-game map. “I’ll tell Angel Sword again but he knows the situation.”
Shi Luo moved his fingers. He exited the custom map and entered the special map for practice games.
Tomorrow will be the semi-finals. They also can’t spend too much time in the practice match. It was enough if he just keeps the feelings in his hands. After only five rounds both sides dispersed. After the game, Angel Sword send a message to Old Qiao. They could delete the in-game data immediately. Angel Sword also guaranteed that no one on their side recorded the matches.
Everyone was relieved at how Angel Sword handled matters. Old Joe deleted all the data in the game and everyone scattered.
The next day, Free unsurprisingly took away the semi-final match, 3 to 0 against Yizhan. And they advanced to the finals.
After the game, Zhou Huo was careful not to let anyone eat outside. His team had a tendency to attract misfortune whenever they went outside. Zhou Huo has had too many lessons on that matter. No matter how Chen Huo and Puppy complained after the game, he wouldn’t budge. He promised to treat everyone to somewhere great after the World Championships. Later Zhou Huo took the four of them back to the base, wary and vigilant.
“The finals will be in a few days. Bear with it and wait until the finals is finished.
Worried that the food outside wouldn’t be fresh or that there’d be something wrong with them, Zhou Huo didn’t even allow anyone to order takeaways. After returning to the base, Zhou Huo comforted his players. “Bear with it please. I heard that NSN won’t let anyone order takeout since they entered the playoffs. We’ve gotten this far. Let’s not drop the ball here. I already talked with Auntie and she’ll make lots of what you usually like to eat so bear with it.”
Chen Huo desperately wanted to eat some barbecue right about now. After being rejected, he hammered the sofa, screamed and went upstairs, howling in grief. The rest of the people slumped in the living room, waiting for dinner.
Everyone was also used to it. Since entering the playoffs, Zhou Huo has been tense. If there were a few drops of water on the ground, he’d worry that a player would accidentally slip and fall. Their Manager Zhou of average inner quality, became more and more neurotic as they neared the semi-finals and finals. While waiting for the meal, he was still muttering to himself about every little detail, for fear that the team might suffer some setback because of his carelessness.
“Calm down for a moment.” Old Qiao couldn’t stand Zhou Huo’s useless energy. “Isn’t it true that they’ve never won?”
Zhou Huo gave Old Qiao a look that seemed to say that it was a long and complicated story but in the end, he confessed reluctantly, “It’s true. They haven’t won, the teams I’ve led…really haven’t gone this far in the playoffs, let alone the World Championships.”
Old Qiao instantly felt a sense of superiority. He patted Zhou Huo’s shoulder, “Calm down. You just need to get used to it. Play on your phone for a bit. Surf the net. Don’t be fl.u.s.tered.”
For Zhou Huo surfing the net was always done with a purpose. He had set special notifications on all of NSN’s members, from their players to their managers, down to their coaches. As he went through them one by one, he froze. “NSN’s sniper Rod, just posted on Weibo. ”
Shi Luo raised his eyes, “What did he post?”
“He’s showing off a ring.” Zhou Huo looked at it carefully and smiled, “He can sure talk. He said that if they win the finals, he’s going to propose and that they’ll get married when they reach the legal age. If he loses, he’ll only give the ring and he would have to owe the proposal. You don’t deserve to propose if you don’t win the match.”
Old Qiao smiled, “Since he’s already bought the ring, he has to give it away? He didn’t even take into account whether she’d say yes or not, sigh…how does this make sense? He and his childhood sweetheart are just too sweet.”
Zhou Huo clicked his tongue. “His girlfriend reposted it, saying that she’s crying from happiness, sigh… Shi gave him a like. A good boyfriend: contemporary e-sports edition.”
Shi Luo was dazed for a moment. He still remembered when Rod was being blasted online for celebrating his girlfriend’s birthday a few months ago. At that time, many people said that this couple was done for, that they were going to break up. Unexpectedly, their relationship grew deeper. The team entered the finals and achieved results. Rod also withstood the overwhelming pressure from last time. Now, he’s out and out with his PDA, openly proposing marriage.
……pretty good.
Shi Luo bowed his head and continued to play an offline game.
Shi Luo was playing Tetris set on the most difficult and fastest mode. His hand speed was extremely fast and he basically made no mistakes. After quickly breaking the last record, he was about to start another game when his phone shook.
[Whisper]: [Shi Shen, are you envious?]
Yu Sui was sitting not far away; between them was one Old Qiao.
The corners of Shi Luo’s mouth slightly ticked down. After a while, he simply told the truth. [A little bit.]
Shi Luo’s phone vibrated soon again.
[Whisper]: [Are you envious of the ring or of the proposal?]
Shi Luo hesitated. Actually, he didn’t know what he was envious of. He wasn’t envious of others receiving gifts. And if he were to actually propose…he wouldn’t go as far as that.
Before Shi Luo could reply, Yu Sui sent another message: [No need to say anything. I know. ]
Shi Luo was stunned. He himself didn’t even know clearly but Yu Sui already knew? How could he know? What does he know?
Shi Luo’s phone vibrated again.
[Whisper]: [Just play the finals with peace of mind. What others have, you can have too.]
[Whisper]: [I can give it to you.]