Did The Captain Catch Up With The Coach Today [Esports] Chapter 2

Chapter 2

The WI team, last year’s champions, centered their strategy around their Marksman.

The KPI team, last year’s runners-up, centered their strategy around their Jungler.

Wei Xiao thought, a team centered around a Marksman not wanting to change their Starter lineup for him was understandable, but surely a team centered around a Jungler would be willing?

However, after a half-hour subway ride to the KPI E-sports Club, he didn’t even get to see the Jungler.

“1v1? Who are you? Why should Fei Yu 1v1 you?” The receptionist looked at Wei Xiao as if to say—you cunning masochist! You couldn’t even come up with a better excuse to get stomped into the ground!

Fei Yu was the Jungler for the KPI team, his Professional ID was flyfish.

Although KPI’s record wasn’t as good as WI’s, Fei Yu’s personal record was significantly better than Xing Guang’s.

Because he was a technical Jungler.

The match could be lost, but his prestige couldn’t drop!

Teammates could die, but his technique must be flashy!

Wei Xiao stared at the receptionist for a moment before letting out a sudden, realizing “Oh!”

The receptionist watched his performance silently.

Wei Xiao first muttered to himself, “I see, different teams have different ways of playing.”

Then he told the receptionist, “Get your manager out here!”

“What the heck!” The receptionist exploded on the spot. “Do you think our club is a restaurant? Did we mess up your order or did you find a twin ponytail in your food? You want our manager out here? Why don’t you just ask me to call the boss out!”

“Calling the boss out is fine too,” Wei Xiao nodded. He didn’t care if he met the manager or the boss, as long as it was someone who could let him join the team.

The receptionist was so angry he was about to call security to escort Wei Xiao out when two young men wearing KPI team uniforms walked out.

Wei Xiao stared at the two of them.

Sensing his gaze, they stared back at him.

After a moment of mutual, awkward staring, one of them quietly asked the other, “Bro, do you owe money outside?”

The other replied, “You’re the one who owes money! I don’t know him at all!”

“I don’t know him either… then why is he staring at us? Bro, if you’re having financial difficulties, tell me. Don’t carry the burden alone.”

“I said I don’t owe money!”

Probably annoyed by his teammate’s suspicion, and to prove his innocence, this person walked up to Wei Xiao right after replying and asked him, “Who are you looking for?”

“I’m looking for Fei Yu,” was Wei Xiao’s first reaction.

“So Fei Yu owes money!” Both of them suddenly realized!

“Oh, wait, I’m looking for your manager, or the boss,” Wei Xiao quickly corrected himself.

The team was different, and the rules of the game had changed. Defeating Fei Yu might not guarantee him a spot in KPI… oh, he defeated Xing Guang and didn’t get into WI either.

So he still needed to talk to someone in charge.

“Why are you looking for our boss?” one of them asked.

The receptionist interjected, “He said he wants to 1v1 Fei Yu, and if he wins, he gets to be a Starter. He’s crazy! Last year, Fei Yu lost to a female fan in an exhibition match, and she didn’t replace him!”

“Sigh, Brother Fei Yu spoils his fans, he can’t walk straight when he sees a fan, it’s normal for him to lose… wait, no, you want to 1v1 Fei Yu?”

The one who spoke was the one who suspected his teammate owed money. He was a bit short, maybe not even 170 cm.

Wei Xiao stared at him for a while longer before finally remembering him: “I remember now! You’re a Starter too! You’re the Marksman Hu Die!”

“…”

A moment of awkward silence, followed by a faint response: “I’m the Support Hai Tun, and this person next to me is our Marksman Hai Ou. Hu Die is our MID.”

“Ah… oh… sorry, I play Jungler, so for people in other positions…”

Wei Xiao scratched his head sheepishly.

He felt that he was good in every way—handsome, good at the game, good-tempered, and mentally sound—but he had one bad habit: he absolutely could not remember people or things he didn’t care about.

He remembered every hero Wen Shi Yu played and the stats he achieved in every match, he remembered the answers he gave in every post-match interview, and he even remembered his hairstyle every time he was on camera, and the few alluring inflections in his voice when he spoke.

But he absolutely could not remember the Professional IDs of Wen Shi Yu’s teammates.

Even if he forced himself to memorize them, they would be completely forgotten after a while.

If Wen Shi Yu’s teammates were like that, it would be a miracle if he remembered Fei Yu’s teammates.

Fortunately, Hai Tun and Hai Ou were good-natured and didn’t take offense at all.

Hai Ou even smiled at him kindly: “You want to 1v1 Fei Yu? How about a 1v1 with me first? If you win, I’ll take you to see the manager. If you lose, scram.”

“Okay, sounds good!”

Wei Xiao understood now, KPI was playing the level-clearing mode!

The Starter players actively wanted to fight Wei Xiao, and the receptionist was happy to see Wei Xiao get humiliated, so she didn’t say a word, pulled out a bag of melon seeds, and became a spectator.

The two logged into their accounts at the gaming stations in the lobby, added each other as friends, and entered the custom match room.

Before starting the fight, Wei Xiao asked with concern, “You’re not going to use a Marksman against me, are you? Don’t say I bullied you if you lose.”

“Buddy, do your family know how arrogant you are?” Hai Ou responded. “Do your family allow you to play E-sports?”

“Yes, they do. I have the skill, why wouldn’t they allow it?”

Before setting off for the WI E-sports Club, Wei Xiao had asked his family for their opinion, and their response was—Your life is yours to decide.

So Wei Xiao bought a high-speed rail ticket for the next day.

Hiss—speaking of which, he hadn’t considered what he would do tonight if his job search failed. Should he find a place to stay locally or slink back home?

Forget it, don’t think too much.

He had seven choices among the top eight teams. Job search failure? Impossible!

“Oh, fine, whatever,” Hai Ou said coolly, clicking “Start.” “Just don’t cry if you lose.”

“Mhm, I’ll take an Assassin,” Wei Xiao proactively informed the other party of his choice.

Hai Ou returned the courtesy: “I’ll take burst damage.”

While the map was loading, the two saw the heroes they had chosen.

Hai Ou chose an attack speed burst Marksman—Needle Rain Thousand Leaves.

Wei Xiao chose an Off-meta Pick Assassin—Overlord Blade!

“Huh?” Hai Tun, watching behind Hai Ou, couldn’t hold back when he saw the hero. “How is anyone still using Zero Blade these days?”

Zero Blade was a derogatory term for Overlord Blade. It had two meanings.

First, after Overlord Blade was nerfed, his loyal players, in order to have a presence on the battlefield, stacked all their equipment on critical strike and critical damage, unable to withstand any damage. Many times, they died before even landing a single blow, hence Zero Blade.

Second, after Overlord Blade was nerfed, he couldn’t be an Overlord anymore, and he couldn’t be a 1 anymore, so he became a 0.

Wei Xiao couldn’t stand hearing that: “Whether I’m a 1 or a 0, we’ll find out by trying!”

Once in the game, he headed straight for the mid-lane, but waited for a long time before the opponent finally arrived late.

“Sorry, I took the wrong path.” As a dedicated Marksman, Hai Ou was used to the bottom lane. As soon as he entered the game, he ran to the bottom lane, only remembering halfway that this was a 1v1.

“It doesn’t matter, the outcome is the same.” Wei Xiao said, using a Q-Flash. Overlord Blade flashed onto Hai Ou’s Needle Rain Thousand Leaves while swinging his blade, and the flame-wrapped blade slashed down fiercely, instantly emptying the full health bar!

KO!

Hai Ou’s mouth dropped open.

Hai Tun’s mouth dropped open.

The receptionist’s mouth also dropped open.

The three of them tacitly formed a huge ‘O’ with their mouths. Anyone who didn’t know better would think they were cosplaying Plants vs. Zombies.

“Surrender?” Wei Xiao asked lightly.

No one responded.

“Hmm?” Wei Xiao blinked in confusion, his gaze leaving his screen to sweep around, and then he saw the three ‘O’s.

“Are your…” Wei Xiao’s eyes widened in shock. “Jaws okay?”

It was the first time he realized a person’s mouth could open that wide!

“We’re fine, we’re fine… no, who uses Flash at the start of the game!” Hai Tun was the first to react, complaining, “Aren’t you afraid of the Jungler ganking!”

“I am the Jungler?” Wei Xiao looked at him in confusion.

“I mean our Jungler!”

“Fei Yu? Where is he?” Wei Xiao was even more confused.

“No, do you play like this in 5v5 too?” Hai Ou couldn’t help but question him.

“Of course not, but aren’t we in a 1v1 right now?” Wei Xiao looked at the two of them with the expression one uses for idiots.

How come the Starters of the champion and runner-up teams seemed a little dim-witted?

Hai Ou was speechless.

A bet is a bet. He logged out of his account, closed the game interface, stood up from his seat, and said sternly, “Let’s go, I’ll take you to see our manager.”

“Huh?” Wei Xiao looked at his game interface, a little confused. “Aren’t Professional Players not allowed to surrender?”

“Did I surrender?” Hai Ou asked him faintly.

Wei Xiao swallowed: “No.”

“That’s right. I can’t help it if the network connection was bad and I disconnected.”

And so, KPI’s Marksman took Wei Xiao to see KPI’s manager, not mentioning a single word about the embarrassing incident of being instantly killed at the start of the 1v1.

However, he did see the manager, but his dream of joining KPI as a Starter was shattered, completely and utterly.

To Wei Xiao’s request, KPI’s manager only said four words: “Turn right outside.”

The KPI team was carried by their Jungler. Fei Yu was the heart and soul of KPI.

The player KPI least needed to replace, and could not replace, was Fei Yu.

After Wei Xiao exited the KPI E-sports Club gate, he turned right and saw a mental hospital.

He sighed.

Why was it so difficult for someone as skilled as him to join a team?

How did the Starters of the top eight teams become Starters?

And how did Wen Shi Yu create EN back then?

EN… forget about EN.

Wei Xiao would rather join a grassroots team than EN, because that was the team his idol Wen Shi Yu had publicly criticized, the team Wen Shi Yu had personally founded but was then seized by bad people.

…

To the west of the KPI E-sports Club was a mental hospital, and two hundred meters south was an internet cafe.

The internet cafe was named “Fool Happy More,” and the owner was Wen Ban Xia.

Wen Ban Xia had no parents, but she had a younger brother with the same mother and father. This brother was once brilliant.

At that time, he was young, successful, and high-spirited. Now, time had passed, and he had become a bad-tempered, paranoid person.

“I’m telling you, if you can’t gather a full team in this lifetime, are you never going to go out and work?” Wen Ban Xia shouted as she went upstairs. “Wen, Shi, Yu, are you mooching off your sister now?”

She reached the third floor, walked through the corridor, and turned left into the first room.

In the bright room, a young man was sitting in front of a computer, concentrating on something.

He was wearing a white shirt, his back perfectly straight, giving off an immaculate aura.

Hearing Wen Ban Xia’s voice from afar, he unhurriedly put down the paper and pen in his hand, picked up the coffee beside him, and took an elegant sip.

Then, with his cold, magnetic voice, he said something that was infuriating but harmless: “It’s not like I spent your money.”

“Oh, the place you live isn’t money? Did you pay me rent? Did you pay for water, electricity, and gas? Did you pay for the internet?”

The young man picked up his phone, his fingers tapping “da da da” on the screen. Soon, Wen Ban Xia heard a loud system notification from her own phone: “Ding! You have received a transfer of 50,000 yuan, please check!”

Wen Ban Xia: “…”

She received the money, but she was so angry.

“Is it your money I want? I just…”

She just hoped he would quickly move past the shadow of a year ago and start a new life.

“By the way, what did you just say? Who won’t be able to gather a full team in this lifetime?” Wen Shi Yu said, suddenly turning his head, revealing a pair of cunning, fox-like peach blossom eyes.

His voice was cold, but the corners of his lips were raised when he said that sentence.

“I have already found the last piece of the puzzle.”

At this moment, his computer screen displayed the personal record interface of the game Hero League.

The ID of the interface owner was—to be continued