Did The Captain Catch Up With The Coach Today [Esports] Chapter 14

Chapter 14

The official Hero League forum post complaining about KPI being crushed by FHM went cold.

The final discussions in the thread were:

Can beat KPI but can’t beat DIE? Thought they were a dark horse, turns out they’re just here for laughs?

DIE is still strong when they get serious.

Come on, even if DIE is serious, they wouldn’t be a match for KPI. KPI definitely went easy when playing FHM.

Don’t know if they went easy, but they definitely underestimated them.

Disperse, everyone disperse. Everyone has off days. Just wait and see how KPI crushes other teams in the league.

DIE had intended to mock KPI by defeating FHM, but unexpectedly, they ended up validating KPI instead.

They thought the public reaction would be: DIE beat the team that crushed KPI! DIE is so strong, KPI is so embarrassing!

The actual reaction was: DIE beat the team that crushed KPI? Impossible, absolutely impossible! KPI must have gone easy!

This story tells us that prejudice in people’s hearts is a mountain, not easily moved.

The E-sports circle’s impression of DIE was still stuck on those seven 0-2 losses at the beginning of the year.

“Let them gloat, they better really underestimate us in the official matches,” said KPI’s coach.

It wasn’t until just before bed that he reopened the “E-sports Alliance Hero League Professional League Division” discussion group on his phone, wanting to see what nonsense DIE had spouted this time.

But… no new messages?

KPI’s coach thought it was due to slow internet and the messages hadn’t updated.

He refreshed several times…

Still no new messages!

What’s going on? Internet down? Or was I kicked out of the group?

KPI’s coach panicked!

He checked repeatedly, confirming the network was fine, the chat app hadn’t crashed, and he was still in the group.

This meant that from the moment he coldly sent the two words “Congratulations” until now, DIE hadn’t spoken again.

A single “Congratulations” shut DIE up? Was this still the DIE that would belittle KPI at every opportunity?

Four years ago, the two teams emerged simultaneously. They met in the elimination rounds, and KPI ruthlessly eliminated DIE, ultimately advancing to the top eight, while DIE didn’t even qualify for the regular season.

All they did was prevent DIE from earning a living for a whole year. To hold such a small grudge until now, truly…

But the fact that this grudge was resolved so easily left KPI’s coach completely baffled.

What he didn’t know was that while KPI’s starters could still lie in bed and sleep soundly, DIE’s starters were wide awake.

They lost four out of five scrims. They tried almost every lineup and strategy, yet couldn’t find any breakthrough.

If the Hero League professional rules didn’t prohibit lane swapping at the start and mandated that all ten players must reach their designated positions within a limited time, DIE’s Marksman would never want to go bottom lane to get abused again.

That path, which he was accustomed to and felt safe on, was relentlessly ganked by Wei Xiao, turning it into his path to heaven.

DIE’s coach watched the replays over and over with the starters, finally concluding: “Unsolvable. Pure Jungler difference.”

If their Jungler had been strong enough to defend their jungle, the bottom lane wouldn’t have collapsed so badly, even with a disadvantage.

The reality was, he not only failed to provide effective support but also kept delivering takeaways to the opposing Jungler.

However, this didn’t mean the rest of DIE was fine.

Hero League is a 5v5 game, and the outcome of any match is not determined by a single person.

“The Top Laner played too conservatively. The opponent is an Assassin. Stop thinking about poking; look for a chance to burst them down!”

“The Mid Laner underestimated them. Although the opposing Mid Laner’s skills were cast haphazardly, their positioning was spot on, and they were very good at finding opportunities. You should have handled it more cautiously. If you had roamed less and focused on pushing the mid tower, the pressure on the bottom lane would have been significantly reduced.”

“The Bottom Laner also underestimated them. They got off to such a smooth start in the first game that they clearly overestimated themselves starting from the second game.”

“How should I put this…” DIE’s coach analyzed, stroking his chin in contemplation.

After a period of silence, he spoke seriously: “In the past, when you won, I would say it wasn’t that you were too strong, but that the opponent was too weak. But this time, I must say, it’s not that you were too weak, but that the opponent was too strong—FHM will absolutely not be an unknown team in this league.”

…

The Hero League Professional League Spring Qualifiers were scheduled for one week later.

The top eight teams from the previous season automatically advanced, but FHM didn’t have much training time left.

This was why Wen Shi Yu wanted Zhou Miao Miao to practice a few rounds of Witch Nightmare.

If they had more than a month to train, then practicing Void Star Trace would naturally be the best option.

The next afternoon, the five players practiced heroes individually in Solo Queue first, then played 5v5 together in the evening to build chemistry and study tactics.

Although Wei Xiao had been consciously training before joining the team, he rarely trained for five or six hours straight.

After winning twenty consecutive games, he felt a little tired. He turned to look at Wen Shi Yu, only to find Wen Shi Yu looking back at him.

The moment their eyes met, Wei Xiao felt the awkwardness of being caught daydreaming in class by the teacher, but he quickly adjusted his mindset and grinned carelessly: “Am I handsome?”

Wen Shi Yu’s lips twitched.

Wei Xiao’s next sentence was: “If I’m not handsome, why are you staring at me?”

Wen Shi Yu stood up from the sofa expressionlessly and walked towards him.

“Hey, hey, hey, I was wrong! Don’t hit me, if you hit me, don’t hit my face!” Wei Xiao didn’t know what he was going to do, but he felt the intentions were hostile. In any case, groveling first must be the right move!

Wen Shi Yu came up beside him, raised his hand, and took off his headphones, then said faintly: “If you’re tired, take a break. Don’t make awkward small talk with me.”

“Oh… we can rest now?” Wei Xiao placed his headphones on the computer desk and stretched.

He was indeed a bit tired from playing.

But how could he not make awkward small talk during a break?

Since Wen Shi Yu was right there, he asked without reservation: “Brother Wen, which hero do you like the most?”

“Are you referring to the feel, the appearance, or the character design?”

“It would be great if you could answer all of them,” Wei Xiao pressed his luck. “I’ll buy you coffee again, okay?”

Wen Shi Yu glanced at him. After some internal struggle, he finally chose to answer: “In terms of feel, Phantom Assassin. Her first skill can be used for poking or securing kills. It’s comfortable in both 5v5 and casual play. For appearance, I like Blood Baron’s Shadow skin. For character background, I think Blazing Feather is the best designed.”

“Oh, I think Overlord Blade has the best feel, and Overlord Blade is also the coolest looking. I haven’t read the character background, so I don’t know.”

Wen Shi Yu gave him a “who asked you” look.

After stating his preferences, Wei Xiao cautiously probed: “I thought only girls would like Blood Baron’s Shadow skin.”

And gay men.

The Shadow skin’s characteristics were sexiness and danger, with revealing attire and sharp weapons.

Blood Baron is a male character. His Shadow skin has black leather straps wrapped around his bare upper body. Fortunately, his skin tone is dark, a raven-blue color. Otherwise, Wei Xiao would get an electric shock every time he saw the model and wouldn’t be able to play the game properly.

He didn’t know how straight men perceived this skin, whether they felt offended, but girls and gay men would scream first, then praise the designer’s boldness and understanding.

Could Wen Shi Yu also be…

“I like the Blood Baron’s aristocratic, punchable elegance, but I prefer his fallen appearance because he’s punchable.”

That was Wen Shi Yu’s response.

“Al… alright.” Wei Xiao was a little surprised, but also seemed to understand?

Blood Baron’s character design was indeed quite punchable. Who wouldn’t want to see an arrogant bastard brought low? Although the Shadow skin was just revealing and didn’t actually make Blood Baron “work”…

Wei Xiao thought seriously, trying to understand Wen Shi Yu’s thought process.

Wen Shi Yu somewhat regretted exposing his preference, but it probably didn’t matter. After all, some straight men might also find the Shadow skin cool because of Blood Baron’s beautiful muscles.

He didn’t want to be questioned further and was about to return to the sofa when Wei Xiao suddenly spoke: “Actually, I like Blood Baron’s Shadow skin too.”

Wen Shi Yu gave him a strange look: “Because of the muscles?”

Speaking of which, Overlord Blade’s original skin shows off his abs.

“Um… ah…” Wei Xiao didn’t know how to explain, it wouldn’t be good to say it was because it was hot, “I just think it’s very cool.”

“Oh.” Wen Shi Yu didn’t dwell on it and casually teased, “No matter how cool his muscles are, they’re on his body. If you have the ability, train a set yourself.”

“I have one,” Wei Xiao said.

“Huh?” Wen Shi Yu was stunned for a moment.

“I set aside time every week to work out, so…”

“Really?” Zhou Miao Miao, who had been eavesdropping, leaned over curiously. “Can we see?”

“What? I want to see too!” Lu Qing Yang took off his headphones and said he wanted to see, not even knowing what they were talking about.

Tang Li also cast a curious glance at Wei Xiao.

Only Qin Jin Yao was still focused on training.

Wei Xiao felt a little embarrassed under their scrutiny.

Tsk, these straight men with no sense of boundaries! If they want to see muscles, go search for fitness bloggers online! Why do they have to look at his?

Wen Shi Yu was also curious about Wei Xiao’s muscles, but seeing Wei Xiao’s embarrassment, he didn’t join the three in teasing. Instead, he slapped each of their heads: “What are you looking at? Go practice your heroes!”

“Hey… we’re all guys, looking won’t make us lose a piece of meat,” Zhou Miao Miao muttered softly, earning another slap mark on his head.

Wei Xiao looked gratefully at Wen Shi Yu, put on his headphones, and continued training.

However, after selecting his hero, he felt a little restless. After some hesitation, he finally picked up his phone and sent a private message to Wen Shi Yu.

Not Finished Yet: I’ll take a picture for you later, privately.

Time Waits For No One: ?

Wei Xiao didn’t pay attention after sending the message, focusing on queuing up to crush his opponents.

Now it was Wen Shi Yu on the sofa who felt restless.

What did he mean?

Did he mean to seduce me?

Or did he simply want to show off his muscles?

No, if he just wanted to show off his muscles, why didn’t he do it just now? Why only show it to me?

What exactly did he mean?