Did The Captain Catch Up With The Coach Today [Esports] Chapter 18
byChapter 18
Wen Shi Yu regretted it the moment he stepped out the door.
He raised a hand to shield his face from the Sun, feeling uncomfortable, as if he were standing under a spotlight.
Wei Xiao turned his head to look at him.
Wen Shi Yu’s skin was very pale, the kind of cold white that comes from rarely seeing the Sun. The early spring sunlight held little warmth, leaving hardly any color on him.
This complexion made his handsome face seem somewhat unreal, like something existing in another dimension.
Wei Xiao lowered his eyes, afraid that if he looked for another second, the noise of his own heart beating would be heard by Wen Shi Yu.
The two walked side by side, heading on foot to a nearby park.
On a Thursday, the park was sparsely populated, mostly filled with elderly people, making their presence feel a bit conspicuous.
Wen Shi Yu’s discomfort grew. Already taciturn, he now lost the courage to speak entirely.
Wei Xiao, however, felt fine and was quickly drawn to the surrounding scenery: “Wow, I can already see flowers. So pretty! If we come back when the weather is warmer, the view will definitely be even better!”
Wen Shi Yu remained silent.
“Every park has old folks practicing Tai Chi, and others dancing. It’s great for the elderly to get out and exercise, it prolongs life!”
Wen Shi Yu glanced at him but said nothing.
“Huh? The fitness equipment here is much more varied than in the park near my house. Watch me perform on the horizontal bar for you!”
Saying this, Wei Xiao walked up to a horizontal bar, grabbed it with both hands, swung up and over, forward and backward, as agile as a monkey.
Wen Shi Yu: “…”
After finishing his performance and landing, Wei Xiao first adjusted his hair and clothes, then clutched his abdomen and groaned: “Ouch, ouch, ouch. Are my abs just for show?”
Wen Shi Yu sighed: “You brought that on yourself.”
“Hehe, I just wanted to show off in front of you,” Wei Xiao chuckled.
“Why do you need to show off in front of me?” Wen Shi Yu asked.
Wei Xiao thought for a moment and gave an impeccable answer: “Because I want my coach to have a good impression of me!”
“I’m not a gymnastics coach,” Wen Shi Yu retorted. “Just play well in the game.”
“Absolutely,” Wei Xiao gave Wen Shi Yu a wink, meaning “trust me.”
He was young and handsome, and the gesture came across as playful and cute.
Although it wasn’t without a hint of flirtation, Wen Shi Yu didn’t feel annoyed. Still, he couldn’t help but tease: “Eye twitching?”
“Uh… haven’t you watched any idol survival shows?”
“Why would I watch idol survival shows?” Wen Shi Yu found it baffling. “Are the matches not exciting enough, or is the game not fun?”
“That’s a good point,” Wei Xiao couldn’t argue.
It seemed the tricks from variety shows wouldn’t work.
Since hints were ineffective, he tried something material: “Lunch is on me!”
“Why?” Wen Shi Yu averted his gaze, pretending to look at the scenery. “I just came out for a walk with you so you wouldn’t get lost. Don’t make it sound like a date.”
Wei Xiao certainly intended to make this outing feel like a date… but that kind of thing should be kept hidden. Confession was impossible, at least at this stage.
So his answer was: “You clearly didn’t want to come out, yet you still accompanied me after my earnest invitation. I’d feel bad if I didn’t treat you to a meal.”
Reasonable, yet full of holes.
Wen Shi Yu laughed: “If you truly felt bad, you wouldn’t have pretended to be directionally challenged just to trick me into coming out.”
“Well… I also wanted you to get out and walk around,” Wei Xiao nervously raised a hand to rub his nose.
Wen Shi Yu secretly sighed, unwilling to admit that he actually enjoyed walking with Wei Xiao.
Seeing him so energetic, the sunlight outside gradually felt less harsh.
“Go ahead and treat me,” Wen Shi Yu said casually. “If you want to treat me, go ahead. A free lunch is a good lunch.”
“Okay!”
After wandering around the park for a while longer, Wei Xiao decided the time was right and found a highly-rated restaurant nearby. He treated Wen Shi Yu to lunch, then returned to the internet cafe with him.
Unbeknownst to the two of them, during their walk, the news that “to be continued” was joining FHM as an E-sports Player exploded on the Hero League official forum. Even the old post [Disaster! KPI is being crushed by a newly emerged team! 5 kills lost in 5 minutes!] was pushed back to the top.
[Holy crap, I watched Yue Xia’s stream. Did Unfinished God really go pro? Will we see him in this season’s league?]
[Probably. After all, they are the team that beat KPI in under 20 minutes.]
[But they lost to DIE.]
[As if DIE loses to everyone. They’re still a top eight team, even if they’re struggling.]
[What’s FHM’s strength like? Has anyone dug up info?]
[Yes, check the thread next door.]
This world is never short of enthusiastic and patient people. Someone watched Yue Xia’s stream, and someone else shared Phoenix’s complaints about the beautiful house and Wei Xiao joining FHM on the forum.
Someone learned about it from the forum, and someone else logged into the game to dig up the information of all FHM’s Starters.
The FHM team had not yet appeared in the league, so the information available online was limited.
But searching for the FHM prefix in the game easily brought up the Professional IDs of the five FHM Starters.
However, the frequently used heroes of these five people looked suspicious.
[Four Junglers?]
In Hero League, whether in Ranked or Matchmaking, you can set pre-selected roles, but you must set at least one primary role and one secondary role.
So no matter how much Wei Xiao wanted to specialize as a Jungler, he had to add a Solo Lane. Half of his frequently used heroes were Assassins, and half were Warriors.
Coincidentally, FHM’s Top Laner, Qin Jin Yao, originally created the strategy of taking Assassins to the top lane because he only knew how to Jungle but was always assigned to the Solo Lane by the system. He then got addicted to the unconventional play, setting Top Lane as his primary role and Jungler as his secondary role.
FHM’s MID Laner, Zhou Miao Miao, transitioned from Jungler to MID, so setting MID as primary and Jungler as secondary was perfectly reasonable, right?
FHM’s ADC, Lu Qing Yang, specialized in ADC, only playing Marksmen and Warriors. Last season, tanks were buffed, and the top lane was flooded with them. Since his Warriors couldn’t handle them, he changed his secondary role to Jungler. Plus, he had a phase where he took Warriors to the Duo Lane for fun, so just looking at his frequently used heroes, it was easy to mistake him for a Jungler.
Only FHM’s Support, Tang Li, had frequently used heroes covering all five positions. Tank? Plays it! Warrior? Plays it! Mage? Plays it! Marksman? Plays it!
Basically, there wasn’t a hero type he hadn’t played, except for Assassins, making it impossible to guess his actual position.
[How should I put this? If the five homepages the楼主 (OP) posted actually form a team, I can probably guess who plays what, but I can’t help but marvel at the high ‘Jungler content’ of this team.]
[Jungler content, lol. This team looks like they excel in the early game. No wonder they beat KPI.]
[Which one is to be continued? xiao?]
[Yes, xiao is Unfinished.]
[The frequently used heroes on this account make me hallucinate Shi Yu.]
[Not surprising. He’s a fan of God Yu. People always guessed he was God Yu’s alt, but God Yu isn’t that reckless—referring to placing emoji signs in the game.]
[I feel like this is an account he used early on. His current frequently used heroes are quite different from God Yu’s. Take Overlord Blade, for example; I’ve never seen God Yu use it.]
[God Yu seems to dislike heroes with too little clothing, saying he feels embarrassed and it affects his performance.]
[Hahaha, worthy of God Yu, an introvert through and through.]
[I signed up for the competition. If I run into FHM in the qualifiers, what advice do you have for me?]
[Only one piece of advice: Ban all Junglers!]
A few days later, the Hero League Professional League Spring Qualifiers officially began.
The first team FHM matched against used all five bans on Junglers!
Wei Xiao’s Overlord Blade, Blade Shadow Dancer, and Time Tracker, along with Qin Jin Yao’s Bamboo Swordsman and Phantom Assassin, were all banned completely!
But Zhou Miao Miao excitedly secured his first-priority hero, Blazing Phoenix Feather.
Wen Shi Yu had anticipated this and remained calm, telling Wei Xiao and Qin Jin Yao: “Moon Shadow Spider and Radiant Knight, one for each of you. Pick.”
One Assassin and one Warrior. Qin Jin Yao chose the Assassin: “I’ll take the Spider. I’ll split push whenever I get the chance.”
“Alright, then I’ll take Radiant Knight,” Wei Xiao could play both and carry with either, so he didn’t mind.
The qualifiers were also streamed, with official commentators invited, but too many matches were happening simultaneously, so the commentators could only pick the ones with the highest viewership.
The highest viewership undoubtedly belonged to the matches involving the top 16 teams, so initially, the official streaming platform showed the PSP team’s match status.
“PSP was very unfortunate last season, missing the top eight because they couldn’t handle DIE’s dual Marksman lineup. Let’s see how they perform this season!”
Commentator Ri Xi had just finished speaking when the camera suddenly cut, switching to the battlefield of another match.
The reason was simple—the viewership for this match had rapidly soared in just a few minutes, surpassing any other match happening at the same time!
Seeing the players’ IDs clearly, commentator Yue Xia let out a sound of realization: “Oh~ Unfinished God!”
Yes, at this moment, what was presented to the audience was the ongoing match of the FHM team.
After Ri Xi realized who Yue Xia was referring to, he introduced the player to the viewers: “FHM’s Jungler is the World Server Rank 1 Solo Queue player. This is his first time competing, and we are very much looking forward to his performance!”
No sooner had he spoken than the Radiant Knight, clad in golden armor, raised her longsword, recited an oath, activated her enhancement, and then used “Holy Flash” to join the team fight, instantly securing a kill!
[System Notification] Radiant Knight, First Kill!
The Radiant Knight’s second skill, “Holy Flash,” instantly refreshes upon securing a kill. So, after severely wounding the next enemy, she used “Holy Flash” again to complete the execution!
[System Notification] Radiant Knight, Double Kill!
The enemy Marksman and Support were forced to use Flash. The Radiant Knight chased and activated her ultimate—”Sacred Feather Punishment”!
Three pairs of white wings bathed in golden holy light unfolded behind the handsome female knight. A powerful flap carried her high into the air above the enemies, and another flap rained down countless sacred feathers!
[System Notification] Radiant Knight, Triple Kill!
[System Notification] Radiant Knight, Quadra Kill!
Upon landing, she Flashed to catch the fleeing enemy Jungler, taking him down with “Holy Flash”!
[System Notification] Radiant Knight, Penta Kill!
[System Notification] Unstoppable!
[System Notification] Enemy heroes wiped out!
[System Notification] Victory is in sight!
“Holy cow!” Yue Xia was stunned.
“Holy cow!” His partner Ri Xi was also stunned.
Such a high-octane scene right at the start, giving them no time to adjust!
“What a phenomenal Penta Kill! That damage is insane!” Ri Xi exclaimed.
“Yes, it was basically all done by him alone. His teammates were mainly responsible for crowd control,” Yue Xia said. “Radiant Knight is really suitable for a jungle core role. Why didn’t the opponents ban her?”
The two had missed the ban/pick phase, so they didn’t know what had been banned in this match.
The viewers who did know couldn’t hold back their laughter upon hearing this.
[Opponent: You think we didn’t want to ban her!]
[LOL, they banned five Assassins, and a Warrior just rampaged!]
[This Radiant Knight is truly amazing. I’m thrilled watching this!]
[How can he be so handsome? I need all the information on this Jungler right now!]
[Ahhh, FHM, charge forward! I want to see you sweep the field in the league!]
Wen Shi Yu was also watching the live stream. Seeing these bullet comments, he couldn’t help but curve his lips into a smile.
They were praising Wei Xiao, but for some reason, Wen Shi Yu felt like he was the one being praised, and his mood was extremely pleasant.
Well… it was normal to be happy for the player he had spotted and signed to the team, right?
Don’t worry, sweeping the field will happen, and the championship will happen too.
So what if they are a new team? Competitions rely on strength, not seniority. As long as the strength is sufficient, one battle is enough to achieve legendary status!