Did The Captain Catch Up With The Coach Today [Esports] Chapter 15
byChapter 15
After the training session ended that day, Wei Xiao showered and returned to his room. He took off his shirt, grabbed his phone, and snapped a few pictures of himself in the mirror.
He then selected the most satisfying photo from his album, the one that best highlighted the beauty of his abs, meticulously adjusted the filter for half an hour, and sent it to Wen Shi Yu.
In the room across the hall, Wen Shi Yu heard the notification sound, picked up his phone, clicked on the photo, and long-pressed to save it with an expressionless face.
The photo only showed Wei Xiao’s upper body, concealing his face and hips, but Wen Shi Yu knew it was Wei Xiao.
The mirror, and the room reflected in it, were definitely consistent with the decor of the living quarters on the third floor of the internet cafe.
Wei Xiao waited for a long time but received no reply from Wen Shi Yu. Unsure if he had received it, he sent another message.
to be continued: Look, my abs!
Still no reply.
Wei Xiao had no choice but to send another.
to be continued: How are they? Not worse than the Bloodthirsty Baron’s Shadow skin, right?
Wen Shi Yu found this utterly baffling. Why was he competing with a game skin?
He originally intended to pretend he hadn’t seen it, but he feared that if he didn’t reply, the other party would keep sending him messages. He reluctantly sent a brief response.
time waits for no one: Very good.
Wei Xiao was naturally happy to receive a reply as he wished, but he felt a slight sense of… incompleteness?
Why don’t you praise me more?
He thought this, but ultimately didn’t send it.
There had to be a limit to pushing one’s luck. Any further, and it wouldn’t be satisfying the other person’s curiosity, but harassing them.
The next day, everything proceeded as usual, followed by Wei Xiao’s first rest day since joining the team.
FHM rested every Thursday and trained on all other days.
What should he do on his day off?
Wei Xiao first called home to let them know he was safe, then habitually headed to the training room.
He thought the door would be locked, but when he tried the handle, it opened easily.
There was only one person inside, sitting in front of a running computer—the one he used.
The key to the training room was with Wen Shi Yu, so who else could be in the room but Wen Shi Yu?
Wei Xiao carefully closed the door and tiptoed over, glancing at the screen from behind Wen Shi Yu.
It was the Hero League game interface.
His coach was playing a game on his computer. It seemed that before he joined the team, this computer had always been used by Wen Shi Yu.
Wen Shi Yu’s skill was as excellent as ever. He still controlled the overall situation in the Overlord tier, and the rhythm of the entire match was smooth and comfortable.
After winning a round, he took off his headphones. Just as he was about to check the preliminary registration information on the official website, he suddenly saw Wei Xiao’s face reflected in the screen as it dimmed, startling him!
“Shit…”
Wen Shi Yu rarely swore. When he encountered an idiot while gaming, he usually just muted them. Let them rage; he remained calm as a breeze over a mountain ridge.
To force a curse out of him, Wei Xiao certainly had a talent.
“Sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you,” Wei Xiao apologized immediately.
He apologized so quickly that Wen Shi Yu, who had opened his mouth for a long time, swallowed the words “Are you trying to be a ghost?” and reorganized his thoughts: “When did you come in?”
“Just now.” Wei Xiao answered, raising both hands and resting them on the back of Wen Shi Yu’s chair, then showered him with praise. “As expected of God Yu, you’re so cool! Watching God Yu play is more satisfying than reading a thrilling novel! Go on, I’ll just watch, I won’t bother you.”
“I’m done,” Wen Shi Yu said. He couldn’t play anymore.
It was strange. He never felt uncomfortable when cameras were shoved in his face during E-sports matches, but being watched by Wei Xiao made him feel awkward everywhere.
He minimized the game interface and browsed the preliminary registration information on the Hero League official website.
The registration list mostly contained unfamiliar teams, many of which had particularly perfunctory names, clearly just joining for fun.
But there were also a few familiar faces, such as the teams that successfully broke through to the group stage last season.
Wei Xiao pulled Zhou Miao Miao’s chair over and sat down next to Wen Shi Yu.
Wen Shi Yu glanced at him out of the corner of his eye, confirming that he wasn’t planning to leave. He sighed inwardly and asked, “It’s a rare day off. Aren’t you going to sleep in, or maybe look around the neighborhood?”
“Sleeping too long isn’t good either; you end up more tired,” Wei Xiao replied. “There’s nothing much to see nearby. I can’t exactly go scout the enemy at KPI E-sports Club across the street, can I?”
“Not even going to the gym?”
“I already worked out. I did 100 push-ups this morning. My stomach is sore.”
“…” Wen Shi Yu admired Wei Xiao’s perseverance.
“What about you? Why aren’t you going out?” Wei Xiao asked.
“Lazy,” Wen Shi Yu replied.
“Then, can you play a game with me?”
When Wei Xiao asked this question, his heart rate accelerated uncontrollably.
This sentence, which he had said countless times in his dreams, was now spoken in reality to his idol.
His heart was pounding fast and hard against his chest. He tried his best to hide it, not wanting Wen Shi Yu to notice anything unusual.
Wen Shi Yu didn’t notice anything unusual. To him, it was a normal game invitation, though coming from Wei Xiao, it was slightly special.
Firstly, Wei Xiao’s skill was something he recognized and appreciated, whereas most people who invited him to play were less skilled. They invited him to be carried; Wei Xiao inviting him to play likely meant he genuinely wanted to play with him.
Secondly, they shared a position.
However, sharing a position wasn’t a big problem, as Wen Shi Yu was no longer limited to Jungler after retiring.
He maximized the game interface, adjusted his primary preferred role to MID, and his secondary roles to TOP and ADC, then said a single, calm word: “Come.”
Wei Xiao froze for a moment.
“Are you coming or not?” Wen Shi Yu urged him.
“Coming, coming, coming!” Wei Xiao scrambled to turn on his computer and log into his account.
He hadn’t expected Wen Shi Yu to agree.
Wei Xiao never considered whether he would succeed before saying or doing something.
It wasn’t because he was confident in success, but because he would rather regret doing something than regret not doing it.
He liked Wen Shi Yu and viewed him as an idol. In his eyes, Wen Shi Yu, although human like everyone else, was fundamentally different.
So, subconsciously, he felt it would be perfectly normal for Wen Shi Yu to refuse his request.
But Wen Shi Yu agreed!
Wei Xiao entered his password twice, and both times it showed an error. Only then did he realize he had forgotten to change the account.
He deleted Zhou Miao Miao’s account, entered the account for his “to be continued” ID, and entered the password again, finally logging in successfully.
He searched for “time waits for no one” and submitted a friend request.
Wen Shi Yu saw it and accepted immediately.
Wei Xiao then quickly initiated a Bond Request, wanting to form a close relationship with Wen Shi Yu.
Wen Shi Yu immediately rejected it.
Each account in Hero League could have 1 “Lover,” 4 “Teammates,” and 5 “Close Friends.”
Wei Xiao’s account had a list full of top players, but his Bond page had always been empty.
He only wanted to form bonds with people he truly cared about.
His first time actively submitting a Bond Request was met with such a cold rejection… his mood dropped slightly.
He didn’t dare ask Wen Shi Yu why he rejected the request, afraid of hearing an answer he didn’t want to hear.
Unexpectedly, the next second, Wen Shi Yu offered an explanation: “Don’t. I don’t want to be exposed.”
Oh, right. His rank and rating were so high that countless people clicked on his profile every day. If they saw that Wen Shi Yu was the only person on his Bond page, they would definitely investigate thoroughly.
“Sorry, I didn’t think that far ahead,” Wei Xiao said, while creating a room and inviting Wen Shi Yu.
Wen Shi Yu readily accepted and immediately clicked “Ready” upon entering the room.
Wei Xiao asked him, “What do we play? Ranked, Quick Match, or Entertainment?”
“Anything is fine,” Wen Shi Yu responded. “Whatever you want to play, I don’t mind.”
“Ranked then. I’ll go TOP?”
“Go play your Jungler role.”
“Oh.”
So Wei Xiao didn’t change his preferred role and clicked “Start Ranked Match.”
The system took a full five minutes to match them.
Five minutes later, it paired the two players with heaven-defying win rates against five top players whose IDs all had team prefixes.
The enemy TOP was from CHIP, the Quarterfinals team Wei Xiao had originally planned to apply to.
The enemy MID was from the Round of 8 team, MID.
The enemy ADC was a streamer from JJ Live City.
The enemy FOU was also a Professional E-sports Player, though Wei Xiao didn’t recognize the team name.
The enemy Jungler was from… EN.
“Wow… huh?” Wei Xiao was about to lament the system’s murderous intent towards him and Wen Shi Yu when he suddenly saw EN. His expression changed, and he instinctively turned to look at Wen Shi Yu.
Wen Shi Yu showed no particular reaction; his expression and tone were as normal as ever: “I’ll take Fiery Feather Mid. Don’t pick Overlord Blade.”
“Then Blade Shadow Dancer?”
“You won’t get Blade Shadow Dancer.”
As soon as Wen Shi Yu finished speaking, the enemy team banned Blade Shadow Dancer.
Wei Xiao was stunned. He hadn’t expected someone to ban an Assassin in this season where TOP and MID were dominant.
“Then Bamboo Swordsman?”
“You won’t get Bamboo Swordsman either.”
Sure enough, the enemy’s second ban slot went to Bamboo Swordsman.
“Why?” Wei Xiao didn’t understand.
“You’re a Professional E-sports Player now. Have some awareness of being targeted,” Wen Shi Yu said. “Look at our side. You’re the most conspicuous one. Who else would they target if not you?”
Wei Xiao looked. It was true.
Unlike the enemy team, where everyone had a prefix, the IDs on their side, including his own, all had a clear, casual player vibe.
The TOP was called “Orphanage Director,” the ADC was “Professional Single for 20 Years,” and the FOU was “Just Follow Me.”
Wei Xiao had been targeted before after reaching World Server Rank 1, but…
“Why didn’t they ban Overlord Blade?”
Overlord Blade was his first priority pick, wasn’t it?
“They are waiting for you to pick Overlord Blade so they can collectively target you,” Wen Shi Yu said. “Overlord Blade’s mechanics aren’t great; it relies heavily on gold. Once you fall behind, it’s very hard to turn the tide.”
“Fine, no wonder you told me not to use it… Okay, whatever. Let them ban what they want. There’s more than just those few heroes that can Jungler.”
Wei Xiao had frequently used heroes, but that didn’t mean he only knew how to play those.
As a dedicated Jungler, knowing how to play every Jungler was basic operational skill.
Neither side banned Fiery Feather, so in the first blue side slot, Wen Shi Yu snatched Fiery Feather.
The enemy team first picked their TOP and Jungler: Bloodthirsty Baron TOP and Phantom Assassin Jungler.
It was the blue side’s turn again. Wei Xiao thought for a moment and said, “Temporal Tracker.”
“Acceptable.”
With Wen Shi Yu’s approval, Wei Xiao immediately locked in the hero Temporal Tracker.
This was one of the few non-humanoid heroes in Hero League, modeled after the Hounds of Tindalos from Cthulhu mythology. Any prey it targeted would never escape!
“Don’t worry, Brother Wen. I’ve already marked the enemy Jungler with my naked eye. I’ll definitely bite him to death!” Wei Xiao promised confidently.
Wen Shi Yu glanced at him, a slight smile on his lips: “Mm.”