Did The Captain Catch Up With The Coach Today [Esports] Chapter 1

Chapter 1

Saturday afternoon, 1 PM, clear skies.

WI E-sports Club, interview hall.

The WI manager looked at the spirited young man across the table, feeling a headache coming on.

“Do you know that WI was last year’s champion team?” the manager asked.

“Nonsense. If I didn’t know that, would I be here for an interview?” the youth replied.

“Then do you know that WI has won three consecutive championships?” the manager asked again.

“Exactly. That’s why I’m here for the interview!” the youth answered again.

“So—” The manager looked at him, his expression quite complex, and said, “Give me one reason why I should replace WI’s Starter and put you in?”

“I’m strong!” Wei Xiao instantly replied.

The young man was named Wei Xiao, 19 years old, and a freshman in college.

He had a dream: to become an E-sports Player for the 5v5 game Hero League, and to win the championship!

The fastest way to achieve his dream was, naturally, to join the team most likely to win the championship!

So, he took a six-hour high-speed train to the city where the WI E-sports Club was located.

However, before his dream could even learn to walk, it was mercilessly strangled in the cradle by the WI manager.

“It is impossible to replace the First Team’s Starter. Even the King of Heaven coming down won’t change that!” the manager stated emphatically. “If you are truly strong enough to defy heaven, you can choose a spot as a Substitute on the First Team or a Starter on the Second Team, but don’t even think about the First Team Starter position!”

“Wow, why are you like this? Do you even play the game?” Wei Xiao demanded.

“Huh?” The manager’s eyes widened. “I don’t play in matches, so what if I don’t play the game?”

“It’s right that you don’t play the game! Anyone who plays knows that a generation of the Meta brings a generation of gods. Xing Guang’s era is over. I am the future of WI!”

Xing Guang, WI’s Jungler Starter. Wei Xiao was too lazy to check his real name, only knowing his Professional ID was starlight, and everyone called him Xing Guang.

The manager raised a hand to cover his eyes and took several deep breaths.

“Are you running out of oxygen?” Wei Xiao asked sincerely.

The manager, unable to tolerate it any longer, picked up his phone and made a call: “Xing Guang! There’s an arrogant brat here who wants to take your spot. Come down and deal with him!”

The call ended. Less than a minute later, a young man rushed down from the second floor of the WI E-sports Club, a sack in his left hand and a carrot knife in his right: “Who! Who needs dealing with!”

Wei Xiao looked over at the sound, and his eyes suddenly widened—this face, complete with a nose and eyes, and this bird’s nest of hair, it was Xing Guang! The living Xing Guang!

“Xing Guang! My idol! Pleasure to meet you! Who are you going to kidnap? Need help?” Wei Xiao immediately took the sack and the carrot knife from Xing Guang’s hands.

The manager’s mouth twitched wildly as he watched: “Both of you, stop messing around! Be normal. Let’s have a 1v1.”

“If I win, can I be the Starter?” Wei Xiao blinked furiously, hinting.

“Win first, then we’ll talk!” The manager didn’t believe he could win.

Who did he think his opponent was?

Xing Guang, the Jungler Starter of the champion team!

Although he wasn’t the strongest Jungler in Hero League, he was more than enough to crush a wild Jungler who hadn’t even undergone proper training!

These kids nowadays… so what if he reached World Server Rank 1 in Solo Queue? He’s acting like his house is already piled high with championship trophies.

“Xing Guang, beat him to death! Let’s see if he still dares to be so arrogant!” the manager said.

“Fine, it’s a good chance to test my training results from the past few days,” Xing Guang said, sitting down at a computer in the interview hall. “Log In, Create Room.”

“Bring it on!” Wei Xiao sat down opposite him.

Although Wei Xiao called Xing Guang his idol, in reality, he didn’t pay any mind to this Jungler, who wasn’t even the carry position in the WI team. Otherwise, he wouldn’t think he could replace him as the Starter.

Wei Xiao’s truly recognized idol, from the moment he learned about the game Hero League until now, was and is only one person, and he was the only Jungler whose real name Wei Xiao remembered.

EN team’s earliest Jungler, timeand, Wen Shi Yu.

Wei Xiao would forever remember the feeling of being stunned and having his heart race when he walked past a large screen in an internet cafe and was amazed by that player’s mechanics.

However, only a year later, things had changed.

If Wen Shi Yu were still on the EN team and hadn’t retired, Wei Xiao would definitely go to EN. Forget being a Substitute at EN, he would die to be at EN!

He wouldn’t compete with Wen Shi Yu for the Jungler position; he would be his Top Laner, coordinating with him to dive towers and gank, and taking damage for him.

What a pity…

He wondered where Wen Shi Yu was now and if he was doing well.

Wei Xiao clicked on the Hero League icon on the unfamiliar computer and logged into his account.

His ID was “to be continued,” meaning “Wei Wan Dai Xu.”

Xing Guang logged into a smurf account called “little starlight,” making sure everyone knew it was his smurf.

Wei Xiao searched for the account, added him as a friend, and impatiently pulled him into the match room.

“What are you using?” Xing Guang asked.

“What are you using?” Wei Xiao countered.

“I’m using a Jungler,” Xing Guang replied with a useless piece of information.

“Jungling what? Let’s go straight to a Mid-lane Duel!”

Who goes Jungling in a 1v1! Isn’t it more fun to just fight directly!

“Alright then, I’ll take an Assassin.” Xing Guang finally offered a somewhat useful piece of information.

“Then I’ll take an Assassin too.” Wei Xiao wouldn’t take advantage of him.

Both locked in an Assassin. After adjusting their pre-match settings, they clicked Ready and entered the battlefield.

During map loading, both sides could see the heroes the other had chosen.

Xing Guang chose a very ordinary Meta Pick, Blade Shadow Dancer!

Wei Xiao chose a very cool Off-meta Pick, Overlord Blade!

The manager, watching from another computer, nearly spat out the water he had just drunk when he saw their heroes: “My goodness! How dare you say that a generation of the Meta brings a generation of gods? Why don’t you pick a god then!”

“You don’t understand, do you? If you win with a Meta Pick, the hero is great! Only by winning with an Off-meta Pick can I prove that I am great!” Wei Xiao said this, then put on his headphones.

Soon, the map finished loading, and the two set off from their respective camps, heading straight for the mid-lane.

Wei Xiao learned the skill “One-Hit Kill” first, corresponding to the Q key.

Overlord Blade relies on “One-Hit Kill” for damage—concentrate everything, reach the peak! But if you don’t kill, you’re the one who dies.

This hero was strongest when he was first released, instantly killing anyone he touched. But now, with wave after wave of nerfs, he had become useless, instantly killed by anyone he touched.

He used to be able to build semi-tank and play the attack speed hacking style, but now, without maxing out critical strike chance and critical damage to maximize the damage of One-Hit Kill, he wouldn’t have any presence on the battlefield.

When Wei Xiao played this hero in Solo Queue, the most common phrase he heard was—It’s over, we’re one person short this game.

But could someone else’s Overlord Blade be the same as his Overlord Blade?

Let Xing Guang witness the gold standard of the server’s number one Overlord Blade!

Meeting in the mid-lane, Wei Xiao didn’t care what skills the opponent learned; he went straight in with a Q-Flash!

A Q-Flash means pressing Q to cast the skill first, then using Flash. This allows a skill that normally wouldn’t reach to be delivered right into the opponent’s face, giving them no time to react.

So, Xing Guang had just maneuvered his Blade Shadow Dancer to the mid-lane, still looking for an angle to last hit, when he was suddenly slashed in the face by Overlord Blade. His full health bar was instantly emptied!

The girl with several flying blades floating behind her screamed and fell. Xing Guang’s eyes widened in disbelief, and he was slow to react.

The manager also watched the scene in disbelief, not blinking for a long time.

“Wait, what?” Xing Guang was the first to regain his voice, taking off his headphones and demanding, “You stacked all damage? How are you going to play the late game?”

There weren’t many items available to buy at the start of the game. At this stage, a hero’s stats were mostly determined by pre-match preparation.

Xing Guang was indeed a Professional Player; with just one slash, he understood Wei Xiao’s preparation settings—this person had abandoned all life, defense, movement speed, and attack speed bonuses, stacking only damage!

“Hmm? Did you say something?” Wei Xiao took off half his headphones while last hitting minions.

“You stacked all damage? How are you going to play the late game?” Xing Guang demanded again.

This time, Wei Xiao heard clearly. His reply was: “Play what late game? I’ll crush you in the early game!”

“I’m not talking about 1v1.”

In 1v1, there are no teammates. Dying once means you basically can’t recover. Lane pressure, gold pressure, item pressure, and stat pressure mean that even the strongest Meta Pick won’t easily turn the tide.

But in 5v5, Wei Xiao’s playstyle would be heavily targeted and rendered useless.

To this, Wei Xiao responded: “What are you thinking? Of course, 5v5 has its own playstyle, but aren’t I playing 1v1 right now? There wouldn’t be an idiot using the 5v5 preparation system in a 1v1, right?”

“…”

Silence. Silence was the WI of this evening.

“There really is an idiot?” Wei Xiao was shocked!

“Ahem, let’s restart. This match can’t be played anymore.” Xing Guang’s gaze drifted towards an empty spot, visibly guilty.

The manager also raised a hand to cover his eyes, unable to watch: “Xing Guang, what’s wrong with you! Put some effort in! I wanted you to curb this kid’s arrogance! Instead, you’re boosting his arrogance, what’s going on?”

“When you called me, you didn’t tell me I was dealing with such an unconventional weirdo!” Xing Guang complained, feeling wronged.

“So, are you surrendering?” Wei Xiao completely removed his headphones.

There was indeed no need to continue this match. After eating two waves of minions, he was now two levels higher than Xing Guang. Even without going back to buy items, he could perfectly execute “One-Hit Kill.”

However, Xing Guang said: “No, I’m a Professional Player, I can’t surrender. You surrender.”

“Huh? Why? I can’t surrender either, because I’m a future Professional Player!” Wei Xiao retorted.

“Then kill me!”

“What? Such a good thing exists!” Wei Xiao charged forward with his blade!

One slash created sky-high gold, one slash took down a defense tower, one slash destroyed the enemy camp. Match over, Wei Xiao wins!

Afterward, they started three more matches. Wei Xiao won all three, making it four consecutive wins, including the first one-hit kill!

“Again!” Xing Guang was getting more and more excited, but the WI manager was spread out on the table like a pancake.

Unwatchable, embarrassing.

In the end, it was Wei Xiao who smoothed things over: “Stop, bro. You’re not a mechanical Jungler. This will be the result no matter how many times we play. You’re a control-oriented player; your strengths shine in 5v5.”

“You even know the difference between mechanical and control-oriented. You know quite a lot,” Xing Guang said, then asked curiously, “So, are you mechanical?”

“No, I’m all-rounder!” Wei Xiao stood up.

He didn’t need a sack anymore, because he had already packed his confidence!

And then… he was thrown out of WI’s front door.

Although Xing Guang had lost face for WI, the response from the WI manager and coach remained unchanged from beginning to end—Want to join WI? Substitute is possible, Starter is out of the question.

In a team that was already deeply integrated and had won three consecutive championships, no Starter could be replaced on a whim.

“Alright, next one.” Wei Xiao searched the map for the location of last year’s runner-up team, KPI E-sports Club, and then took his next step toward his dream!