Chapter 18 – “I still haven’t managed to coax them into calming down.”
[“Ahhh, the scheduled livestream room is open!”]
[“Front row secured, got my little stool ready — selling sunflower seeds, Coke, Sprite~”]
[“OMG, I can’t believe I’m actually seeing my boy play ACR with D-god in my lifetime. Even if it’s just a solo match, this is heaven for a fan of both!”]
[“Exactly! Last time I watched D-god’s stream, I never would’ve imagined he’d actually do a collab stream with someone one day.”]
[“Tsk. They’re calling it a collab, but this collab feels kind of weird.”]
[“Seriously. A few days ago, when that little brat posted his “full-package apology,” I really didn’t expect things to develop like this. (crying-laughing)”]
[“Yeah… honestly, at this point I can’t even tell whether that little brat is actually a D-god anti-fan or not.”]
[“My boy’s probably just got a loose mouth, but D-god probably doesn’t care anyway, hhhh.”]
[“By the way, parents, don’t forget to get your rotten eggs ready. We’re spamming them at that little brat later!”]
Qi Qiao adjusted his streaming setup, then sat back down at his desk. He glanced at the time in the lower-right corner of the screen.
Five minutes left.
After Pei Ming finished speaking in Jiang Jiang’s livestream yesterday, the hashtag [Devil and Ghost Schedule a Solo Match] immediately shot to the top of the trending list on Azure TV. In the end, an official announcement had no choice but to set the match for 2 p.m. the following afternoon.
At first, Qi Qiao had only agreed because of that dream he had the night before, and in a moment of impulsiveness, he accepted the idea of doing the solo match the very next day.
But after calming down and thinking it over, the more he considered it, the more wrong it felt.
He was the one who had wanted to leave first.
He should have been firmer.
He shouldn’t have agreed.
Qi Qiao rubbed his face, feeling irritated and restless.
Just then, his phone suddenly rang.
Picking it up, he saw that Wink had sent him a video on WeChat.
It was a short clip, a little over ten seconds long.
A recording taken directly from Pei Ming’s livestream.
“Why did you start streaming early?”
“You all seemed to have a lot of questions, so I figured I’d start earlier.”
He was wearing a loose white T-shirt with wide sleeves, leaning back against his chair. A trace of lazy indifference lingered at the corners of his eyes as he casually chatted with viewers in the stream.
“That lucky viewer who won the friend slot last time?” Pei Ming suddenly smiled. “Yeah, I already sent him a friend request. He still hasn’t accepted it.”
[Wink] : ?
Qi Qiao froze.
He remembered that awkward night clearly. He had ended the stream immediately, and after logging off, he noticed that Pei Ming had sent him a friend request in the game.
But he had never accepted it.
[Wink] : Seriously? You two still haven’t added each other? Hurry up and accept it!!! Otherwise Devil’s fans are gonna flood your stream and tear you apart, you get that?!
Qi Qiao fell silent for two seconds.
Then, decisively, he opened the ACR friend request interface and clicked Accept.
A few seconds later, Wink sent him another video.
In the clip, Pei Ming was looking at the ACR game client, faint amusement visible in his brows, his voice carrying its usual lazy drawl.
“Mm. The lucky viewer finally accepted it.”
[Wink] : Little brother, I think… maybe you should just start your stream now? Otherwise I’m seriously worried something’s gonna happen, and your stream is really gonna get flooded!
Qi Qiao suddenly felt a headache coming on.
He had to admit that Wink had a point. If he didn’t start streaming now, who knew what Pei Ming might say next and throw him completely off balance.
If he couldn’t deal with him head-on, couldn’t he at least avoid him?
With that thought, Qi Qiao canceled the stream countdown and switched on his camera immediately.
[“Yo… looks like the lucky viewer is here?”]
[“Why did the lucky viewer start streaming early too?!”]
[“The Lucky Viewer.”]
[Ghost’s sugar daddy from Zhejiang — sending you 888 rotten eggs.]
Qi Qiao said nothing and picked up the water beside him, taking a sip.
Right now, he suddenly felt that being called “my boy” or “little brat” wasn’t completely unacceptable after all.
[“Lucky Viewer~ Why’s the training room empty today?”]
[“Lucky Viewer, what hero are you planning to use for the solo match?”]
Qi Qiao glanced at the completely empty training room behind him and felt awkward all over.
Although the public announcement had only said that he and Pei Ming would be doing a livestreamed solo match, without mentioning any further details, Bang had still sent all the academy trainees out of the training room.
But after making such a fuss over it, there was no way those trainees wouldn’t start overthinking things.
“No one’s here because they all got scared off.” Qi Qiao took another sip of water. “As for what hero I’m picking… haven’t decided yet.”
“And one more thing.”
Qi Qiao moved his fingers across the mouse, expressionless as he kicked every user mentioning Lucky Viewer out of the stream chat.
“I don’t want to see the words ‘Lucky Viewer’ again.”
[“Damn, talks big but won’t own up to it.”]
[“Don’t let me see the words Lucky Viewer again.”]
[“Your dad just threw 888 rotten eggs at you and you kicked your dad out of the stream???”]
[“When’s the solo starting? I can’t wait anymore!”]
Qi Qiao glanced at the time in the bottom-right corner.
“Relax. I’m logging into the game first.”
As he spoke, Qi Qiao clicked open the ACR game client.
A notification window suddenly appeared in the top-left corner of the stream.
Qi Qiao raised his eyes and saw a line of text.
[Faith-Devil has invited you to a livestream voice/video connection.]
The hand gripping Qi Qiao’s mouse paused slightly.
Azure TV’s livestream connection feature was somewhat similar to a video call, except a small window showing the other person would appear in the upper-right corner of your stream, letting viewers see their face.
[“What are you waiting for, little brat? Hurry up and accept it!”]
[“Son, I’m begging you here. Don’t give people more ammunition to talk trash. I’ve been arguing with people online for you these past two days, I’m practically about to have a heart attack.”]
[“Ghost still isn’t accepting? Aren’t you supposed to be doing a solo match?”]
“A solo match doesn’t necessarily mean we have to connect on stream.”
Qi Qiao spoke with an indifferent expression.
But in the end, he still clicked Accept.
Very quickly, a pop-up window appeared in the upper-right corner.
“Brother, I just used an alt account to sneak into Little Green Hair’s stream, but the moment I typed ‘Lucky Viewer,’ he kicked me out. And I’d already sent him three rotten eggs too — I didn’t even make my money back, wuwuwu.”
Jiang Jiang’s voice came through the pop-up window loud and clear.
[“???”]
[“No way hahaha, rotten eggs? Jiang Jiang is one of us after all.”]
[“Looks like when it comes to calling him ‘Lucky Viewer,’ everyone’s surprisingly united.”]
Qi Qiao stared at Jiang Jiang, who was standing behind Pei Ming in the video window, still babbling away with his head lowered.
The hand gripping his mouse tightened.
Damn it. My fists are itching.
“A certain professional support player…” Qi Qiao said expressionlessly, carefully choosing his words, “…who, during the Summer Tournament a few months ago, used Lionhead Hawk support and flashed straight into the enemy team just to feed them kills.”
The nonstop chatter coming from Jiang Jiang abruptly stopped.
“Thanks for the rotten eggs.” Qi Qiao said darkly. “I’ll return the favor next time I visit your stream.”
Jiang Jiang stiffly turned his head and stared in shock at Qi Qiao’s expressionless face on the screen.
“Holy shit.”
“Captain, when did you and Lit—”
Seeing Qi Qiao staring at him with a cold smile, Jiang Jiang slammed on the brakes.
“…Ghost start a stream connection together?”
“Accidentally clicked it.” Pei Ming replied calmly. “Don’t call people random nicknames in the future.”
Jiang Jiang looked thoroughly deflated, but couldn’t really say anything back.
After all, both of them were streaming right now. It wasn’t just his captain’s fans watching, and Ghost’s fans were definitely not people he wanted to provoke.
“Got it, Captain.”
After saying that, Jiang Jiang pitifully shuffled off to the side.
Only then did Qi Qiao’s expression ease considerably.
[“HAHAHAHA I’m dying, Jiang Jiang got scared limp instantly.”]
[“Don’t bully Jiang Jiang! What’s wrong with calling him Little Green Hair a couple of times? Little Green Hair is cute too. (fidgets fingers)”]
[“Exactly. Son, stop being so fierce to people. If word gets out, people are gonna say our family has no manners!”]
Qi Qiao: “……”
Just as he was typing a threat to mute everyone in chat for 9,999 days to force the viewers to shut up, Pei Ming’s voice suddenly came through his headset.
“I’ve set up the custom room. Want me to invite you?”
Qi Qiao’s fingers paused over the keyboard. He cleared his throat lightly.
“Okay.”
A faint laugh drifted over from the other side.
Qi Qiao froze for a moment.
Then an invitation notification from [Faith-Devil] popped up on the screen.
After entering the custom room, Pei Ming asked again,
“Ready?”
Qi Qiao symbolically took a sip of water before replying,
“Start it.”
Although no one watching could tell anything had changed from his expression, only he himself knew—
his palms had already begun to sweat.
He was nervous.
Pei Ming moved quickly, selecting 1v1 Battle Mode.
The hero selection screen appeared on the display.
Because he was nervous, Qi Qiao unconsciously dragged his mouse around the hero pool, clicking randomly out of habit.
He had actually spent the entire night thinking about what hero he wanted to play.
But now that it was time to make the actual selection, his mind had gone completely blank.
Pei Ming, however, seemed to have decided long ago. Barely two seconds after entering the hero selection phase, he had already locked in his choice.
A thin layer of sweat formed again on Qi Qiao’s palms as he heard Pei Ming casually answering questions from the livestream chat on the other side.
“It’s not like I’d decided on this hero beforehand or anything.”
“Just picked it randomly.”
“Ghost hasn’t chosen yet? Mm, I’m waiting for him.”
“Why didn’t little brother come?”
The voice in Qi Qiao’s headset paused briefly.
Qi Qiao’s fingertips stopped abruptly.
“He’s mad at me.”
Pei Ming let out a low chuckle.
“Still haven’t managed to coax him into calming down.”
Qi Qiao looked up in shock—
just in time to meet Pei Ming’s deep, dark eyes on the screen.
For an instant, his breathing stopped.
His hand slipped to the side, and he accidentally clicked the left mouse button.
Click—
As the lock-in sound rang out, Qi Qiao lowered his gaze.
Just in time to see which hero he had selected.
Odin.