Did The Captain Catch Up With The Coach Today [Esports] Chapter 5

Chapter 5

Half a year ago, just as the Summer Split was about to begin, Wen Shi Yu, the top Jungler of Hero League, suddenly announced his retirement and thoroughly lambasted EN, the club he had been with for five full years.

Wen Shi Yu was cold and taciturn. In team voice chat, one could only hear his mechanical commands. Yet, that day, he typed out hundreds of characters in a lengthy accusation, causing an uproar in the Hero League E-sports circle.

Since then, he had vanished. Both of his accounts—his professional account and the smurf account he used for practicing heroes—had not logged in, and no one had seen him in real life.

Wei Xiao had once fantasized that if he won an E-sports championship and held the trophy during an interview, mentioning Wen Shi Yu as his idol might catch Wen Shi Yu’s attention.

But he never dreamed that he would encounter Wen Shi Yu in real life in such a dramatic and unprepared manner.

Then he suddenly realized why the receptionist’s face looked so pleasing—it bore a slight resemblance to Wen Shi Yu.

Wen Shi Yu also hadn’t expected that, after retiring for over half a year and with online discussions about him having died down, he would still be recognized instantly in real life.

The person in front of him was slightly taller, though not by much—just enough that Wen Shi Yu had to tilt his head up. He was very young, quite handsome, but completely unfamiliar.

Wen Shi Yu was certain he had never met him.

“You’ve got the wrong person,” he said flatly, trying to push the other man away, but failing to move him.

What was Wei Xiao’s current mood like? It was like growing up hearing legends of dragons, always dreaming of seeing one, and then actually encountering one and, by a strange twist of fate, catching hold of it.

How could he possibly let go!

However, fearing he might hurt the other man, he instinctively softened his grip. One hand gently supported Wen Shi Yu’s arm, and the other held his waist. Restraining his excitement, he quietly asked, “Why are you here?”

Wen Shi Yu frowned.

If this person hadn’t grabbed his arm in time and pulled him into his embrace, he might have been injured, so he was grateful.

But before he put his team on the professional league stage, he didn’t want to be recognized in any setting, especially not to be questioned.

So his reply was, “Thank you just now, but you really have the wrong person… Let go.”

Wei Xiao thought briefly, then showed a look of sudden understanding: “Oh! You don’t want to be recognized, right? Okay, I promise you, I won’t tell anyone that you are Wen Shi Yu!”

Wen Shi Yu’s head ached.

It already hurt slightly from lack of sleep, and now it hurt even more.

He stumbled backward as if unable to stand steadily, and Wei Xiao was pulled forward with him.

Behind Wen Shi Yu was a wall. Fearing he would hit it, Wei Xiao quickly lifted the hand that was on his waist and slapped it against the wall with a “snap.”

A wall slam!

Wen Shi Yu: “…”

Wei Xiao was completely unaware of the impropriety of his actions. To prevent others from discovering Wen Shi Yu’s identity, he leaned close to Wen Shi Yu’s ear and, using the quietest voice possible, cautiously asked, “Can I have an autograph? We can do it secretly.”

Wen Shi Yu clenched his teeth, just in case he couldn’t stop himself from biting this person.

Who wants to be secretive with you!

Fortunately, Wei Xiao backed away after asking the question, looking at him expectantly, waiting for a response.

He had been recognized, and the person who recognized him was very persistent—there was no fooling him.

It seemed he wouldn’t give up without an autograph.

Wen Shi Yu sighed inwardly and resignedly agreed, “Fine, I’ll sign it for you later. I’m going down to grab a bottle of coffee first.”

“Oh, okay.” Wei Xiao finally let go, but still followed closely at his side, ready to support him at any moment. “What coffee are you drinking? I can buy it for you.”

“It’s my family’s shop, don’t bother.” Wen Shi Yu instinctively replied, then, perhaps feeling that speaking to his fan like that was inappropriate, he added in a softer tone, “What do you want to drink? I’ll grab a bottle for you too.”

“I want coffee too. Whatever you drink, I’ll drink.” Wei Xiao wasn’t picky about coffee; any coffee would do, as it was for staying awake.

Wen Shi Yu went to the front desk, ordered two bottles of coffee, and handed one to Wei Xiao.

Wen Ban Xia, who was manning the front desk, looked surprised: “Did you get a boyfriend?”

If Wen Shi Yu had been drinking coffee right then, he probably would have spat it all over her face.

“What did you say?” He frowned, his tone slightly threatening.

Wen Ban Xia was completely unfazed by his threat and continued, “Your friend isn’t from around here, is he? Did he take the high-speed rail?”

“Yes, a 6-hour high-speed rail ride,” Wei Xiao replied obediently, completely ignoring Wen Ban Xia’s previous question. “I came here looking for a job. I want to be an E-sports Player, and since last year’s champions and runners-up are both in this city, I came.”

He said this specifically for Wen Shi Yu to hear.

Did you hear that? I followed in your footsteps onto the E-sports path!

However, upon hearing this, both Wen Ban Xia and Wen Shi Yu showed strange expressions.

Wen Ban Xia gave Wen Shi Yu a questioning look, and the latter quickly explained, “I didn’t invite him. I don’t know him. Just now…”

Wen Shi Yu hadn’t wanted to mention the embarrassing fact that he almost fell down the stairs, but to clarify, he had to reveal everything: “I slipped on the stairs, and he helped me up, so I wanted to treat him to a bottle of coffee as thanks.”

“Slipped? Where? Are the stairs slippery?”

“No, it was my own fault.”

“Tired? I told you not to stay up late! You’re a grown man, stop worrying me! Now you go…”

“Sis.” Wen Shi Yu said faintly, his tone betraying no emotion.

Wen Ban Xia shut up.

She realized there was an outsider present, and she shouldn’t challenge Wen Shi Yu’s dignity in front of him.

She expected the atmosphere to become awkward, but the person in question didn’t treat himself as an outsider at all. Not only did he not pretend not to hear, but he also said to Wen Shi Yu with concern, “Huh? You didn’t sleep last night? Then go to sleep now! You can put off the autograph; sign it for me when you wake up. Oh, right, can I get a personalized autograph? My name is Wei Xiao, ‘Wei’ from ‘to be continued’ (未完待续), and ‘Xiao’ from ‘free and easy’ (肆意洒脱).”

When Wen Shi Yu heard the phrase “to be continued,” it was as if a string in his mind had been plucked. He paused for a moment, forgetting to complain about how the character ‘Xiao’ (潇) wasn’t in the phrase “free and easy” (肆意洒脱).

“What position do you play?” Wen Shi Yu asked tentatively.

“Jungler, of course!” Wei Xiao felt Wen Shi Yu shouldn’t have needed to ask.

As a fan of Wen Shi Yu, how could he play any other position!

Although the system occasionally assigned him to a Solo Lane, meaning Top Lane.

But his body was in the Top Lane while his heart was in the jungle; after pushing the first turret, he still played like a Jungler.

Wen Shi Yu remained silent.

Did he just stumble upon the Jungler he wanted? No way, how could there be such a coincidence?

However, his sister’s internet cafe was right next to the KPI E-sports Club, so running into young people who wanted to play E-sports wasn’t rare. Three of the four players in his team came this way.

So, it was possible?

But “to be continued” felt so cold, like a wolf lurking in the icy night, locking onto its prey in the darkness—once it struck, it would surely succeed.

And the young man in front of him was enthusiastic, casual, and a little goofy, like a Husky running in the sun…

Impossible.

Absolutely impossible!

Wen Shi Yu got a headache just thinking about signing a Husky like this to the team. Their first encounter was too terrible; it wasn’t conducive to establishing his authority as a coach.

He should hurry upstairs and see how those brats were doing with their recruitment efforts.

Thinking this, Wen Shi Yu said, “Alright, I’ll go sleep first. When I wake up, I’ll leave the autograph at the front desk for you to pick up.”

“Okay! Then… can we exchange contact information?” Wei Xiao asked cautiously but pushily.

He had finally met his idol. For Wen Shi Yu, he could postpone his high-speed rail trip to CHIP, but only by one day at most.

His idol was important, but his own dream was more important.

If he couldn’t achieve his dream, what right did he have to expect Wen Shi Yu to look at him seriously?

So, if they could exchange contact information, he could leave with peace of mind.

Wen Shi Yu hesitated for a moment, then agreed.

The two exchanged chat IDs. Wen Shi Yu’s nickname was “Time Waits for No One” (时不我待), and Wei Xiao’s nickname was “to be continued” (未完待续).

Wei Xiao was still immersed in the joy of their matching IDs when Wen Shi Yu turned and went upstairs.

Wei Xiao reacted quickly, following him to the second floor, and then watched him ascend to the third floor.

Only after Wen Shi Yu disappeared from his sight did Wei Xiao take the coffee back to his private room.

He held the coffee in both hands and grinned foolishly.

Hehehe, coffee from his idol! He would treasure this bottle forever!

On the other side, Wen Shi Yu arrived outside the five-person private room, took a sip of coffee, pushed the door open, and asked the people inside in a calm voice, “What’s the situation?”

“He’s online, but he hasn’t started a game,” MID Zhou Miao Miao replied. “He accepted my friend request, but he won’t reply to chat messages. I’m afraid if I send too many, he’ll delete me, so I haven’t dared to send more.”

“He hasn’t responded to match invites either, not sure what’s going on,” said Support Tang Li. “It feels like he’s quite busy today. It looked like he squeezed in one game amidst a busy schedule just now.”

Wen Shi Yu thought of Wei Xiao saying he was here looking for a job today…

How could it be? The two people’s personalities were too different.

“Why won’t he add me?” Marksman Lu Qing Yang said, feeling unbalanced. “Do I play badly? No, right? Out of 15 kills total, he took 13, and I took the remaining 2. Why does he add you guys but not me?”

“Maybe he wasn’t looking at the score, but the teamwork?” Tang Li guessed. “Miao Miao and I had one moment of cooperation with him. You didn’t have much cooperation with him, so he ignored you?”

“This is annoying. Is he going to play or not? If he’s not playing, can he say something? I need to go to sleep!” No sooner had Top Laner Qin Jin Yao finished speaking than Wen Shi Yu slapped him lightly on the head.

It was very light, not painful at all, purely meant to express dissatisfaction.

“I haven’t even talked to you yet. Pushing that deep last game—are you looking for death?” Wen Shi Yu seized the opportunity to criticize. “I asked you to show off your strength in front of him, and all you did was embarrass me.”

“That was…” Qin Jin Yao wanted to argue, but he knew he hadn’t played well, so he just trailed off after saying “That was.”

Just then, Zhou Miao Miao exclaimed, “Ah! He replied to me!”

“What did he say!” Lu Qing Yang rushed over immediately, nearly bumping into his face.

Tang Li also stretched his neck curiously.

Wen Shi Yu walked over, resting one hand on the back of the E-sports chair. His gaze fell on Zhou Miao Miao’s screen, and after just one look, his lips tightened as if he had been electrocuted.

FHM-miao: Bro, we’re four people for a normal match, wanna join?

FHM-miao: Just one game. We need one more person to play five-stack.

FHM-miao: Try it, come on, come on, come on!

FHM-miao: QAQ

to be continued: Sorry, I just went downstairs to buy a bottle of coffee and saved a beauty who almost fell down the stairs.

to be continued: Sure, come on. Anyway, you guys have already targeted me in ranked.

“Yay!” Zhou Miao Miao happily pulled the person into the team room.

Wen Shi Yu silently averted his gaze.

Beaut… y…

Damn it.

Suddenly, he didn’t want to sign this person anymore. What should he do?