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Chapter 13 – Little One Is Sleepy

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His thoughts were abruptly pulled back to reality.

Almost instinctively, Qi Qiao glanced at the spot beside him.

There was no one there.

For some reason, he felt a strange emptiness in his chest.

[“Little brat, are you still streaming or not? Why are you zoning out?”]

[“Come on now, son, look — the only ones who stayed are your real moms and dads!”]

[“That’s right, that’s right. We didn’t even go watch Devil’s stream because we stayed here for you.”]

[“So can our dear son now show some filial respect and cook us a dish to eat?”]

[“Hahaha, I’m reserving tomato scrambled eggs!”]

[“Hurry and queue up another ranked game. After that, go cook, okay? We’ll send you our address~”]

Qi Qiao said nothing.

He simply reached over and closed the ACR game client.

[“Wait, what???”]

[“Little brat, we worked so hard staying here to watch you, and now you’re ending stream?!”]

Qi Qiao cleaned up the noodle cup and stood up.

“Just wait.”

“Your daddy here is going to make tomato scrambled eggs.”

[“Hold on — if you’re daddy, then what does that make me?!”]

Without hesitation, Qi Qiao shut off the chat overlay and walked out of the training room carrying the empty noodle cup.

It wasn’t that he didn’t want to keep streaming.

It was just…

After thinking about all of that just now—

he had absolutely no mood left to play games.

He poured out the leftover broth, tossed the empty cup into the trash bag, then turned and headed back to his room.

The moment he entered, Qi Qiao shut himself inside the bathroom.

He silently let out a breath and splashed cold water onto his face.

Only then did his mind clear a little.

But that overwhelming urge to see Pei Ming again only kept growing stronger.

Qi Qiao lifted his head and met his own unhappy reflection in the mirror.

One second.

Two seconds.

Three seconds.

Finally, Qi Qiao gave in.

Forget it.

I’ll just watch for five minutes.

Thinking that, he stepped out of the bathroom, sat down on the edge of the bed, put on his Bluetooth earphones, switched over to his alternate account, logged into Azure TV, and opened Devil’s livestream.

The familiar face instantly appeared on screen.

Probably because it had been so long since his last stream, Pei Ming was sitting in his gaming chair, glancing upward while Jiang Jiang helped adjust the streaming setup.

“Alright, brother, everything’s pretty much set now.”

Jiang Jiang clapped his hands together.

“Remember to transfer me five hundred bucks later.”

Pei Ming tilted his chin slightly, signaling that he understood.

Watching the endless flood of chat messages screaming [“Hubby!”] across the livestream, Qi Qiao quietly sent a message from his alt account.

[“Can you all stop shouting nonsense? What exactly are you even watching this stream for?”]

Normally, with thousands upon thousands of comments flooding by every second—

Qi Qiao hadn’t expected Pei Ming to notice the single message he sent.

But somehow—

It was almost as if Pei Ming had seen it.

“What am I streaming?”

Pei Ming leaned back with his arms folded, looking slightly lazy.

“No idea. I guess… I’ll just chat for a bit.”

[“Holy crap, Devil actually knows how to chat?!”]

[“No way. Hubby, tell me honestly — the official organizers didn’t force you into this today, right???”]

[“Judging by this, definitely not. If the officials had forced him, he’d obviously be streaming ACR-related content. Why would he just sit here chatting?”]

[“Damn, has the sun seriously risen in the west today???”]

[“Why are you chatting? Why chat specifically? Did you miss us?!”]

Qi Qiao rolled his eyes and sent another comment.

[“Can’t you all just watch the stream normally? Stop yelling random things, and stop spamming.”]

But just like a year ago—

No one paid any attention to him.

Instead, he even received a private message.

[“I like yelling whatever I want, so what? If you don’t like reading chat, why don’t you turn it off? Or what, are you one of those obsessive fangirls who thinks only you get to call him hubby? Idiot.”]

The word hubby made Qi Qiao’s scalp tingle.

Without hesitation, he clicked into the reply box, ready to unleash a full counterattack.

Then—

“Mm… I wanted certain people to see this.”

Qi Qiao’s fingers, halfway through typing Who the hell are you calling an obsessive fangirl? suddenly froze.

He just said… he wanted certain people to see this…

Which people?

As if possessed, Qi Qiao immediately switched back to the livestream.

On screen, Pei Ming sat half-reclined against the back of his chair.

His slightly messy black hair fell loosely over his forehead.

He casually lifted a hand and brushed it back, revealing a pair of narrow, deep black eyes.

“Which people?”

A careless smile lingered at the corners of Pei Ming’s lips.

“When he sees it…”

“…he’ll know.”

Qi Qiao stared fixedly at the screen.

Was he… talking about me?

[“Okay wow… why am I hearing actual affection in that sentence???”]

[“Oh my god, Devil, are you dating someone?? What is going on???”]

[“That seriously sounded like he was talking to a secret lover. I’m projecting myself into this scenario.”]

[“Thanks, same. I’ve fully inserted myself into the fantasy and I’m losing it~”]

“Not dating,” Pei Ming continued calmly.

“As for whether I’ll date in the future…”

“I’m not thinking about that right now.”

Qi Qiao frowned and ran a hand through his hair.

He said he isn’t dating…

Then what about what happened that day…?

But…

His brother usually didn’t lie.

Qi Qiao felt his thoughts becoming increasingly tangled.

It was only when he looked at the stream chat again that he barely managed to pull his drifting mind back to reality.

[“What have you been up to lately, Devil?”]

[“Has Faith picked a new mid laner yet?!”]

[“Anything interesting been happening recently?”]

Pei Ming replied calmly.

“Recently? Mostly just getting back into training.”

“Nothing particularly special.”

“As for Faith’s new mid laner… that hasn’t been decided yet, so I can’t really say much.”

“As for whether anything special has happened lately…”

As he spoke, Pei Ming paused for a moment.

“There has been one thing, actually.”

Qi Qiao immediately thought back to what had happened in the restroom yesterday.

[“One thing? Don’t tell me it’s about that face-to-face thing with Ghost???”]

[“Yeah, Devil — didn’t you send little brat that face-to-face message last time? So what happened between you two?”]

[“And Wink said Faith and Monster scheduled an youth training scrim yesterday. Is that true?”]

Pei Ming straightened his back slightly.

“The youth training scrim happened.”

“As for face-to-face…”

The end of his sentence carried a strangely meaningful tone.

Then he suddenly lifted his eyes toward the camera.

“There was one.”

Through the screen, Qi Qiao met his gaze.

His heartbeat suddenly skipped.

[“What?? But little brat was in his own stream saying it didn’t happen!”]

[“Well damn, kids really stop listening once they grow up. He’s even learned how to lie now — deserves a spanking!”]

Pei Ming spoke casually.

“He said it didn’t happen?”

[“Yeah. Our son completely denied it in stream. If Wink hadn’t accidentally let it slip, we would’ve believed him. (shrug)”]

[“Tsk tsk, little brat just cares too much about saving face. Refusing to admit it no matter what hahaha.”]

[“So Devil, did you make our son apologize to you face-to-face?!”]

[“Better not! Our little brat already apologized once before. No second apology allowed!”]

[“Can Ghost’s fans chill already? This is Devil’s stream. Stop coming here every day just to ride his popularity!”]

[“We’ll ride it if we want to. Our son has never been treated like this before!”]

The more Qi Qiao read, the more expressionless his face became.

Right now—

he seriously wanted to crawl through the internet cables and rip apart every single one of these fake fans.

On screen, Pei Ming sat there with his arms crossed, watching the chat.

He only smiled faintly, saying nothing.

But today was Devil’s personal stream.

Everyone knew basic chat etiquette — don’t derail the conversation.

Besides, the stream had already been live for over ten minutes.

Professional players from every team, celebrity casters, and all kinds of big names had begun flooding into the stream all at once.

Thousands upon thousands of messages and donations flew by.

Before long, the comments from Qi Qiao’s fans completely disappeared into the flood.

[Monster – Bang has sent: Shining Galaxy]

[“Monster – Bang: Brother, what’s with the sudden urge to stream today?”]

“Thanks to Bang for the Shining Galaxy gift.”

Pei Ming replied calmly.

“It’s nothing special.”

“I just felt like streaming, so I did.”

[“Monster – Bang: Damn, alright then. But that giveaway friend slot you promised last time… shouldn’t you fulfill that now too, hmm?”]

Qi Qiao frowned slightly, thinking.

It seemed like…

during that stream a year ago, Pei Ming had promised something like that.

-Flashback-

“It’s getting pretty late now.”

Pei Ming glanced at the time displayed beneath the livestream.

“I’ll probably end the stream soon.”

[“Huh??? Didn’t D-God promise he’d stream until midnight?”]

[“Exactly! It literally says the scheduled end time right there!”]

[“D-God, you can’t go back on your word! We wait more than a year just to see you stream once — sob sob sob!”]

Qi Qiao had already finished his glass of milk. Sitting beside him, he rested his chin in his hands while watching the flood of comments on the screen.

Silently—

he let out a quiet yawn.

Pei Ming glanced at him and smiled faintly.

“Plans have changed.”

[“Changed how?”]

[“Wait, is there some secret arrangement we don’t know about???]

Qi Qiao was confused too. He turned and shot his brother a puzzled look. Without looking at him, Pei Ming said calmly:

“Little one is sleepy.”

Qi Qiao had been about to yawn again—but instantly froze.

[“6. I can only say 6.”] (Chinese internet slang basically meaning: I’m speechless.)

[“For the first time in my life, I can’t think of a single argument against that???”]

[“Hold on, I found a blind spot here — what does your brother being sleepy have to do with you, D-God?”]

[“Exactly. If you two don’t sleep in the same room, D-God, then you should still be able to keep streaming, right?”]

A smile curved at Pei Ming’s lips.

“And what if…”

“…we sleep in the same room?”

Qi Qiao froze. They didn’t sleep in the same room.

[“Holy shit, seriously? You two sleep in the same room?”]

[“No way… why would you still share a room? Your brother isn’t a kid anymore!”]

Pei Ming’s voice remained lazy.

“Our family’s poor.”

“We don’t have any extra rooms.”

Qi Qiao silently turned around and glanced at the full set of Baker furniture behind him and the bedroom large enough to comfortably house dozens of people.

For a moment, he genuinely didn’t know what to say.

[“???”]

[” “Poor.” “]

[” “Poor.” “]

[“I suddenly feel like I no longer understand the meaning of this word???”]

[“Thanks D-God, I have now officially learned a brand-new definition of “poor.” “]

…

Qi Qiao looked at the rapidly scrolling wall of comments.

Then he looked back at Pei Ming.

Carefully—

he reached out and lightly tugged at Pei Ming’s sleeve.

From this angle, his hand was perfectly hidden behind the desk and wouldn’t show up on camera.

Pei Ming turned to look at him.

There was a questioning look in his eyes.

Qi Qiao silently mouthed: “I won’t disturb your sleep. You can keep streaming.”

Pei Ming lightly tapped the keyboard twice with his knuckles.

Then he smiled.

“You’re right.”

“Going back on my word would be a little unfair.”

“So…”

“Let me discuss something with all of you.”

[“Discuss what? Hurry, hurry! I love negotiations, hehe~”]

[“How does D-God plan on compensating us???”]

“Today’s stream will end here.”

Pei Ming paused slightly.

“But next stream…”

“I’ll do a giveaway.”

“One winner gets added to my friends list.”

— End of Flashback —

Qi Qiao snapped back to the present.

His eyes fixed on Pei Ming’s face on the livestream.

One hand supported his chin.

It looked like he was thinking about something.

“Yeah, I did say that before.” Pei Ming thought for a moment. “Then let’s do the giveaway now.”

[“Damn, if Bang hadn’t brought it up, I would’ve completely forgotten about that — it’s been over a year. Thank god Bang still remembered, sob sob sob!”]

[“Bang really follows through on good deeds — gotta burn incense for him, gotta burn incense!”]

[“Hehe… I can already feel my good luck radiating outward~”]

[“Wait, let me go wash my hands and light some incense first!”]

Since Pei Ming had said he’d do the giveaway, he moved pretty fast.

After fiddling with the settings for a bit, he set it up.

“I originally wanted to make it a free giveaway, but it looks like the platform doesn’t have that option.” Pei Ming moved the mouse. “So I just picked the lowest participation fee available.”

[“It’s okay, Devil — even if I had to send a Shining Galaxy gift just to enter, I’d still do it!”]

[“Exactly, exactly. That way the competition pressure drops a little too!”]

Qi Qiao stayed silent and opened the giveaway page.

It showed that sending a single “Support” gift would qualify you for entry.

One Support gift cost about 1 yuan.

Looks like Pei Ming really was just casually giving away a friend slot.

But only one person would have the luck to win.

Qi Qiao glanced at the number of participants displayed in the top-left corner of the event page.

In less than a minute, it had already reached 3,521,089 participants.

Watching the number continue climbing—

his finger moved toward “Join Event” almost instinctively.

By the time he snapped out of it—

he realized he had already sent one Support gift and entered himself into the giveaway pool.

Qi Qiao stared at the participant list for a long time.

Suddenly—

he felt kind of pathetic.

Forget it.

I’ve already entered.

With odds of one in several million… there’s no way it’ll be me anyway.

Irritated, Qi Qiao ruffled his hair.

His own stream was still open on his computer.

If he stayed away for more than half an hour, the platform would issue him a violation warning.

In the end, Qi Qiao gave Pei Ming one last look on the screen then took his phone and walked out of the room.

He realized what he actually wanted…

was for there to be fewer people entering the giveaway.

Just a little fewer.

Even fewer would be nice.

…

Pei Ming checked the time.

The giveaway was set to end in ten minutes.

He moved the mouse and scrolled down the list of viewers currently watching the stream.

Among the twenty-something names pinned near the top were all major Azure TV streamers and professional players.

But—

the person he wanted to see wasn’t there.

The heating at the team base was turned up a little too high.

Pei Ming walked over to his desk, grabbed his thermos, and took a few sips of water.

[“Devil, every time I see your thermos I remember that goji berry health tea from back then, hahaha.”]

[“LMAO, back then the cameraman zooming into the thermos was legendary.”]

[“By the way, do you guys still remember D-God’s little brother?!”]

[“Of course! I’ve replayed that stream so many times I practically wore it out, okay?!”]

[“Such a shame we never got a face reveal. I really wanted to see what little brother looks like~”]

[“Seriously, forget a face reveal — we didn’t even get to see his arm properly, okay? The only thing we saw was that blue pajama set for like half a second.”]

[“I remember there was a little line-drawn puppy on it too — the one shooting out heart emojis, hehe!”]

[“Just imagining it… D-God’s little brother has to be the cute and obedient type~”]

Pei Ming lowered his gaze slightly and smiled.

“He is cute.”

“It’s just that lately…”

“…he’s been a little disobedient.”

[“Disobedient??? In what way?”]

[“D-God, elaborate please?”]

This time, however, Pei Ming didn’t answer. Instead, he abruptly changed the subject.

“What’s the name of Ghost’s livestream?”

[“Huh??? Why did our son suddenly get singled out???”]

[“Uh… why are you asking about that brat’s stream, D-God?”]

[“D-God, that topic switch was way too fast.”]

[“What about your little brother? You weren’t done talking about him yet!”]

Pei Ming’s tone remained lazy.

“Family matters. Not convenient to talk about.”

“As for why I’m asking about Ghost’s stream…”

Pei Ming took another sip of water.

“Didn’t he say we never met face to face?”

[“Ohhh I get it — face-to-face confrontation happening live, huh.”]

[“LMAO, damn… this is gonna be entertaining~”]

[“Stream title: Not clumsy. Can cook. Stop talking shit”]

Pei Ming gave a quiet “Mm.”

Then clicked into the search bar.

…

Qi Qiao went to the pantry, poured himself a cup of coffee, and returned to his desk.

[“Wow, brat, you sure took your sweet time coming back!”]

[“If I’d known you’d be gone this long, Daddy would’ve gone to hang out in Devil’s stream instead, sob sob sob~”]

[“Son, what happened to the tomato scrambled eggs you promised us?”]

Qi Qiao took a sip of coffee and opened the ACR game client.

“It smelled too good.”

“So I ate all of it myself.”

[“???”]

[“What happened to showing filial respect to your dad?”]

Qi Qiao clicked into the game lobby.

“What happened to the fifty million you promised me?”

[“You got me there.”]

[“Okay fine… you win.”]

[“Forget fifty million. I can send you five rotten eggs instead.”]

A second later his stream filled with Rotten Egg gift effects.

Qi Qiao clicked his tongue and said lazily:

“Thanks to ‘May That Little Brat Be Cut Into A Thousand Pieces’ for the five Rotten Eggs.”

“I’ll send you the team base address. Come over and cut me up yourself.”

“Thanks to ‘Give Me Back My Tomato Scrambled Eggs’ for the five Rotten Eggs.”

“That’s too few. Not enough ingredients to cook with.”

“Thanks to ‘Even Having A Grandson Would Be More Promising Than You’ for the ten Rotten Eggs.”

“Good luck having that kid.”

“Thanks to Faith-Devil for the Shining Galaxy.”

“Damn, brother, you’re really something. Spending twenty thousand yuan just to flame me, that’s some seriou—”

Mid-sentence he suddenly felt something was wrong.

Faith-Devil…

Normally, to prevent impersonation scams, the platform prohibited ordinary users from using IDs belonging to major streamers or professional players.

And official accounts always came with a verified badge.

Qi Qiao slowly raised his eyes and saw the professional player verification mark beside that username.

The entire world seemed to strike him like a bolt of lightning.

---

Author’s Note:

Qi Qiao: “From now on, whoever reads donation messages aloud is a dog…”

---

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Chapter 12 – Such a Good Boy.

---

[““Just stretching your wrists”? Yeah right, you sure about that?”]

[“Son, maybe listen to yourself and think about what kind of joke you’re telling.”]

[“Little brat, how come you didn’t move earlier or later, but just happened to “stretch your wrists” right when the enemy core was about to go down?”]

[“What have I taught you? Be honest! Admit it — were you distracted because Little Sweetie ’s voice was too cute?!”]

[“Oh hell no, don’t tell me that… Little brat, she likes Devil!!!”]

[“Don’t you dare catch feelings for her, son!”]

Qi Qiao opened the profile of that disgusting enemy jungler and casually hit the [Report ID] button.

“Stop talking and send gifts instead,” Qi Qiao said. “Nothing’s going on, so quit imagining things.”

After saying that, he returned to the party lobby and was just about to queue up again when two notifications suddenly popped onto the screen.

[D-God Little Sweetie has requested to add you as a friend —]

[D-God Little Sweetie has invited you to duo queue —]

[“Holy crap, we were literally just talking about her and now she’s here!”]

[“Son, what are you waiting for? Hurry up and accept!”]

Qi Qiao frowned slightly.

Moving the mouse, he clicked [Decline].

[“Little Sweetie fans: ???”]

[“Little brat, do you know how ridiculously hard it is to get on D-God Little Sweetie’s friends list?”]

Qi Qiao replied flatly,

“No idea. Not interested.”

[“Good, very good. What a perfect “not interested.” Once you harden your heart, you forget feelings, abandon emotions, and stop caring about life itself.”]

[“Son, you’re way too straight! Being this straight isn’t healthy!”]

[“Ahem… has anyone considered the possibility that Ghost isn’t straight and might actually be gay?”]

[“Tsk, clearly the person above isn’t an old fan. You probably don’t know about that incident from his old streams.”]

[“Exactly. Anyone who knows that incident understands our son is 100% straight, okay?”]

Qi Qiao couldn’t be bothered paying attention to chat anymore.

After giving the comments one quick glance, he lowered his head and continued eating his noodles.

Meanwhile, Wink kept rambling nonstop in voice chat.

“Honestly, I think you shouldn’t have rejected her just now. At the very least, you could’ve kept the request hanging there — especially the friend request. If you added her, the two of you could do some stream collabs later and farm a huge wave of traffic.”

“She really doesn’t add people often. Usually she only adds other streamers when a collab requires it. Even I’m not on her friends list.”

Wink clicked his tongue.

“And if I remember right, the last person she personally went out of her way to add…”

“…was Devil.”

Qi Qiao’s chopsticks paused halfway while eating.

“She added him?”

“Yeah, she did. Why wouldn’t he accept?” Wink said casually.

Qi Qiao didn’t say anything else.

He lowered his head and silently focused on finishing the last few bites of noodles.

Qi Qiao knew that Pei Ming had always had plenty of admirers.

It was just that, all these years, he had never actually seen any of them around him.

For so many years—

Not a single one.

Well… that wasn’t entirely true.

There had been one.

One he had accidentally run into himself.

Qi Qiao finished his noodles expressionlessly, picked up a tissue to wipe his mouth, and was just about to queue for the next match.

Wink suddenly spoke up.

“Hey, wait a sec. I just noticed my stream viewer count suddenly dropped by half. Let me check what’s going on.”

Qi Qiao raised an eyebrow but said nothing.

A few seconds passed.

“Holy shit, I’m ending stream. Something huge happened — something huge happened!” Wink suddenly shouted excitedly. “No wonder my viewers dropped off a cliff. I’m going to check out the chaos!”

Before Qi Qiao could even react, Wink instantly left the party.

His avatar immediately went dark, showing that he had gone offline.

Something huge…?

What could possibly be that big?

Qi Qiao glanced at his own stream.

Just moments ago, he had over 500,000 viewers online.

Now, there were only a little over 100,000 left.

Looks like something really had happened.

Following the principle of what you don’t see can’t annoy you, Qi Qiao had turned off the chat overlay while eating earlier, so there had been no way to tell what was happening in his stream.

Now he turned the chat display back on.

Hundreds of comments instantly flooded the screen.

[“OH MY GOD OH MY GOD OH MY GOD — girls, he went live, he went live!!!”]

[“Slow down, who went live?!”]

[“D-D-D-D GOD!!!”]

[“Holy crap, today isn’t April Fool’s Day, stop lying just to trick little brat!”]

[“I checked myself — it’s real, holy shit!”]

[“And it’s not an official event either. Devil started the stream himself. He started it himself!!!“]

[“No way… in my lifetime, I’m actually seeing Devil voluntarily stream???”]

[“Son, your dad is leaving first. I’ll come back next time and compensate you with rotten egg gifts!”]

…

Watching the dizzying flood of comments flashing across the screen, Qi Qiao confirmed one thing.

Devil had started streaming.

Professional players streaming wasn’t anything unusual in the ACR scene.

Esports wasn’t like the old days anymore, where raw skill alone mattered and players relied solely on tournament prize money.

Nowadays, clubs actively promoted and packaged their players, building up personal brands and public image.

It was common for pro players to do community matches or stream for fan engagement.

But the person streaming today wasn’t just anyone.

It was Devil.

Among all the popular professional ACR players, Devil could be considered the most unconventional by far.

Because ever since starting his pro career—

Over the last five years, he had streamed only five times.

An average of once per year.

And out of those five, three had been official obligations requested by sponsors or the league.

Qi Qiao lowered his eyes.

If he remembered correctly—the last time Pei Ming had streamed was over a year ago.

-Flashback-

Autumn had just arrived.

The weather was gradually cooling, though the lingering summer heat had not completely faded.

The daytime was still bright and pleasantly sunny.

Only at night did traces of chill begin to creep into the air.

Since Auntie wasn’t home that weekend, around ten o’clock, Qi Qiao changed into his pajamas and headed into the kitchen to warm up some milk.

The pajamas were long-sleeved.

As the fabric rubbed against his arms, it made his skin itch slightly.

Qi Qiao hated heat.

He never liked wearing long-sleeved pajamas. Even in the middle of winter, he would wear short sleeves at home whenever he could.

Normally, the house heating would be on anyway, so it wasn’t really a problem.

But he could only do that secretly whenever his brother wasn’t home.

Qi Qiao poured the warmed milk into two glass cups, then added a spoonful of honey to each before placing them on a tray.

The pajamas were making his skin itch irritatingly.

Qi Qiao folded his sleeves upward until about half of his forearms were exposed.

If it was only this much… his brother probably wouldn’t say anything.

Qi Qiao’s room was right next to his brother’s.

After setting his own cup down in his room, he headed straight toward his brother’s bedroom.

The moment he pushed the door open, he heard his brother speaking.

“Mm. Honestly, whether I stream or not doesn’t really make much difference.”

“You can see me on stage during matches anyway.”

…Streaming?

Qi Qiao froze for a second and instinctively prepared to back out and close the door again.

“Come in from the left side. You won’t appear on camera,” Pei Ming said.

Holding the glass of milk, Qi Qiao suddenly felt his palms growing slightly sweaty.

He had never seen Pei Ming stream before.

Let alone being invited into his room while he was streaming.

Still, Qi Qiao obediently carried the milk over, staying close to the far left side of the room, and carefully made his way over to sit beside Pei Ming.

The streaming setup was positioned on the left, capturing only Pei Ming in frame.

Pei Ming was currently playing a ranked match in ACR Oracle III.

At this level of top-tier high-rank play, the pace was usually extremely intense.

Unless someone intentionally threw the match, games at this rank were sometimes exciting enough to watch like professional tournaments.

But Qi Qiao noticed—

Even while playing, Pei Ming still had enough attention to spare for him.

“Why did you roll your sleeves up?” Pei Ming glanced at him and asked.

Qi Qiao silently mouthed the words: “Too hot.”

Pei Ming nodded.

“As long as you don’t catch a cold.”

Qi Qiao’s attention was quickly pulled toward the monitor.

The game had reached the 34-minute mark, and both teams were currently fighting over the Chaos Dragon.

Pei Ming’s side had already lost three teammates and fallen into an extremely unfavorable position.

First, he used Flash to create distance while stepping in front of his low-health ADC to block an ultimate for him.

Half his health bar disappeared instantly.

Then—

With one perfectly executed combo, he crowd-controlled all five enemy players at once.

Positioning himself at an incredibly tricky angle, he unleashed his ultimate and dealt devastating AoE damage.

At the exact instant all the damage landed—

He activated Frozen Heart.

[Pentakill.]

The Victory announcement sounded.

After the game ended, Pei Ming exited the ACR client.

The livestream chat immediately filled the screen.

[“Hubby, that last play was so amazing, waaah!”]

[“Devil’s skill really hasn’t declined at all after all these years. No wonder he’s still the number one player in the region.”]

[“I clipped Devil hubby’s play just now. I officially have enough spiritual sustenance for both this year and next year~”]

[“Hubby, hubby, I love you! (kiss kiss)”]

Qi Qiao stared at the flood of comments.

Without realizing it, his brows slowly furrowed.

For some reason—his chest felt a little tight.

Pei Ming turned his head to glance at him.

Then he smiled.

“You guys should stop joking around.”

“There’s a kid here. It’s not a good influence.”

Qi Qiao froze.

“And don’t you agree, little one?”

Qi Qiao looked at Pei Ming.

Although his brother wasn’t directly looking at him, there was a faint trace of amusement lingering at the corners of his eyes.

The tips of Qi Qiao’s ears turned slightly red.

In a quiet whisper, he muttered, “I’m not a little kid.”

Unfortunately—

No one was listening to his explanation.

[“Hold on… did he just say little one???”]

[“Wait a second, we completely forgot to ask who just walked in!”]

[“Help, Devil saying little one like that is way too attractive!!!”]

[“OH MY GOD somebody tell me who this little kid is???”]

“My younger brother,” Pei Ming said while reading the chat.

Then he turned his head.

“Not drinking your milk?”

Qi Qiao silently mouthed the words: “It’s for you.”

“You drink first,” Pei Ming said.

Qi Qiao obediently took a sip from the glass.

Meanwhile, Pei Ming continued chatting with the livestream.

“How old is my brother this year? Eighteen.”

“No, we’re not related by blood.”

“His pajamas are blue — the one with the little puppy design. I bought them for him.”

Qi Qiao had been holding the glass, sipping at the milk little by little.

Hearing that, he lowered his eyes and looked at the simple cartoon puppy on his pajamas, hugging a little heart.

He didn’t really like cute things.

But…

His brother had bought it for him.

So he wore it.

Pei Ming must have gotten thirsty from talking so much.

He casually reached a hand over, and Qi Qiao handed him the glass.

Qi Qiao watched as Pei Ming naturally drank from the exact same spot where he had just taken a sip moments earlier.

His face suddenly felt hot.

Pei Ming handed the glass back.

Qi Qiao took it absentmindedly, still dazed.

Then, as if possessed by something—

He unconsciously drank again from the exact spot where Pei Ming had just touched.

“Your brother is really cute…”

“Yes, he really is adorable,” Pei Ming continued casually.

Qi Qiao’s swallowing motion stiffened for a second.

The milk that had been about to go down nearly got stuck in his throat.

His brother… had just called him cute.

“Mm? The thermos of goji berry tea I brought to the tournament last time?” Pei Ming laughed softly. “That’s right. He made it for me.”

[“Ahhh… such a perfect younger brother. I want one too!”]

[“Devil, can I reserve him as my future boyfriend? I’m exactly the right age for little brother here, hehe~”]

[“Sis above, your drool is dripping on my head. I’m signing up too!”]

[“If I can’t sleep with Devil, I have to sleep with little brother instead!”]

[“Devil, are you accepting applications for a sister-in-law? Count me in, please, sob sob~”]

Pei Ming’s gaze paused slightly.

Then he let out a quiet chuckle.

His tone was calm.

“I’m afraid not.”

“He’s my little brother.”

Qi Qiao froze slightly.

When he looked up—

His eyes met Pei Ming’s directly.

Pei Ming looked at him with a half-smile.

“Wouldn’t you agree?”

Qi Qiao blankly nodded.

Satisfied, Pei Ming reached out and gently ruffled his hair.

Qi Qiao felt a faint tingling sensation run from the tips of his hair all the way down his spine.

Instinctively, he averted his gaze—

Only to hear Pei Ming let out a soft laugh.

“Such a good boy.”

— End of Flashback —

---

Author’s Note:

Mm… just a loving bond between brothers, a loving bond between brothers…

That’s all it is, really. (sneaky grin)

---

---

Chapter 11 – “Send me 50 million and let me see what you’re capable of.”

---

[“Wait, am I seeing things right? You little brat, why are you streaming?”]

[“Why do you always go live at such cursed hours? I’m only halfway through my meal here!”]

[“Hold on, isn’t today Tuesday? A workday? Little brat, aren’t you supposed to be training???”]

[“Dear fellow moms and dads in chat, I have a bold theory: our son got kicked out of Monster’s youth training camp because of the insane things he’s been saying these past two days. (confirmed)”]

[“The person above makes sense. I agree.”]

Qi Qiao had just finished pouring hot water into his instant seafood noodles. Carrying the cup back to his desk, he discovered that chat had already started worrying about how he was going to survive after supposedly being kicked out of the academy camp.

[“Baby, why don’t you take better care of yourself? Instant noodles again!”]

[“The little brat got kicked out of the youth training camp. At this rate, he probably won’t even be able to afford instant noodles soon, so be grateful!”]

[“Son, let’s make a deal. Come be my duo partner for hire, and I’ll spoil you with sea cucumber, abalone, and giant lobsters every meal~”]

Qi Qiao moved his mouse and immediately gifted the “dad” and “mom” commenters a nice shiny mute package.

“Instant noodles are convenient.”

“I didn’t get kicked out of the academy camp, so stop spreading rumors.”

“As for duo queueing, sure.”

“Send me 50 million first and let me see what you’re working with.”

Ever since Qi Qiao joined Monster’s youth training team, there had always been a notice pinned on his profile:

No streaming on weekdays.

Normally, the youth training team’s daily training schedule was packed, leaving basically no free time.

But since the season was nearing its end, after yesterday’s scrim session, Monster’s youth training program had relaxed the schedule a bit. Aside from the fixed training sessions at noon and in the afternoon, evenings were now free to arrange however they liked.

Qi Qiao had originally planned to go out and grab some porridge or something.

But after opening Bilibili Live Azure TV and seeing the several hundred streaming hours he still owed, he struggled for less than three seconds before deciding to go live.

After all, he didn’t have much money on him.

If he didn’t stream, he’d be living on air soon enough.

[“Alright then, son, send your WeChat ID to dad. I’ll transfer it!”]

[“The person above is totally going to resell it afterward, hahaha!”]

[“But seriously, little brat, eating instant noodles every day is bad for you. At least buy some eggs and vegetables and cook yourself something.”]

[“Don’t expect too much from Ghost. With hands as clumsy as his, there’s no way he can cook for himself.”]

Qi Qiao raised an eyebrow.

“How are my hands clumsy? I can cook, okay?”

As he spoke, he opened ACR duo ranked mode and sent Wink an invite.

“For example… tomato scrambled eggs, stir-fried pork with green peppers, Kung Pao Chicken… stuff like that.”

[“???”]

[“Damn, somebody ask Wink if he’s ever eaten food made by this little brat.”]

[“Biggest joke of the day: our son can cook tomato scrambled eggs~”]

[“I’m placing an order right now. Fifty million for one serving of Kung Pao Chicken. Make it happen on stream!”]

[“I’ll match another fifty million and order a plate of stir-fried pork strips with green peppers too!”]

[“+1”]

[“+10086”]

Qi Qiao was speechless. Not wanting to keep arguing with them, he immediately started the queue as soon as Wink was ready.

Wink clicked his tongue.

“Damn, you queue up so fast you could compete with those sketchy boosting services.”

Qi Qiao replied, “Don’t hit Ready. You can hop off anytime. No need for a farewell.”

Wink’s shameless voice came through the mic.

“No, no, no, Ghost. Whether it’s a rank-up ride or a rank-dropping ride, I’m willing to stay on either way~”

“But I saw your stream just now—you said you can cook? So when are you making something for me to try?”

Qi Qiao answered flatly,

“Sure, you can try it. Fifty million per dish. No bargaining.”

Wink immediately muted his mic, opened Qi Qiao’s stream, and sent him a Double Rotten Egg gift.

[“Forget the cooking issue. The “face-to-face” thing from last time still hasn’t been explained.”]

[“Right! Little brat, last time Devil told you “face-to-face.” Did you two actually meet up?”]

[“Son, why did Devil ask to meet you face-to-face? Were you supposed to apologize to him?”]

[“Can Ghost’s fans stop clout-chasing Devil all the time? Reported.”]

[“The person above, what nonsense are you talking about? Devil was the one who posted “face-to-face” himself, okay? If anyone’s clout-chasing, Devil started it first~”]

After loading into the match, Qi Qiao’s team ran into a lane conflict.

There were two mid laners on the team.

One was him.

The other was player four.

He glanced at player four’s most-played characters—all heroes usually favored by female players.

Qi Qiao didn’t think much of it, so he sent a message:

[“I can fill jungle.”]

“Didn’t meet face-to-face,” Qi Qiao said absentmindedly. “And stop dragging me into drama. There’s no such thing as either of us clout-chasing the other.”

[“Damn, little brat actually worries about getting hate now, hhhh.”]

[“Wow, tomorrow’s biggest joke already arrived.”]

[“Wait, if you didn’t meet face-to-face, then why did Wink send that message in chat?”]

Qi Qiao raised an eyebrow and pulled up the full stream chat display.

[“Wink: Didn’t we literally just scrim against your youth training team yesterday???”]

Qi Qiao fell silent for a few seconds.

Then he graciously rewarded Wink with a ten-day mute package and decisively kicked him out of the stream.

Qi Qiao said coolly, “If two youth training teams scrim against each other, does that automatically mean we met face-to-face?”

[“If you spoke to each other in person, doesn’t that count as face-to-face?”]

Qi Qiao opened his cup noodles.

“Then if I insult you guys right now, does that count as face-to-face too?”

[“???”]

[“Ungrateful son, arguing with your dad again!”]

Qi Qiao had no intention of continuing to debate with this bunch of shameless viewers who recognized no family ties whatsoever.

Just as he reached out to turn off the chat overlay—

A sweet female voice suddenly came through from the game voice chat.

“Second pick brother… can you let me have jungle?”

Qi Qiao paused mid-selection.

Then he typed: [You know how to play it?]

“Don’t worry, I’ll carry this game for sure.”

Although the female voice sounded sweet and soft, Qi Qiao could faintly hear a trace of irritation underneath.

After sending [OK], Qi Qiao quietly turned off the team voice chat without drawing attention to it.

Wink opened their party voice chat.

“Not gonna lie… this girl’s voice sounds kind of familiar.”

Qi Qiao raised an eyebrow and turned the stream chat overlay back on.

[“Holy crap, stream snipe match!”]

[“Ahhh, I really like this streamer too! She didn’t go live today!”]

[“Wow, little brat hears someone call him brother once and immediately turns off team voice chat. Your straightness has truly reached a whole new level.”]

Qi Qiao’s eyes swept over the comments, lingering briefly on the word straight.

For some reason, the image of Pei Ming leaning against the sink yesterday, smoking, flashed through his mind.

Suddenly, he felt strangely restless.

“Who exactly did we run into?” Qi Qiao asked, trying to distract himself.

[“Son, how do you not know this? She’s the #1 female jungler on the national server!”]

[“D-God Little Sweetie ahhh! Even though I’m one of Devil’s fangirls, I absolutely love her too!”]

Qi Qiao had been eating his noodles, but after seeing the comments, his movements paused.

“Who is she?”

Wink’s voice came through party chat.

“I remember now. [D-God Little Sweetie] — she’s the hottest female streamer on ACR right now. She mains both mid and jungle, and honestly, she’s probably the most mechanically skilled female ACR player I’ve ever seen.”

Qi Qiao asked, “Then why’s her ID called that?”

Wink replied, “Isn’t it obvious? [D-God Little Sweetie]. She’s a hardcore Devil fan, okay? Pretty face, sweet voice — she attends every single Faith match in person, and…”

Qi Qiao raised an eyebrow.

“And what?”

“Back when Faith won Worlds two years ago, she publicly confessed to Devil in front of everyone.” Wink clicked his tongue twice. “Looks-wise they match, skill-wise they match… honestly, I think she and Devil make a pretty good pair.”

Qi Qiao frowned slightly but said nothing.

[“Little Sweetie insisted on jungling this match because of someone on the enemy team, right?”]

[“Yep, I saw it too. Enemy jungler’s ID is [D-God Retirement Countdown.]“]

[“Wait, does ty mean retirement??”]

[“Probably. Even his profile picture is a hate edit of Devil.]

[“Damn it, how do you queue into this kind of idiot no matter where you go?”]

[“Game hasn’t even started and I’m already tilted!”]

Pei Ming glanced at the game loading screen and noticed that the enemy jungler had locked in Odin.

D-God Little Sweetie had chosen Loki, a hero with extremely strong early-game scaling and excellent gank potential.

Looks like she was planning to crush the enemy right from the start.

And sure enough—

As soon as the game began, Loki invaded Odin’s jungle with the roaming support.

The enemy Odin was probably solo queueing. Since his teammates rotated too slowly to help during the early invade, his red buff got stolen.

Losing the red buff immediately shattered his mental.

Then a message appeared in all-chat.

[All Chat] D-God Retirement Countdown: F*, all you know how to do is invade. Anyone seeing this would think you’re Devil’s damn dog, lol.**

Qi Qiao had just finished clearing a minion wave when he saw the message.

[All Chat] D-God Little Sweetie: Your ID’s got some nerve being this backwards.

[All Chat] D-God Retirement Countdown: F*, so you really are Devil’s dog. Instead of licking him, why don’t you come lick me? I’m way stronger than he is.**

Probably because the enemy jungler’s mental had already collapsed, the enemy bot lane completely lost control of the wave.

Qi Qiao went down for a gank and helped Wink secure two kills.

After placing vision, he noticed that Loki had already gone completely berserk in the enemy jungle.

It was almost comical.

Wherever Odin went, Loki followed.

With the roaming support tagging along, every single gank landed perfectly.

By the time the first Dragon spawned, the enemy jungler had already been killed four times.

Wink spoke through voice chat.

“Little Sweetie said just now that her own stats this match don’t matter…”

“But she absolutely wants to farm that disgusting guy’s reputation score into the ground.”

Every player in ACR Oracle had their own reputation score.

The maximum was 100 points.

If ranked matches detected violations like AFKing, or if other players reported you, points would be deducted depending on the severity.

If your reputation score dropped below 90, you could no longer queue for ranked.

Since the system review was automated, finishing a game with a scoreline worse than 0–9 would result in an automatic 6-point deduction.

And in matches ranked Oracle I or above, multiple reports could even double the penalty.

Of course, this kind of dirty tactic was usually only used by veteran players smurfing on alternate accounts, or when someone was playing purely for fun while deliberately targeting one specific enemy hero.

And more often than not, the victim was the enemy mid laner.

Qi Qiao had run into situations like this countless times before.

Whenever he played some squishy female mage, he often ended up getting hard-focused by the enemy team.

Qi Qiao said casually,

“Well then, good luck to her.”

The moment the words left his mouth, he saw Wink team up with Loki and gank the enemy jungler again.

[All Chat] D-God Little Sweetie: Using your own body to scout bushes? Trash-tier skills.

[All Chat] D-God Little Sweetie: And you think you’re qualified to compare yourself to Devil?

Qi Qiao’s movements paused for a moment.

The two messages he had sent to Wang Xiang yesterday suddenly flashed through his mind, and an instant headache came over him.

Still…

Wang Xiang probably wouldn’t tell anyone about that.

Otherwise, if Pei Ming ever saw it—

Qi Qiao genuinely had no idea how he would clean up that mess.

[“Little brat, Wink already joined in, so why aren’t you going too?”]

[“Seriously, that enemy jungler is a total piece of trash.”]

Qi Qiao fully charged his Q skill and cleanly unleashed a combo, instantly deleting the enemy ADC.

He lazily glanced at chat.

“I don’t think I really need to, do I?”

[“Umm… yeah, fair point, son.”]

[“Well, little brat is a Devil anti-fan, so understandable.”]

The game timer reached 13 minutes.

By now, the enemy towers had practically all been ground down to nothing.

And that enemy jungler had long since given up trying to play seriously.

All he did now was hide around the map to avoid getting caught by Loki, occasionally clearing a few minions whenever possible.

But even so—

Odin’s score had already fallen to 0–9–2.

At this point, all they had to do was push into the enemy World Tree and end the game.

But Wink got too reckless.

He charged straight under the enemy turret and started trading auto-attacks with the enemy ADC.

Unexpectedly, Odin suddenly flashed forward and activated his ultimate, instantly deleting him.

The enemy ADC was so furious that he immediately started cursing in all-chat.

[All Chat] D-God Little Sweetie: ?

Even Wink hadn’t expected that.

Knowing he was completely at fault, he quickly apologized.

“Damn! My bad, my bad!”

[All Chat] D-God Little Sweetie: Crap, now I won’t be able to tank his reputation score anymore.

According to the system rules, if the enemy player ended up with a scoreline of 1–9, the report penalty would be reduced.

But if Odin died one more time, it would return to the harsher penalty threshold for 0–9.

Qi Qiao glanced at the battlefield.

All three lanes of siege minions had already pushed up to the enemy World Tree.

The enemy team was already down three players.

Only Odin and their ADC were left alive.

There was no way the enemy could defend this push.

Which meant Odin probably wouldn’t have another chance to die.

[“It’s over, it’s over. All because of Wink. The whole match was wasted for nothing!”]

[“Seriously, unbelievable. Look at that disgusting guy — he’s still spamming emotes in front of the World Tree to taunt.”]

[“Nope, my blood pressure’s rising…”]

[“Wait… hold on. Guys, what is little brat doing?”]

At some point, Qi Qiao had quietly moved to the left side of the enemy fountain.

At the exact moment Odin flashed his emote—

Without warning, Qi Qiao used Flash, followed immediately by a W dash, diving straight beneath the enemy World Tree.

His ultimate connected perfectly, kicking Odin out of the fountain zone.

The explosive AoE damage instantly deleted Odin at full health.

Immediately afterward—

He activated Stasis with frame-perfect timing, avoiding Odin’s final desperate attack by 0.1 seconds.

The minion wave entered the tower.

[Victory.] [Game Over.]

Even in death—

Odin remained frozen in the exact pose he had been using to spam emotes.

[“???”]

[“Damn. Son, didn’t you say there was “no need”?”]

[“Son, you…”]

[“No need.”]

[“No need.”]

[““No Need” officially nominated for Literary Work of the Year~”]

Qi Qiao stretched lazily.

“There really wasn’t any need.”

[“666, then what exactly was the point of diving in there just to kill that idiot?”]

Qi Qiao casually lifted a finger and handed everyone calling him son a one-way ticket out of the stream.

(Ban.)

“Been too long since I worked my wrists properly,” Qi Qiao said lazily.

“Just getting the feel back.”

…

While watching the livestream on his phone, Jiang Jiang climbed upstairs with a braised giant shrimp still in his mouth.

The moment he entered the training room, he saw Pei Ming still sitting at the computer desk.

“Brother, why are you still sitting here?” Jiang Jiang quickly swallowed the shrimp in a few bites. “The food’s already cold.”

Earlier, around six o’clock, Auntie had called everyone down for dinner.

Pei Ming had said he’d come in a bit.

Jiang Jiang had been eating while lazily messing around for over fifty minutes—

Yet Pei Ming still hadn’t come downstairs.

Pei Ming was wearing headphones and didn’t respond.

Feeling ignored, Jiang Jiang pouted and walked over.

“Brother, what are you watching that’s got you skipping dinner and—”

Jiang Jiang stopped halfway through the sentence.

The words died in his throat.

The livestream playing on Pei Ming’s computer screen matched exactly what was showing on Jiang Jiang’s phone.

“Captain, you’re watching Little Green Hair’s stream too?” Jiang Jiang said, pointing at his phone.

Without taking his eyes off the screen, Pei Ming simply nodded.

Jiang Jiang clicked his tongue twice.

“I’ve gotta say, when this little green-haired guy stands up for someone, he really stands up for them.”

He had been watching that last play while eating dinner.

At first, the enemy jungler’s disgusting behavior had already left him sitting there boiling with anger.

Then Wink’s inexplicably stupid play had nearly made him storm straight over to the academy base and drag someone out himself.

Luckily, Ghost had charged straight into the fountain at the end and instantly deleted that disgusting idiot.

Otherwise, Jiang Jiang wasn’t sure he’d even be able to sleep tonight.

“Hey, I just noticed he changed his stream title today too.” Jiang Jiang pointed at Pei Ming’s monitor in surprise.

Pei Ming hadn’t switched to fullscreen earlier, so the stream title was clearly displayed at the top:

<Not clumsy. Can cook. Stop talking shit.>

Jiang Jiang burst out laughing.

“No way, he can cook? Cook my ass—”

Suddenly, Pei Ming shot him a glance.

That single look made Jiang Jiang’s scalp tingle, and he immediately swallowed the rest of what he was about to say.

“Uh… I mean… nice change. Definitely way better than the previous one.”

Pei Ming took off his headphones and closed the livestream.

“Are you using your computer right now?”

Jiang Jiang looked confused.

“Uh… no. I’m heading out for a walk later to digest dinner.”

Pei Ming nodded.

“Lend it to me for thirty minutes.”

Jiang Jiang blinked, completely baffled.

“Captain… what do you need my computer for?”

He remembered very clearly that Pei Ming had a bit of a cleanliness obsession.

He normally hated touching other people’s things.

Pei Ming stood up and answered calmly.

“Streaming.”

---

Author’s Note

Been writing for so long… my hands hurt, my hands hurt.

---

---

Chapter 10 – “I can agree to any condition.”

---

Qi Qiao took the ointment and went into his room. He had just applied one layer when his phone started ringing.

As expected, the caller was Wink.

“Hello? Xiao GG?”

Qi Qiao blew lightly on his index finger, feeling a slight coolness.

“Talk properly, or I’m hanging up.”

Wink immediately responded, “Hey, wait, wait, wait—Ghost, don’t hang up. I’m calling because I wanted to ask you something…”

Qi Qiao tightened the cap of the ointment.

“You’ve got five minutes.”

Getting permission, the person on the other end quickly spoke up.

“So… what’s going on between you and Wang Xiang from our team?”

Qi Qiao raised an eyebrow in confusion.

“Wang Xiang?”

“Our jungler. The one you completely destroyed today.”

“Oh.” Qi Qiao lowered his gaze. “There’s nothing going on between me and him.”

“No, seriously—if there’s nothing going on, why were you targeting him so hard today?” Wink continued. “Anyone who didn’t know better would think you two had some blood feud or something.”

Qi Qiao fell back onto the bed and absentmindedly raised his hand toward the light, watching the glow spill through the gaps between his fingers.

“No blood feud. I just don’t like him.”

A couple of clicking sounds came from the other end of the line.

“You don’t like him, huh? Then why’d you send that to him on WeChat?”

Qi Qiao’s fingers suddenly stiffened.

“What WeChat message?”

Wink replied, “That screenshot of the match record, and…”

Wink didn’t continue after and, but the meaningful tone at the end of his sentence was already enough to make Qi Qiao want to hang up and run.

Qi Qiao turned over and sat up, silent for a few seconds.

“How did you see it?”

“Wasn’t I sitting next to him? I stood up and saw it,” Wink explained.

Qi Qiao pressed his lips together.

“Then… the surveillance cameras could’ve seen it too?”

Wink thought for a moment.

“Probably, yeah. If the footage is high-definition.”

Qi Qiao stopped talking.

Noticing the silence on the other end, Wink laughed.

“Come on, don’t worry. No one’s probably going to check the surveillance footage. At least our captain won’t.”

The moment he heard the words our captain, Qi Qiao’s hand holding the phone subconsciously stiffened again.

Wink kept talking.

“But honestly, I’m curious. Aren’t you supposed to be our captain’s anti-fan? So why were you defending him? Could this be the legendary the deeper the love, the deeper the hate—”

“That’s enough.” Qi Qiao cut him off, unable to listen anymore. “First of all, I’m not his anti-fan. Second, I wasn’t defending him. I was just stating an objective fact.”

Wink’s tone turned teasing.

“Oh… just stating an objective fact again, huh?”

“What else would it be?” Qi Qiao said helplessly.

“Fair point. I guess you really had no reason to defend Devil.” At this point, Wink sounded confused. “Wait, that’s weird… Did Wang Xiang say something about our captain?”

Qi Qiao fell silent for a moment.

There was absolutely no way he could tell Wink about running into Wang Xiang in the restroom.

Otherwise…

Just think about it—what kind of normal person sees injustice, adds the other person on WeChat, spends two entire matches targeting them to death, and then sends a mocking message right to their face afterward?

And he says it was for the sake of “objective facts.”

Not even a dog would believe that.

Qi Qiao spoke calmly.

“It’s nothing. He barked a few times before, so I taught him a lesson.”

“Huh? You knew each other before?” Wink raised an eyebrow.

Qi Qiao lied without changing expression.

“Well, we’ve added each other on WeChat, so obviously we know each other.”

…

“I don’t know him.” Wang Xiang kept shaking his head. “I seriously didn’t know him before this…”

Jiang Jiang raised an eyebrow.

“You don’t know him? Then how do you have Ghost’s WeChat?”

Snow had just started falling outside, and the heating in the living room had been turned up a little too high.

Ink opened a bottle of honeysuckle herbal drink and handed it to Jiang Jiang.

“Drink some before you keep talking. You stayed up so late yesterday and ordered barbecue. Be careful, or your tonsils are going to get inflamed.”

The moment Jiang Jiang saw the honeysuckle drink, his brows immediately furrowed, but he still took a symbolic sip before continuing the interrogation.

“Don’t try to dodge the question. I saw it myself—Ghost sent you a WeChat message. You’d better confess honestly.”

Jiang Jiang had originally been sitting fairly close to Faith’s side. After the match ended, he had been watching Wang Xiang and saw him pull out his phone. There was a green notification bubble on the screen.

Jiang Jiang hadn’t seen exactly what the message said, but judging from Wang Xiang’s furious expression, it definitely had something to do with Ghost.

“I…” Wang Xiang hesitated. “Well… he added me in the restroom today.”

Pei Ming was half-reclined on the sofa. He lazily lifted his eyelids.

“The restroom?”

Jiang Jiang had just taken another sip of honeysuckle drink and nearly choked.

Rest.

Room.

He really could not handle hearing those three words right now.

“Wait, why is this somehow connected to the restroom again?” Jiang Jiang said seriously, trying very hard to erase the image of Ghost running out with red eyes from his mind.

Wang Xiang looked uncomfortable.

“Uh… when I went to the restroom today, I said a couple of things…”

Jiang Jiang stared at him.

“Said what exactly?”

Wang Xiang stared at his own feet and stammered,

“I said a couple things about Monster.”

Although Ink hadn’t gone with them that afternoon, Jiang Jiang had talked nonstop after coming back, so he already knew roughly what had happened.

Hearing that, Ink said, “Looks like Ghost is pretty deeply attached to Monster.”

Jiang Jiang looked puzzled.

“No way. I’ve watched every single one of Little Green Hair’s streams, and I’m pretty sure he barely ever mentioned Monster.”

Wang Xiang hesitated.

“Maybe… he just doesn’t say it out loud.”

“So basically, because you trash-talked Monster, Ghost started targeting you?” Jiang Jiang nodded thoughtfully. “I guess that makes sense… but for him to get that angry—”

“The food delivery’s here. Go grab it.”

Pei Ming suddenly spoke.

“Huh… delivery?” Jiang Jiang looked confused. “We didn’t order delivery. Isn’t Auntie cooking at the base today?”

Pei Ming said, “I’m treating you guys to some milk tea.”

Ink crossed his arms and gave Pei Ming a thoughtful look.

“Alright. Then I’ll go downstairs with him to pick it up.”

“Hey, wait, I’m not done asking questions yet.” Jiang Jiang was about to continue, but Ink had already dragged him downstairs.

“What are you doing? I still haven’t figured out some suspicious details…” Jiang Jiang complained unhappily as they headed down.

Walking beside him, Ink chuckled.

“Didn’t you notice? Captain has something he wants to ask that youth training team jungler in private.”

“Huh?” Jiang Jiang looked confused. “What could Captain possibly need to ask privately? Can’t he just say it in front of us?”

Ink narrowed his eyes.

“Hmm… probably something personal.”

…

While Jiang Jiang and Ink had been there earlier, Wang Xiang had still felt like he could handle the situation.

But now, being alone in the same room with Pei Ming…

“Uh… Captain, if there’s nothing else, I’ll get going too,” Wang Xiang said hesitantly.

Pei Ming glanced at him, pushed himself up from the back of the sofa, and pointed toward the armchair in front of him.

“Sit.”

“Ah… ah?” Wang Xiang’s face turned pale, but he didn’t dare disobey Pei Ming. He obediently sat down where indicated.

“Is… is there something else, Captain?”

Pei Ming poured a glass of water and placed it in front of him.

“Th-thank you, Captain.” Wang Xiang accepted it, stammering slightly.

Pei Ming looked at him, his gaze calm.

“It’s just the two of us now. You can tell the truth.”

Wang Xiang’s hand trembled, and water spilled over the rim of the glass.

Even though Pei Ming was only looking at him, without saying anything else—

That overwhelming pressure made Wang Xiang feel as if, if he didn’t start telling the truth right now, he might suffocate in the next second.

“What we talk about today will stay between the two of us,” Pei Ming added. “No matter what you say.”

Wang Xiang tightened his grip around the glass and fell silent for two seconds.

There was no benefit in lying to Devil.

And if he still refused to tell the truth today, he might as well forget about staying with Faith in the future.

“He… he wasn’t targeting me because of Monster.”

Pei Ming nodded.

“Then what was it because of?”

Wang Xiang looked up at Pei Ming, gritted his teeth, and finally said,

“Actually… what I talked about in the restroom today wasn’t Monster.”

“It was… it was you, Captain.”

To Wang Xiang’s surprise, Pei Ming didn’t look shocked at all.

His expression remained unchanged as he simply asked,

“Then what did he send you afterward?”

Seeing that Pei Ming didn’t seem especially angry, Wang Xiang decided he might as well come clean all the way.

He pulled out his phone, opened the chat history with Ghost, and handed it over.

“Captain… this is all he sent me.”

The message read:

[Ghost] : With skills like yours…

[Ghost] : You think you’re worthy of comparing yourself to Devil?

Seeing Pei Ming’s gaze linger on those two messages, Wang Xiang cautiously said,

“Captain… even though people online all say Ghost is your anti-fan, I feel like he actually… kind of…”

Pei Ming withdrew his gaze and nodded.

“I understand.”

Wang Xiang continued,

“Then, Captain… about what happened today—”

“It stays between the two of us. You can leave now,” Pei Ming said.

Feeling as though he had been granted a pardon, Wang Xiang was just about to make a quick escape when Pei Ming spoke again from behind him.

“Wait.”

Wang Xiang turned around.

“What is it, Captain?”

Pei Ming said, “Go back and send me Ghost’s WeChat ID.”

Wang Xiang froze for a moment, then nodded.

“Ah, okay. I’ll do it right away.”

And by right away, he really meant right away.

He had barely made it downstairs when Pei Ming’s phone buzzed with a new message.

Opening WeChat, he saw a string of characters: ggdsr206

Pei Ming stared at the ID, and a faint smile curved at the corner of his lips.

Even though he had run away from home…

he had still left behind plenty of clues.

It was just that Pei Ming had never thought to look at it from that angle before.

Pei Ming copied the WeChat ID into the search bar. He stared at the Add Friend button in silence for a moment, but in the end, he didn’t send the request.

Forget it.

He was the one who had driven the little wolf cub away.

If he wanted him to come back, he’d have to coax him first.

…

The Monster main roster had the same break schedule as Faith, with training set to resume in the next day or two.

So after finishing today’s scrim against the academy team, they still had time to head back and rest.

The moment Bang returned to his room, he immediately called Pei Ming.

The phone rang several times before the other side finally picked up.

Bang spoke first.

“Hey? Man, I delivered the stuff for you.”

From the other end came Pei Ming’s simple reply.

“Thanks.”

“But I’ve got a question.” Bang got straight to the point. “How did you notice Ghost got burned? I’m his captain, and even I didn’t notice something like that.”

Pei Ming’s calm voice came through the phone.

“Then next time, pay closer attention and you’ll notice.”

Bang clicked his tongue.

“Don’t dodge the question. Besides, the mark wasn’t even that obvious. I was standing right in front of him, and I only noticed after staring for a while. You weren’t even in close contact with him.”

Pei Ming replied lazily,

“Your eyesight’s bad. Practice more.”

Bang was so irritated he nearly hung up on the spot.

But remembering the most important thing still hadn’t been asked, he forced himself to endure it.

“Right, the important question.” Bang said directly. “You’re taking such good care of Ghost… are you trying to follow through on that exchange agreement?”

As two of the oldest powerhouse teams in the industry, Faith and Monster were constantly competing for the title of number one in China’s competitive scene.

However, the owners of both organizations had been close friends for years.

So despite the fierce rivalry between the two teams, it had never damaged their relationship.

They were, in every sense of the word, truly brother teams.

The youth training player exchange agreement was established between the two teams two years ago.

The reason was simple: Each batch of youth training players had their own strengths., but the main roster teams didn’t always need talent for certain positions. As a result, it was common for newly signed players to spend an entire season sitting on the bench, doing nothing more than watching over the water cooler.

But honestly—

How many professional esports players would willingly waste the most valuable golden years of their career sitting on the substitute bench, only to watch their future go up in flames?

So, considering both human nature and mutual benefit, the two organizations came up with this agreement.

Seeing that Pei Ming wasn’t saying anything, Bang spoke again.

“So… what do you think?”

The other end of the line remained silent.

Just when Bang thought Pei Ming was about to decisively hang up and end the call—

A calm voice finally came through.

“If he’s willing to come over…”

Pei Ming spoke lightly.

“I can agree to any condition.”

---

Author’s Note:

Anyone want to try decoding ggdsr206? hhh (lol)

---

---

Chapter 9 – Baiting the Kids

---

Qi Qiao’s ears burned hot. His mind was hazy, and the only thought left in his head was run. Suddenly, he shoved Pei Ming away with all his strength.

Caught off guard by the hard push, Pei Ming stumbled back a few steps, his gaze fixed on the reddened tip of Qi Qiao’s nose.

“You didn’t come looking for me for over a year, and now you’re saying all this—what for?” Qi Qiao bit down on his teeth, the last note of his voice rising slightly from his unsteady breathing.

Pei Ming frowned, just about to speak.

“Hey! Captain, we’re getting ready to head out!” Jiang Jiang’s voice came from farther away, growing closer. “Captain, where are you?”

Qi Qiao bit his lower lip, his nose still stinging.

“I don’t have a brother.”

After saying that, he shot Pei Ming a fierce glare, raised an elbow to wipe away the tears gathering at the corners of his eyes, then turned around and strode toward the door without looking back.

Outside, Jiang Jiang was still calling as he walked, finally arriving at the restroom entrance.

“Captain, you’re in he—”

His voice cut off abruptly.

Jiang Jiang stared in confusion at the little green-haired guy, whose eyes were red as he stormed past him, gritting his teeth. Instinctively, Jiang Jiang stepped back like he was avoiding the plague.

Holy shit…

That green-haired kid was in the restroom… and Captain just said he was coming to the restroom too…

Shit shit shit shit shit—

No way Captain made Ghost cry, right?!

Jiang Jiang rushed into the restroom in three quick strides. Sure enough, standing by the sink was his captain. In his hand, he was holding half a cigarette, the paper damp with water stains.

Pei Ming had just tossed the half-smoked Marlboro into the trash when he heard a thunderous shout behind him.

“Captain! You! Quit! Smoking! Didn’t! You?!” Jiang Jiang pointed at the cigarette with a look of utter devastation.

Pei Ming bent over and washed his hands.

“I did quit. That one wasn’t for smoking.”

Jiang Jiang raised a brow skeptically.

“Bullsh*t. If it wasn’t for smoking, then what was it for?”

After finishing washing his hands, Pei Ming shook off the water droplets.

“Baiting the kid.”

“You can’t just— wait… what did you say you were baiting?!”

Pei Ming pulled out a tissue and leisurely dried his hands, enunciating each word.

“A kid.”

“A… a kid.” Jiang Jiang’s pupils practically shook. “You’re saying Ghost is a kid?!”

“Shit shit shit shit shit…” Jiang Jiang clutched his chest and staggered back a step, his face full of horrified disbelief. “What the hell happened while I was gone? Why did he run out crying just now?!”

Then his expression twisted in outrage.

“Captain, you beast!”

…

Qi Qiao ran straight back to his room.

He had thought locking the door behind him would help him calm down.

Instead, his heart began pounding even faster.

Qi Qiao took a deep breath, remembering the words Pei Ming had murmured beside his ear just moments ago.

“Big brother missed you.”

Did he really miss him?

But if he really did…

Then why hadn’t he checked on him even once for an entire year?

Qi Qiao felt like his thoughts were in complete chaos, yet the tingling sensation around his ears still hadn’t faded.

He walked into the bathroom and looked at himself in the mirror.

The tips of his ears were so red, it looked like he’d downed more than a dozen shots of strong liquor.

A commotion rose from downstairs.

“Alright then, Brother Bang, come visit our training base next time you get the chance!”

“I’ve been wanting to check your place out for a while. I heard the layout over there looks even better.”

Qi Qiao quietly walked over to the window and pulled the curtains open slightly.

This was a room on the third floor, positioned near the middle of the villa, giving him a clear view of what was happening below.

Several members of the Faith Esports Youth Team were following behind Pei Ming. Wink kept craning his neck around, seemingly searching for him among the members of the Monster Youth Team, while Jiang Jiang was chatting and joking around with Bang.

“Alright, we’re heading out then. Let’s get together for hotpot after the Spring Split.”

After saying goodbye to Bang, Jiang Jiang moved over beside Pei Ming.

“Let’s go, Captain.”

Pei Ming nodded and turned to walk forward.

But as if suddenly remembering something, he paused for a moment and glanced upward.

Right toward the location of this bathroom.

In an instant, Qi Qiao yanked the curtain shut with a sharp snap.

Even though they had just spoken face-to-face moments ago—standing that close—Qi Qiao realized he still couldn’t meet his eyes.

It was as if the moment their gazes locked, whatever courage he had would completely fall apart.

About five minutes passed before Qi Qiao finally pulled the curtain open again.

Everyone from Faith had already left.

Qi Qiao stared silently at the spot where Pei Ming had been standing just moments ago. After a few minutes, he walked over to the sink and splashed cold water onto his face.

He raised his head and met his own gaze in the mirror.

His thoughts were dragged back to that evening ten months ago, when fine snow drifted through the air

-Flashback-

The dining table was covered with dishes, and Qi Qiao sat there absentmindedly, passing the time by playing 2048 on his phone.

He checked the time.

It had already been ten minutes past their agreed meeting time of six o’clock.

Half an hour earlier, Pei Ming had sent him a message.

[Brother] : Going to pick up the birthday cake. I’ll be back a little late.

Normally, his brother wasn’t the type to suddenly change plans at the last minute.

At least when it came to promises made with him, his brother had never broken his word.

But today…

Qi Qiao picked up his phone several times, wanting to call him.

But every time his eyes landed on the contact labeled [Brother], he just couldn’t bring himself to press it.

Usually, whenever something came up, the first person he’d call was Pei Ming.

But that little accident this morning…

Qi Qiao suddenly felt his face heating up again.

Just as he was about to head into the bathroom to splash some cold water on his face and cool down—

His phone suddenly rang.

Qi Qiao’s eyes lit up as he picked up the call.

“Brother, you’re ba—”

“Ahem… Xiao Qiao, it’s Brother Meng.”

The caller was Meng Ye, his brother’s college roommate and one of his closest friends.

A flicker of disappointment flashed through Qi Qiao’s eyes.

“What’s up, Brother Meng?”

From the other end of the line came his voice.

“First of all, happy birthday, Xiao Qiao.”

“Thanks, Brother Meng.”

Generally speaking, whenever Meng Ye called him, it was usually because his brother had something he wanted passed along.

Qi Qiao paused for a moment.

“Brother Meng… is there something else?”

Meng Ye sounded hesitant over the phone.

“Uh… well… there is one more thing. Your brother might have pneumonia again. I was looking for him just now, and he said he’s at the hospital.”

A loud boom seemed to explode inside Qi Qiao’s head.

He shot to his feet.

“Where exactly is my brother right now?”

“I just asked him. He said he’s at Huayang Hospital, Room 305.”

Qi Qiao grabbed his coat and rushed out the door in a panic. If it weren’t for the little sticky note his brother had left by the entryway—Remember to bring an umbrella when you go out—he really would’ve ended up running through the snow without one.

Huayang Hospital wasn’t far from their residential area. Only after stepping out onto the street did Qi Qiao realize taking a taxi would be faster, so he hurriedly pulled out his phone and called a DiDi ride.

It wasn’t until he got into the car that he realized he had forgotten to wear gloves.

His hands were already frozen purple-red, every tiny capillary standing out clearly beneath his skin.

I’m done for. Brother’s definitely going to lecture me again later.

As anxiety churned inside him, Qi Qiao thought that if Pei Ming scolded him later, he’d fire back by asking whether his brother had secretly started smoking behind his back again.

After all, ever since quitting smoking, his brother hadn’t suffered from pneumonia much anymore.

Now, when it wasn’t even flu season, he had suddenly come down with pneumonia again.

It was seriously strange.

More than ten minutes later, Qi Qiao got out of the car with a frown. After paying the fare, he didn’t even bother opening his umbrella and sprinted straight toward Room Five on the hospital’s third floor.

Qi Qiao realized he could barely remember what it had felt like to skip the elevator, race up the stairs, and run wildly down a corridor.

What remained most vivid in his memory was the moment he pushed open the door to Room 305.

-End Flashback–

Bone-deep cold.

Qi Qiao let out a harsh breath.

His heart had begun aching faintly again.

A knock came from outside the door.

“Ghost, you in there?”

Bang’s voice sounded from outside.

Qi Qiao steadied himself for a moment before walking over and opening the door.

“What is it, Captain?”

Bang’s gaze swept back and forth across his hand, clearly looking confused. After staring for a while, his eyes suddenly lit up when they landed on Qi Qiao’s index finger.

As if he’d just discovered some earth-shattering secret.

“Uh, n-no… it’s nothing. I just noticed earlier that it looked like you burned your finger.”

Bang pulled out a tube of ointment from his pocket.

“Here, take this.”

Qi Qiao accepted the brand-new box of Jingwanhong Ointment, confusion flickering in his eyes.

He had originally thought Bang would ask why he had been targeting Faith’s jungler so aggressively during the match today.

But instead…

“Thanks, Captain,” Qi Qiao said.

Bang let out an awkward laugh.

“It’s nothing, haha. Looking out for our teammates is part of the job.”

“Uh… it’s getting late, so go eat something soon. I’ll head out first.”

After saying that, Bang didn’t linger any longer and turned to leave. As he walked away, he pulled out his phone and dialed a number, even glancing back at Qi Qiao a couple of times.

Qi Qiao stood by the door, watching him leave, then lifted the box of Jingwanhong Ointment and examined it closely.

Maybe it was just his imagination, but he could swear there was a faint trace of mint in the air.

---

Author’s Note:

What happened a year ago was a misunderstanding, okay? A misunderstanding. A misunderstanding~

---

---

Chapter 8 – Big Brother Misses You Very Much

---

Although they had learned their lesson from the previous match, this round Ghost was playing jungle, and Wang Xiang had picked Farbauti, a hero that could directly counter Odin, so everyone felt far less nervous.

After all, Ghost’s main role was mage.

Even if he could jungle decently, there was no way he could compare to the results Wang Xiang had built through three months of training at Faith Youth Training Team.

As Wang Xiang controlled Farbauti toward the red jungle, he kept turning something over in his mind.

Ghost had clearly been targeting him last game.

But the two of them had no grudge against each other.

The only possible explanation…

was what he had said earlier in the restroom.

But wasn’t Ghost supposed to be Devil’s anti-fan?

Lost in thought, Wang Xiang watched the Red Buff’s health drop to its final sliver and prepared to use Smite—

Suddenly—the sharp sound of lightning cutting through the air rang out.

“?”

Wang Xiang watched helplessly as the Red Buff Mermaid was suddenly dragged backward into the brush behind him.

“Holy shi—”

He was instantly dumbfounded.

The culprit, Odin, casually strolled out of the brush, completely unhurried, and calmly flashed an emote at him.

Wang Xiang had never imagined Ghost would invade his jungle.

…

Wink, sitting to Wang Xiang’s left, heard the curse and glanced at the minimap toward the Red Buff area.

The corner of his mouth twitched involuntarily.

Before level six, Odin had no ultimate skill. His jungle clearing speed was significantly weaker than Farbauti’s. And before buying boots, his movement speed was also relatively slow.

So seeing Odin invade Farbauti’s jungle—

whether in professional matches or ranked games—

was practically unheard of.

Wink was still wondering how Ghost had managed to position himself so quickly inside Wang Xiang’s jungle when the support beside him suddenly shouted:

“No way… H-He actually brought Sprint?!”

Wink froze for a second.

In ACR, every class could equip two battle skills.

But jungle heroes like Odin usually carried Stun, which helped guarantee the accuracy of Odin’s chain skill.

Sprint, on the other hand, was usually something mages or roamers brought instead.

But…

if you really had to think of someone who played Sprint Odin—

there actually was one person.

…

“My god, why’d he bring Sprint? This kind of Sprint Odin build isn’t that—”

Jiang Jiang stared in shock.

Bang cut in.

“Wasn’t that the build your captain made famous when he won the global championship two seasons ago?”

Pei Ming said nothing.

Jiang Jiang clicked his tongue dramatically.

“Tsk, tsk… Back then, when our captain pulled out that unbelievable Odin pick—running Sprint + Smite—and secured MVP in the final match of Worlds…”

“That was seriously insanely cool. He was literally the center of the world’s attention, okay?”

“Yeah, it was cool.”

Bang nodded in agreement.

“But I do have one question…”

“Huh? What question?”

Jiang Jiang looked confused.

Bang narrowed his eyes, deep in thought.

“After that trend died down, you barely saw Sprint Odin in ranked anymore… unless it was some hardcore fan paying tribute.”

Then he turned toward Pei Ming.

“But thinking about it…”

“Isn’t Ghost supposed to be your anti-fan?”

Pei Ming continued staring at the screen.

“He isn’t.”

“What?”

“Why are you so sure about that?”

“Yeah, seriously, brother—how can you be so sure?”

Bang and Jiang Jiang asked almost in unison.

Pei Ming glanced at the two of them indifferently.

“There’s no particular reason.”

He paused for a moment, then added after some thought,

“Maybe… it’s because of the Sprint he brought.”

Jiang Jiang: “???”

Bang: “…Damn.”

…

“Once I respawn, all of you come with me into their jungle. We have to take it back.”

Wang Xiang’s expression darkened.

Odin had a slow jungle clear in the early game. After stealing the Red Buff Mermaid and returning to clear his own jungle, before he could even finish the nearest half of the jungle, Farbauti would already respawn.

So invading the enemy blue side jungle together was still possible.

The members of Faith Youth Training Team nodded.

Meanwhile, over in the gold lane, both sides were keeping things even.

Aside from trading some damage at the start, both teams were simply focusing on farming their own minions.

And this round, Wink had picked a hero with lane priority.

If Qi Qiao hadn’t killed Farbauti at the very beginning, they could have easily been the ones invading Monster’s jungle instead.

…

The randomly selected map this match was Lost Atlantis.

At the three-minute mark, the first Sea Tornado would spawn at a random location.

Anyone caught by it would be instantly teleported back to base.

However, Sea Tornadoes had a much higher chance of spawning in one of the three lanes.

The probability of one appearing in the jungle was fairly low, since junglers needed space to farm.

After clearing the wave, Wink headed toward the red side jungle together with the support.

By now, the three-minute mark was approaching, and the Sea Tornado warning had already appeared.

At a time like this, passing through their own jungle was the safest route.

Up ahead—after crossing the brush, they would reach the river boundary.

The support activated a movement speed boost, and the two of them passed through the same brush where Farbauti had been ambushed earlier.

As he moved through the brush, the corner of Wink’s eye caught sight of a ward planted nearby.

Strange… Could that have been placed by Qi Qiao earlier?

Thinking that, he walked over to clear it.

The moment Wink destroyed the ward—he suddenly felt that something was wrong.

Based on what he knew about Qi Qiao…

he would never do something meaningless.

So—A bad premonition surged in his chest.

Wink’s mind jolted, and almost instinctively, he flashed backward.

But at the exact moment he blinked away—a blue-violet chain shot out of the brush ahead like a bolt of lightning—accurately locking onto his waist.

Odin’s E skill activated for an instant teleport. Q skill connected perfectly afterward. Plasma stacks triggered a passive explosion— before Faith’s support even had time to cast Heal— Wink’s HP bar had already vanished.

“?!”

Jiang Jiang stared wide-eyed in complete disbelief.

“Holy shit—That flick shot just now… anyone who didn’t know better would think he was a pro Counter-Strike player!”

Even Bang’s face was filled with shock.

The members of Faith Youth Training Team couldn’t see what had happened clearly—but over in the referee area, everything was visible down to the finest detail.

Odin’s Chain was a fixed-cast ability that normally fired straight ahead.

Just now, when Wink reacted and flashed backward, Qi Qiao had already predicted the move in advance.

With a sharp, sweeping motion of the mouse in his hand, he forcefully flicked the aim—and the chain abruptly twisted ninety degrees mid-cast.

Dead center.

A perfect hit.

And that wasn’t all.

The timing on his E-skill teleport had been equally flawless.

The invincibility frame activated at the exact moment, directly negating Wink’s damage.

Judging by his HP bar, he had probably only lost around a hundred health.

Even among professional junglers—that kind of mechanical execution was exceptionally rare.

“Not bad.”

Pei Ming nodded slightly.

Jiang Jiang had originally been about to complain again about Pei Ming “taking the other side,” but seeing him stare quietly at the screen, his expression suddenly calm, Jiang Jiang grew curious and looked up as well.

[All Chat] Wink: Come on, Ghost little brother , why’re you treating me like this?

[All Chat] Ghost: ?

“Hahahahaha! Wink’s actually calling that little green-haired brat little brother? If I had a younger brother like that, I’d rather die on the spot!”

Jiang Jiang burst out laughing.

Bang bared his teeth and shook his head.

“Tsk, tsk… Ghost has a bad temper. Your ADC’s done for.”

…

The other four members of Faith Youth Training Team rushed over.

But by then, Qi Qiao had already reached level six.

Together with his mid laner, who had just rotated up for support, he directly wiped out Faith in a small team fight.

[All Chat] Ghost: I’m in a good mood today, so I’m giving you a complimentary ultra-feeding experience card.

Wink had just respawned.

The moment he thought about Wang Xiang’s miserable situation from the previous match, a chill ran down his spine.

[All Chat] Wink: I’ve learned my lesson. Please spare me, pretty please QAQ.

This match had barely started, yet all five members of Faith Youth Training Team had already fallen behind.

The gold difference immediately widened into a devastating disadvantage.

Qi Qiao’s jungle tempo was impeccable. He never gave the enemy even the slightest opening.

The support had completely abandoned his own ADC and started roaming with him instead.

The two of them practically moved into Farbauti’s jungle and camped there permanently.

And Wink noticed something else—Qi Qiao seemed to have a particular obsession with Farbauti.

Several times, he and the support had opportunities to steal two jungle camps.

But the moment they ran into Farbauti without a second of hesitation he dove straight under tower for a forced kill.

…

Since this was only an academy scrim, neither side had agreed to surrender once the outcome was obvious.

So the match continued until Faith’s central World Tree was destroyed, officially ending the game.

The match lasted thirteen minutes.

Aside from Wink, who had barely managed to secure five kills and maintain a positive KDA— every other member of Faith Youth Training Team ended with a negative score.

Especially Wang Xiang.

As the jungler, his gold income was practically at the bottom of the scoreboard.

Staring at the match result on-screen—

Monster 2 : 0 Faith

—Wang Xiang finally couldn’t hold back anymore.

His face darkened with fury as he slammed his headset onto the desk and roared:

“What the fuck is wrong with you?! You targeted me both matches! What, did I dig up your ancestors’ graves or something?!”

Since Wang Xiang was seated directly across from Qi Qiao, his emotions were running so high that even through the glass partition, the curses faintly reached Qi Qiao’s ears.

Qi Qiao said nothing.

Instead, the corner of his lips curled upward slightly.

Then he mouthed two silent words.

“Check WeChat.”

Wang Xiang gritted his teeth and pulled out his phone from his pocket.

At the very top of WeChat, Ghost had sent him an image—

0 – 12 – 4

The humiliating match record stabbed at his nerves again and again.

Wink had just stood up, ready to comfort Wang Xiang, but when he turned his head, he accidentally caught sight of the message on the screen.

[Ghost] : At this skill level…

[Ghost] : You think you’re qualified to compare yourself to Devil?

After sending the message, Qi Qiao turned around cleanly and decisively under Wink’s stunned gaze, pushed open the door, and walked straight out of the simulation arena.

Before leaving, he stole one quick glance at Pei Ming.

Separated by a single pane of glass, he could clearly see every subtle expression on Pei Ming’s face.

Pei Ming’s long lashes were lowered slightly. He seemed lost in thought about something. He wasn’t looking at him.

Qi Qiao pressed his lips tightly together and, after closing the door behind him, headed straight toward the restroom.

Maybe the way he had coolly walked out just now looked impressive—but only Qi Qiao knew how much effort it had taken to stop his body from trembling.

The moment he stepped into a bathroom stall and locked himself inside—the tension he had been holding onto instantly collapsed.

Why didn’t he look at me just now?

Did I go too far this match?

Will he think I deliberately bullied the jungler from his youth training team?

Qi Qiao slowly opened his hand.

A thin layer of sweat had already formed across his palm.

…

Simulation Arena — Referee Room

“Damn… that little green-haired guy is seriously insane.”

Jiang Jiang stood there with his arms crossed, face full of disbelief.

“If I didn’t know those two had never met before, I’d honestly think they had some blood feud or something… like revenge for killing his father or stealing his wife…”

Bang nodded beside him in agreement.

Pei Ming kept staring at Wang Xiang, his expression unreadable.

“Later, ask him what happened.”

After saying that, Pei Ming stood up and headed toward the door.

“I’m going to the restroom.”

…

Qi Qiao pulled his phone out of his pocket and glanced at the time on the screen.

Ten minutes had already passed…

He let out a breath and irritably ran a hand through his hair.

Countless thoughts were still colliding in his mind one after another—but at least his hands were no longer trembling like before.

That should be enough.

Bang will probably interrogate me later anyway.

Qi Qiao pressed his lips together, took a deep breath, calmed himself down, and reached out to unlock the stall door.

Click.

The lock turned open.

Qi Qiao pushed the door outward—but froze in place the very next second.

The restroom lighting was dim.

A warm yellow glow, almost candle-like, reflected against the Baroque-style tiled walls, casting an intimate haze across the room.

A tall, slender figure was leaning casually against the sink.

Pei Ming stood there with one hand braced against the counter.

Between his sharply defined fingers rested a cigarette.

He hadn’t noticed Qi Qiao.

As he exhaled a ring of smoke, his long narrow eyes lowered slightly—carrying a strangely weary kind of beauty.

Fuck.

Marlboro.

A scent far too familiar.

It was unclear whether he had accidentally choked on the smoke, but Pei Ming suddenly coughed twice.

Pneumonia—

Qi Qiao felt his blood rush to his head.

Those two coughs finally snapped the taut string that had been stretched tight in his mind, and before he could stop himself, he strode toward him.

Pei Ming held the cigarette between his fingers and had just lifted it to his lips, preparing to take another drag—when suddenly, someone grabbed his wrist hard.

He raised an eyebrow and looked up.

Smack—

Pei Ming’s hand was slapped aside.

The half-smoked Marlboro Black Ice slipped through his fingers.

The sound of the cigarette butt hitting the floor rang out clearly.

Qi Qiao’s eyes were red as he glared up at him through clenched teeth.

“Didn’t you say you quit?”

Pei Ming’s gaze paused slightly as he lowered his eyes toward the person standing in front of him.

The boy was visibly emotional. Not only were his eyes rimmed red, but even his pale neck—so fair it almost looked translucent—had flushed with color. There even seemed to be faint burn marks reddening the trembling pads of his fingers. Like a young wolf cub cornered too far.

Pei Ming silently watched him.

After a long moment, he finally spoke.

“It’s been a year.”

Qi Qiao’s nose stung.

At last, the tears he had been suppressing overflowed from his reddened eyes.

Pei Ming let out an almost inaudible breath.

Then he lifted a hand and slowly brushed against Qi Qiao’s neck.

Qi Qiao trembled as if electrocuted and instinctively stepped backward—but Pei Ming caught hold of his shoulder, locking him in place.

The next second that familiar presence, carrying the cool mint scent of tobacco, moved closer.

Pei Ming leaned down, pressing him back into the corner.

Warm breath spilled against the edge of his ear.

Qi Qiao’s spine stiffened instantly.

Pei Ming lowered his head, his voice falling clearly into Qi Qiao’s ears.

“Big Brother misses you very much.”

---

Author’s Note:

I swear, even when I wrote that last line, I felt like the damage was way too powerful… (covers face).

---

---

Chapter 7 – After All, He Taught Him Personally

---

One minute later, the match officially began.

Their team’s support had picked Grass God, sticking closely behind Frigga as the two rapidly cleared the minion wave.

Grass God was a healing-type roamer, the premier support healer in ACR. His Q skill had a stun effect, making him the perfect partner for Frigga when contesting lane priority.

The enemy mid laner had probably seen Ghost playing Frigga, so they picked Jormungandr Serpent Maiden to suppress him. However, Serpent Maiden was weak at contesting early waves, so the enemy roamer headed straight to the gold lane instead.

Monster’s ADC played aggressively, and without support by his side, he quickly traded damage with the enemy until his health bar was nearly depleted.

The support shifted vision control, helped Frigga secure the Deer Spirit (river crab), then rushed toward the gold lane. Unfortunately, he arrived too late—the enemy had already claimed [First Blood.]

The support let out a frustrated, “Damn,” and was about to complain when he realized the Frigga controlled by Qi Qiao was no longer beside Grass God.

Just moments ago, he had seen Frigga place a ward and follow him toward bot lane. But when he glanced at the minimap, Frigg had somehow already moved into the brush near the low-health Mermaid (Red Buff) in the upper jungle.

The enemy had chosen Odin, and junglers usually started blue buff, meaning he had probably just finished clearing it by now.

The vision Frigga had placed earlier was a fake—the enemy mid laner was already rotating toward bot lane.

“Huh? Why’s Green Hair heading top? There are still two minions in gold lane. Farm them, don’t waste it,” Jiang Jiang said regretfully, but as he looked up, he suddenly realized something was off. “Wait… he’s not planning to pull the same trick again, is he?”

Pei Ming asked, “What trick?”

Jiang Jiang replied, “I ran into him once in a high-rank game before. He was also playing Frigg, and he camped the enemy jungler like, ten times that match. But that was because the enemy jungler was a complete asshole who flamed everyone—”

Before Jiang Jiang could finish speaking, Frigga stopped in the brush and, without hesitation, chained W + Q toward the upper-left corner.

Boom—

A fireball exploded, landing perfectly on Odin just as he reached the Red Buff mermaid. His HP bar vanished in an instant.

“Holy shit. Blind prediction with no vision,” Jiang Jiang said in shock.

Actually, Qi Qiao could have waited until Odin fully arrived before using his skills, which would have given him a higher hit rate.

But instead, he deliberately chose to cast without vision.

That meant his timing calculation for how long Odin would take to clear the lower jungle had to be incredibly precise.

The tall, skinny guy hadn’t expected it either. He froze for a second, then instinctively blurted out, “F*ck,” before staring at Qi Qiao in disbelief.

The boy’s mint-green messy hair fell lazily over his forehead. He curled his lips upward at him, revealing a tiny fang.

Ten seconds later, Odin respawned.

Fifteen seconds after leaving base, he turned into the jungle—only to be killed once again by hellfire erupting from the brush.

The third time was in the mid-lane brush.

The fourth time was near dragon pit.

The fifth time…

The sixth time…

The randomly selected map for this match was Forest of Secrets, where the amount of available brush for hiding was practically doubled.

Not to mention Ghost’s predictions were so precise it felt like he was using cheats—every single ambush landed without fail.

Finally, after Odin had been killed twelve times, the game came to an end.

The players on the opposing side, aside from Wink, who showed a hint of curiosity in his gaze, all looked unhappy.

It wasn’t just because their jungler had been relentlessly targeted — the rest of them were also being suppressed so hard that the entire game felt miserable.

Jiang Jiang looked at the dark expression on their academy team jungler’s face and clicked his tongue twice.

“No, seriously… what did our jungler do to piss him off? Why’s he playing so aggressively against him?”

Bang, on the other hand, looked thoroughly entertained.

“Ghost really is impressive. He’s got talent.”

Jiang Jiang replied, “Sure, he’s talented, but I still think targeting the jungler the entire match is way too ruthless!”

“Captain… don’t you think so?”

As he spoke, Jiang Jiang turned toward Pei Ming, seeking his opinion.

“Esports is simple. Winning is all that matters,” Pei Ming said calmly.

The corner of Jiang Jiang’s mouth twitched.

“No way… Brother, whose side are you even on? Aren’t we supposed to be Faith here?”

Bang covered his mouth with a laugh.

“Devil, I didn’t expect you to be this forgiving. Honestly, I’m guessing Ghost targeted the jungler so hard mainly because he picked Odin. After all… Ghost is your anti-fan.”

Jiang Jiang suddenly understood.

“Oh right! Ghost is your hater, bro, so of course he had to crush Odin. Which basically means he was crushing you, right?”

Pei Ming didn’t answer.

“Watch the match.”

…

On the other side, since they had completely crushed Faith Youth Training Team, everyone on Monster Youth Training Team was in a great mood.

Especially Monster’s jungler.

Because Qi Qiao had ganked the enemy jungler countless times, this match had gone incredibly smoothly for him, whether it was farming or setting up kills.

“Ghost, thanks for this match.”

The jungler gave him a thumbs-up, only to notice that Qi Qiao had a thoughtful expression on his face.

Qi Qiao stayed silent for a moment, thinking.

Then suddenly, he said, “Um… can I switch with you for the next game?”

The jungler didn’t process it at first and pointed at his own chair. “Ah… you mean switch seats?”

Qi Qiao shook his head. “No. I mean, I’ll jungle this round, and you play mid lane. Is that okay?”

“Huh?” The jungler was completely stunned.

And it wasn’t just him.

Pretty much everyone on Monster Youth Training Team had the same bewildered expression.

Normally, this was a scrim match.

That meant everyone naturally played their strongest role — otherwise, if someone ended up becoming the team’s biggest weak point, it would be downright embarrassing.

While everyone was still trying to process what had just happened, the next match had already begun.

“Don’t worry. In mid lane, all you need to do is farm and defend your tower.”

Qi Qiao looked at him and added: “This game, I’ll carry. Okay?”

The jungler still looked doubtful.

But when he met Qi Qiao’s dark, unreadable eyes, he stiffly nodded anyway.

For some reason…

he had the strange feeling that if he refused, Ghost might assassinate him tonight.

…

During the ban/pick phase, the opposing side quickly sent Frigga straight to the ban list.

After the brutal lesson of being mercilessly hunted down by Ghost in the previous game, every member of Faith Youth Training Team unanimously gave the final pick position to the tall, skinny player.

The tall, skinny player stared fixedly at Ghost’s ID on the opposing side, preparing to pick a jungler specifically meant to counter whatever hero Ghost selected and win back his dignity.

“Tsk… Ghost is definitely going to switch lanes this round. After how aggressively he played last game, everyone on our side is obviously waiting to shut him down,” Jiang Jiang said, shaking his head as he prepared to continue.

Suddenly, Pei Ming spoke.

“He won’t.”

The moment Pei Ming finished speaking, Ghost’s selection slot instantly locked in with a click.

Jiang Jiang was still wondering why Pei Ming seemed to understand that little brat so well when he looked up—

—and saw the bright jungle role marker displayed on Ghost’s slot.

The hero selected underneath it was none other than Odin.

“Holy shit?!”

Jiang Jiang practically jumped.

“No way—I-I-I’m not seeing this wrong, am I? He’s playing jungle???”

Even Bang was completely stunned.

“If my eyes are still working properly, then no, you’re definitely not seeing things. He really is jungling… and he picked Odin?!”

Pei Ming fell silent, his expression thoughtful.

…

On the opposite side, Faith Youth Training Team clearly hadn’t expected this situation either.

They had originally planned to collectively counter Ghost’s mid-lane pick, but now…

“Uh… Brother Xiang, he picked Odin, this is…” Faith’s support said hesitantly.

If last round had simply been Monster’s strategy of targeting the enemy jungler, that would have been one thing.

But this round, Ghost himself was playing jungle—

—and he had picked Odin.

His intentions were painfully obvious.

He was specifically targeting Brother Xiang.

Wang Xiang’s expression darkened as well.

“It’s fine. Just pick normally. I’ll choose a jungler that can counter him.”

With that, Wang Xiang locked in Farbauti.

Odin was a hero with an extremely high mechanical difficulty ceiling.

His W skill allowed him to throw chains that could immobilize enemy heroes.

However, the hitbox for that skill was incredibly narrow.

If the player’s mechanics weren’t good enough, the hero was basically useless.

Still, because Odin had an attractive character design and incredibly flashy combo mechanics when mastered, he had always been a favorite among jungle players.

That was why there had always been a saying circulating among ranked players in ACR: “Out of ten Odin players, nine are dead weight.”

The Farbauti Wang Xiang selected this match had an E skill that could directly negate enemy abilities.

In other words—

if Wang Xiang activated E at the exact moment Qi Qiao threw Odin’s chains at him—

the chains would instantly disappear.

And once Odin failed to land his chains…

the hero was basically crippled.

…

Seeing Farbauti on the enemy side, Monster’s team immediately felt nervous.

The support selected a hero with strong roaming ability and asked worriedly, “Ghost… do you want me to follow you this round?”

Qi Qiao shook his head.

“It’s okay. Just stick with the ADC like usual.”

The support wanted to say more.

But seeing Qi Qiao’s calm expression, he swallowed his words and stayed silent. Qi Qiao skillfully switched his rune page. Back when he streamed, he rarely played jungle.

On the rare occasions he did, it was usually because he had no choice but to fill the role.

But that didn’t mean he wasn’t good at it.

On the contrary—when it came to jungling, Qi Qiao was even more familiar with it than mid lane.

Or more precisely…

he was more familiar with Odin.

After all…

he had taught him personally, step by step.

---

---

Chapter 6 – He Has Been Watching Me the Whole Time

---

“I didn’t mean it that way,” Qi Qiao said. “He’s outstanding. It’s perfectly normal for anyone to like him.”

Wink had been fired up just moments ago, thinking that if he was going to defend his idol today, he would have to battle Ghost for at least three hundred rounds.

But with just one sentence, Qi Qiao completely threw him off.

“Huh?” Wink stared at him in confusion. “Y-You… aren’t you one of his haters?”

Qi Qiao finished his coffee in one gulp and stood up.

“No.”

Before Wink could say But…, Qi Qiao spoke again, his expression darkening.

“I’m going out to get some water.”

After tossing out those words, he walked straight out of the lounge.

Wink’s question from earlier instantly dragged Qi Qiao’s thoughts back to that night a year ago—his birthday.

A painful tightness gripped his chest.

He had thought that by leaving, all those emotions would eventually be buried.

But the moment he saw Pei Ming again, all the effort he had spent over the past year fell apart in an instant.

Pathetic.

Qi Qiao silently cursed himself as he walked into the break room.

He rinsed out his cup first, waiting until the coffee stains clinging to the sides were completely gone before filling it with water.

The sound of rushing water helped clear his mind quite a bit.

Just as he straightened up and was about to leave, he suddenly heard a commotion from next door.

“Brother Xiang, are you seriously going to use Odin this round? But the team’s strategy from last time—”

“What? The captain can use it, but I can’t?” The male voice next door paused briefly. “Tch. Honestly, I don’t think his Odin is that impressive. At the very least, I can pull off those same plays.”

“Hey, Brother Xiang, keep your voice down. What if someone hears you?”

“What are you worried about? This is the first-floor restroom. Who’s going to hear us?” The man continued rambling. “Anyway, I think Devil’s just been overhyped. Throw in a little marketing, give him that pretty face to back it up, and boom—an esports heartthrob is born.”

…

Qi Qiao braced one hand against the wall and lowered his head, taking a sip of cold water. There was a mirror across from the break room. He looked up, meeting the reflection of his own expressionless face.

Two minutes later, two trainee players from Team Faith stepped out of the restroom. The moment they looked up, they froze at the sight of the green-haired boy leaning casually against the wall.

His head was lowered as he lightly tapped the floor with the tip of his shoe. His mint-green hair stuck up slightly, and the straight line of his lips looked unsettlingly cold.

“Holy shit—”

The two trainees went pale, blurting out in unison.

Qi Qiao glanced at them, identifying the voices, then walked straight toward the taller, thinner one.

Before the tall trainee could even process what was happening, the person in front of him had already grabbed hold of his collar with both hands.

Startled, he instinctively stepped back.

But the green-haired boy merely tugged at his collar and adjusted it twice, neither too hard nor too gently.

Then, lazily lifting his eyes, the green-haired boy asked:

“So, man… what role do you play professionally?”

The tall trainee froze for a second before stammering,

“Huh? I—I play jungle.”

The green-haired boy suddenly unlocked his phone.

“Add me on WeChat.”

For a moment, the tall trainee had no idea what he was doing.

But after standing there blankly for two seconds, he still pulled out his own phone.

“Al… Alright.”

He still knew who Ghost was — the breakout streamer who had become incredibly popular on Azure TV over the past three months.

Now that they had added each other on WeChat, maybe later he could ask for a spot on Ghost’s friends list and ride a bit of that popularity himself.

After adding him, the green-haired boy nodded, patted him on the shoulder, then turned and walked away.

“Damn… Brother Xiang, he’s not going to tell anyone, is he?” the shorter guy beside him asked uneasily.

The tall, skinny boy steadied himself.

“Probably not. Isn’t that troll one of Devil’s haters too?”

Still, he didn’t have much confidence when he said it.

Maybe it was just his imagination, but the look Ghost gave him before leaving had felt like a blade sharpened with icy intent.

Ten minutes later—

The trainees from Team Faith and Team Monster entered the scrimmage arena at the same time.

The arena was divided into three sections: two competition zones and one referee zone.

The referee area was equipped with voice transmission systems connected to both sides, while the competition zones were separated by soundproof glass panels.

Unless someone shouted particularly loudly, people in the other sections wouldn’t hear much.

Still, because the areas were close together and the gaps between the computer stations were fairly wide, players could clearly see each other’s facial expressions.

The tall trainee sat down with his gear bag.

The moment he looked up, he saw the green-haired boy sitting directly across from him, separated by a single pane of glass.

Those sharp, striking eyes stared straight at him.

After a long moment, the boy’s lips slowly curved into something disturbingly sinister.

The tall trainee suddenly felt his heartbeat skip.

He had a very bad feeling about this.

Ahem—

“First off, sorry everyone for taking up your practice time.”

The voice of Monster’s captain, Bang, came through the arena speakers.

“But just so we’re clear in advance — this was all Devil’s idea. Has nothing to do with your Brother Bang here.”

The day before had been Sunday.

That meant Monday’s training schedule was usually more relaxed, giving players time to adjust.

So Monday was basically the perfect opportunity to slack off.

Originally, Monster’s trainees had been pretty unhappy about losing this precious slacking-off time.

But the moment they heard that Devil was coming, every trace of that resentment disappeared.

After all, this was Devil.

To esports players, he was the equivalent of the ultimate mental refresher — better than peppermint oil or medicated cooling balm.

A low chuckle spilled through the broadcast.

The competition zone immediately erupted into excitement because of that laugh.

Sitting beside Qi Qiao was the team’s support player, who was obviously also a Devil fan.

The second he got excited, he grabbed Qi Qiao’s hand.

“Oh my god, Devil laughed! I don’t care if he was laughing for everyone — I’m taking that as him laughing at me! Ahhh! Devil smiled at me!”

Qi Qiao was already irritated enough by all the shaking and quietly pulled his hand back.

His expression remained perfectly composed.

But the tips of his ears had started heating up ever so slightly.

“Alright, alright, calm down, all of you. After the match, I’ll have Devil sign autographs for everyone, okay?”

Bang’s helpless voice came through again.

“…Seriously, why don’t I have this kind of popularity?”

The moment those words came through the broadcast, the previously noisy scrimmage arena fell silent almost instantly.

Both teams sat up perfectly straight, looking like obedient third-graders trying their absolute best to behave.

Getting an esports player’s autograph usually wasn’t that difficult.

But this was Devil.

The value of his signature was on an entirely different level.

Not to mention that Devil rarely signed anything. Most of his authentic autographs that people could find nowadays came from merchandise released back in his e arly career.

At this point, those items could easily sell for astronomical prices.

Taking advantage of the fact that Bang had stepped out for a bathroom break, Jiang Jiang let out a dramatic sigh.

“Captain, just look at that ridiculous personal charm of yours… Seriously, why do you keep tormenting Brother Bang’s fragile little heart every day? If you don’t like him, couldn’t you just crush him with money instead?”

Pei Ming replied calmly, “You could do that too.”

“No, no, no, I’m good. Even if I had money, I’d still need to stay alive long enough to spend it, right?”

Jiang Jiang’s gaze suddenly drifted toward the only relaxed-looking player on Team Monster — the one casually sitting there with mint-green hair and one leg crossed over the other.

“Tch, Captain, look at him. That little green-haired guy doesn’t care about you at all, and you still want to recruit him.”

As he spoke, Jiang Jiang once again slipped into nonstop chatter.

“Brother, if you seriously aren’t satisfied with all the mid laners the club keeps picking out for you, I can totally sacrifice myself and switch roles, you know? Back in the day, my mage was dominating the EU servers—”

Pei Ming didn’t even look away.

“Maybach—”

“Wait! I’m shutting up!”

For the sake of his beloved luxury car, Jiang Jiang could only swallow his grievances and obediently stop talking.

Internally, he prayed that the little green-haired guy would get killed thirty times in the upcoming match so his captain would completely abandon this dangerous idea.

Today’s practice match was being played in a BO3 format.

Best of three.

Both teams entered the custom server.

As soon as the drafting phase ended, Qi Qiao, picking first, immediately locked in Frigga.

“Whoa, Ghost, you’ve got guts, locking in Frigga first pick.”

The support player beside him sounded genuinely impressed.

Frigga was one of ACR’s classic veteran heroes.

She had high burst damage, but was easily countered and definitely wasn’t considered an overpowered meta pick this patch. She was commonly used in ranked matches. But in professional play, she almost never appeared. You could say that if played well, she could carry the entire game.

If played badly…

You’d end up being carried by the entire team.

“Mm. They can’t beat me.”

Qi Qiao answered casually.

“……”

The support player gave him a thumbs-up.

“Ghost, you’re insane.”

After overhearing those two players from Team Faith talking in the restroom earlier, Qi Qiao already knew the tall, skinny guy was planning to pick Odin.

So the reason he locked in Frigga now—Half of it was because of that.

As for the other half—Frigga and Odin.

In Norse Mythology, they were the Queen and King of the Gods.

And in ACR, they were also the game’s most popular character ship.

I wonder if seeing me pick this while their jungler picks Odin… would he…

Almost unconsciously, Qi Qiao lifted his head and glanced toward the referee room.

At that exact moment—

He met those dark, unreadable eyes.

Pei Ming is looking at me.

He has been watching me the whole time.

Qi Qiao suddenly felt the tips of his ears growing warm.

As if guilty of being caught doing something he shouldn’t, he quickly lowered his head.

Both teams quickly finished selecting their champions.

Just as expected, the tall, skinny player sitting across from Qi Qiao had indeed picked Odin.

“Oh ho, Odin versus Frigga. Looks like that little green-haired guy and the kid from our team are pretty fated, huh?”

Jiang Jiang had barely put on an eager time-to-watch-the-drama expression when Pei Ming shot him a slightly cold glance that instantly made him back off.

“What the hell…”

Jiang Jiang muttered in confusion.

Scooting his chair over a little, he moved to sit beside Bang instead.

Pei Ming kept his eyes fixed on the large screen, his expression somewhat indifferent.

Although Frigga dealt high damage, she had poor mobility and no dash skills.

If the opposing side picked something like Jörmungandr or Medusa-type counters, things could easily go very wrong.

Under normal circumstances, Qi Qiao should have waited to see the enemy lineup before deciding.

But he had locked in immediately.

Which meant—

He had intended to do this from the very beginning.

Pei Ming glanced toward the green-haired boy sitting perfectly upright in his chair and clicked his tongue softly.

He’d better not have known the other side was going to pick Odin.

---

Author’s Note:

OP heroes are basically heroes that are particularly strong in the current patch/meta.

Also, everyone, if you haven’t bookmarked the novel yet, I’d really appreciate it if you could!
(I know reading is super convenient these days, covers face.)

It helps with the rankings later on, so I’m begging you!

---

---

Chapter 5 – But He’s Not Just a Devil

---

The next morning, Qi Qiao got up early.

Because of that single glance from the video last night, even the 4-7-8 sleep method hadn’t worked. He had tossed and turned until the second half of the night before finally losing consciousness, though he still ended up dreaming.

As soon as he got up, Qi Qiao made himself a cup of coffee. Then he headed to the training room, grinded ranked matches until reaching Oracle II, and spent another two hours practicing last-hitting.

There were a few people in the training room.

Yesterday, Bang had informed everyone in the group chat that there would be a scrimmage with the youth training team this afternoon, so everyone was free to do whatever they wanted in the morning. Those who still hadn’t recovered from partying too hard over the weekend were still asleep, while those hoping to officially join the team were pushing themselves relentlessly.

Today was a workday, so he didn’t start a livestream. After finishing his last-hit practice, he lowered his head to check the time on his computer and realized it was exactly one in the afternoon.

He hadn’t slept well, and after staring at a computer screen all morning, his mind now felt foggy and sluggish.

Qi Qiao shut down the server, stood up, and headed downstairs toward the pantry, planning to make himself another packet of instant coffee.

He pressed the switch.

Coffee poured into the cup, steam slowly spreading through the air, and in his daze, it stirred up a blurred memory.

Late winter. Rain and snow drifted through the air.

“Pfft… this is so bitter!” He frowned, forcing himself to swallow the mouthful of coffee despite the urge to spit it out. “Ge, you tricked me!”

The young man sitting on the sofa crossed his long legs and raised his eyes at the complaint.

“Espresso. Double shot. Didn’t you say you wanted to try it?”

Qi Qiao set the coffee down. “That’s not the point. At the very least, you should’ve—”

“At the very least what?” The young man smiled faintly and stood up, walking over.

Qi Qiao had still been annoyed, but when the young man approached and looked down at him through lowered, narrow eyes, his anger instantly disappeared.

Qi Qiao’s voice softened. “At the very least… give me a piece of candy.”

The young man let out a quiet chuckle, reached out to ruffle his hair, then opened his palm.

Qi Qiao saw a Want Want Milk Candy lying across those long, elegant fingers, the little mascot on the wrapper grinning at him.

His heart started pounding rapidly.

Coffee overflowed past the rim of the cup.

“Tsk—!”

The burn finally jolted Qi Qiao awake. He hurriedly jerked his hand away and slammed the stop button, but the index finger on his right hand had already been scalded, leaving behind a red mark.

Nothing ever goes right.

That sentence suddenly popped into Qi Qiao’s mind. He grabbed the box of napkins nearby, pulled out a few sheets, and wiped up the spilled coffee on the table.

After cleaning the table, he was just about to take his coffee and leave when the doorbell suddenly rang.

Qi Qiao froze.

When he had come downstairs to make coffee earlier, it had already been one o’clock.

While he was still standing there blankly, the doorbell rang again.

So it really was happening.

Qi Qiao’s heart turned ice-cold. He really didn’t want to answer the door, but if someone else came downstairs later and opened it, then saw him walking out of the pantry closest to the entrance…

After weighing which option would be more socially disastrous, Qi Qiao finally stepped over, took a deep breath, and turned the doorknob.

The door opened.

Outside stood five people, a dark crowd blocking the entrance. Every one of them wore training uniforms marked with the black word [Faith.]

The moment the door opened, all of their gazes shifted in perfect unison toward Qi Qiao.

Not far away, a Bugatti Veyron was parked in the private parking space of their youth training base, its engine having just been shut off.

The driver’s side door opened, and a pair of long legs stepped out.

The young man wore sunglasses. Even though the team uniform — plain white with black lettering — had no special design, it still perfectly outlined his tall 1.9-meter frame.

The five noisy people immediately split to either side like well-trained greeters and shouted in unison,

“Hello, Captain!”

Although he had mentally prepared himself, Qi Qiao still froze where he stood.

Jiang Jiang opened the backseat door and hurried after Pei Ming as he got out.

“I’m serious, Captain. We’re just dropping by next door — it’s only a few steps away — and you still had to drive a Bugatti Veyron. Are you seriously making sure Brother Bang notices this shiny 43-million-yuan car? Wait, no, no, no — that’s not right, you’ve also got another 10 million on your wrist…”

The bases of Faith and Monster were both located in the same villa district near Lujiazui, so the two teams often visited each other.

Although Rong Qing hadn’t objected to scheduling a scrimmage last night, he absolutely refused to come himself, so it really ended up being Pei Ming leading the team.

“No, seriously — weren’t we supposed to come test Little Green Hair’s skills? Why does it feel like you and Brother Bang have some blood feud or something?” Jiang Jiang kept rambling on. “So what exactly happened between you and Brother Bang? Can we talk it out already? Stop bullying poor people, wuwuwu…”

Pei Ming shot him a glance.

“The Mercedes-Maybach I ordered for you two months ago—”

“No, no, no, I’m shutting up!” Jiang Jiang cut himself off instantly and immediately put a full meter of safety distance between himself and his captain.

He could live without his dignity.

But not without the Maybach.

Jiang Jiang looked up and spotted Qi Qiao standing motionless in the doorway.

“Oh? What a coincidence. We were just talking about Little Green Hair, and here he is.”

That one sentence landed perfectly in Qi Qiao’s ears.

Qi Qiao knew this guy. He was the idiot from Faith who, during last season’s semifinals, had used Lionhead Eagle as support and flashed straight into the enemy formation just to feed kills. Back then, Qi Qiao had even made an entire video dedicated to mocking the idiot.

If this were one of his usual livestreams, Qi Qiao would’ve definitely fought this nonstop-talking support from Faith for at least three hundred rounds.

But at this very moment, he had absolutely no desire to talk back.

Even taking a single step backward felt difficult.

Qi Qiao could only stand there helplessly, watching that person walk closer.

Ever since getting out of the car, Pei Ming’s gaze had remained fixed on Qi Qiao.

He’d lost quite a bit of weight. The dark circles under his eyes were bad too — it was obvious he hadn’t slept well last night.

Pei Ming stopped in front of Qi Qiao, raised a hand to hook off his sunglasses and casually hang them on his collar, then extended his other hand forward.

On his wrist, he was still wearing that Patek Philippe astronomical tourbillon watch.

“Devil.”

Hearing that, Qi Qiao looked momentarily dazed.

He lifted his head and crashed straight into those dark, profound eyes. For a moment, even his breathing seemed to stop.

Pei Ming’s hand remained suspended in midair, showing no sign of lowering.

No one around them spoke.

The silence felt strangely eerie.

Everyone was staring at the two of them.

Gritting his teeth, Qi Qiao placed his hand in his and forced himself to nod.

“Ghost.”

Their palms touched for only a brief moment before separating.

The instant their skin met, the taut string that had been stretched tight in Qi Qiao’s mind for over a year snapped with a crack.

All the grievance and heartbreak he had suppressed for more than a year surged to the surface in an instant. Qi Qiao only felt a faint warmth gather around his eyes as he struggled to hold back the overwhelming emotions rising inside him.

Pei Ming lowered his gaze, watching the evasive look in Qi Qiao’s eyes, but said nothing.

“Damn, why are you here so early?” Bang came downstairs from the spiral staircase with four teenage boys wearing wrinkled youth training uniforms. Two of them still had messy, bedhead hair.

Pei Ming brushed past him and walked inside.

“Wasn’t it supposed to start at one-thirty?”

“I thought you meant arrive at one-thirty, okay?!” Bang stepped aside, then glanced past the open door and spotted the Bugatti Veyron outside. “Tsk. Since you drove it here, don’t bother taking it back, alright?”

Pei Ming replied, “If Monster wins the Global League championship this season, I’ll order one for you too.”

Bang walked over and bumped fists with him.

“Deal. Don’t go back on your word, brother.”

Jiang Jiang had just walked up in time to hear that sentence and immediately looked wronged.

“What the hell, Captain? The cars you promised us were only Mercedes-Maybachs!”

Pei Ming glanced at him and smiled.

“There were no conditions attached to yours. As for Bang—”

Bang suddenly slapped Pei Ming hard on the shoulder.

“Hold on, what the hell do you mean by that? Looking down on our Monster, huh?”

…

Qi Qiao was still standing by the doorway, watching the three of them joking and laughing together before quietly looking away.

He has his own circle.

Qi Qiao rubbed his face and turned back toward the pantry to grab his coffee.

“Captain, when you put it that way, I guess it kinda makes sense, but you’re bullying poor peo—Brother Bang!”

Jiang Jiang had been about to tease Bang a little more, but when he looked up, he noticed his captain’s smile seemed strangely distracted.

Just then, Jiang Jiang caught sight of Pei Ming lifting his gaze. He followed the line of sight toward the corner by the villa entrance.

There was no one there now.

Weird.

Bang had originally wanted to fire back with a few more remarks, but seeing the five curious little heads peeking out from behind Devil, he decided to invite everyone inside first. After giving a few simple instructions, he led the Faith members toward the lounge.

The bases of Faith and Monster were located close to each other, and since the two organizations had signed an exchange agreement for youth trainees, they had long become well-known within the esports scene as powerhouse sister teams with a brotherly relationship. Last season, Faith had been eliminated regretfully in the semifinals, and in the end, it was Monster that advanced to the grand finals, at least securing a Top 3 finish for the Chinese region.

Since the two were effectively brother teams, there was no strict separation between their rest areas, so everyone gathered in the same room.

The moment Wink saw Qi Qiao, he immediately leaned over with a grin.

“Been a few months since I last saw you. I missed you to death, little brother!”

Wink was two years older than Qi Qiao. Ever since finding out his age, he had always liked calling him little brother, though for some reason, Qi Qiao seemed especially resistant to that form of address.

Qi Qiao shot him a glance.

“Who’s your little brother? Don’t go claiming relationships that don’t exist.”

Wink grinned.

“Then how about Brother Ghost?”

Holding his coffee, Qi Qiao casually waved the cup in front of him and said coldly,

“If this spills on you, I guarantee you won’t be touching a keyboard for half a month.”

“Alright, alright, I’ll shut up!” Wink immediately raised his hands in surrender.

Though of course, he didn’t actually shut up and simply changed the subject instead.

“Tsk tsk, you have no idea. Today’s the first time I’ve seen Devil since joining the team three months ago.”

Hearing that ID, Qi Qiao’s hand froze for a split second in the middle of drinking his coffee, though he quickly returned to normal.

“The first time?”

Wink nodded.

“Yeah. My idol has never stepped foot in the youth training base before. We were all shocked when the announcement suddenly dropped last night. Out of nowhere, he schedules a scrimmage with the youth trainees.”

“Hey, speaking of which, didn’t he send you that ‘face-to-face’ message last night…” Wink nudged Qi Qiao with his shoulder, his face full of teasing amusement. “Don’t tell me he came here to get revenge on you?”

The mouthful of coffee immediately went down the wrong pipe.

Qi Qiao suddenly broke into violent coughing. Seeing this, Wink hurriedly reached out to pat him on the back, but Qi Qiao sidestepped instantly and avoided the touch.

Wink’s hand froze awkwardly in midair. Only then did he remember that Qi Qiao disliked being touched by other people, and he quickly apologized.

“Ah, sorry. If I’d known you were drinking coffee, I wouldn’t have joked around like that.”

After finally stopping his coughing and catching his breath, Qi Qiao shot Wink a glare.

“Did the enemy ADC split your eyes in half with an arrow, or is your brain so damaged from getting Smited that, despite being an ADC player, your idol somehow ended up being a jungler?”

After enduring Qi Qiao’s verbal barrage, Wink stared at him with his mouth hanging open in disbelief.

“What do you mean my idol can’t be a jungler just because I play ADC? What does that have to do with position? That’s Devil we’re talking about — the esports god of the entire Chinese ACR region! The faith of who knows how many ACR players!”

Faith—

Something struck Qi Qiao’s heart lightly.

After the long-silent Chinese region had finally claimed glory in one decisive victory, countless young people, burning with passion, had thrown themselves into the esports world because of him.

It was true. In the Chinese ACR scene — and even globally — the ID [Devil] existed like a symbol of faith itself.

Qi Qiao lowered his eyes.

But he wasn’t just Devil.

---

Author’s Note:

“He’s my brother.”

---

---

Chapter 4 – Devil

---

Bang stormed into the training room, furious.

“You little brat, you—”

Before the word “mother” could leave his mouth, Bang’s eyes landed on what was displayed on Qi Qiao’s monitor.

“!”

“What the hell is this?!”

His voice made a dramatic one-hundred-and-eighty-degree turn on the spot.

Qi Qiao felt completely numb inside. He stared blankly at the words “Face to Face” on the screen for three seconds, then ignored the flood of question marks filling the livestream chat and decisively yanked out the computer’s power cable.

A forced shutdown.

Bang watched as Qi Qiao smoothly completed the entire sequence, then turned around and stared at him expressionlessly.

“What is it, Captain?”

Bang fell silent, his mind still reeling from the shockwave of what he had just seen.

“Uh… n-no, nothing.” Bang stammered awkwardly.

Qi Qiao expressionlessly packed up his equipment.

“Alright. If there’s nothing else, I’m leaving first.”

Bang: “?”

Suddenly, he remembered something that could salvage a bit of his dignity.

“Hey… wait!” He grabbed Qi Qiao by the arm.

Qi Qiao glanced at him.

Bang silently let go of his arm.

“Tomorrow at 1:30 PM, we’ve got a scrim against the Faith Youth Team. Don’t be late.”

Qi Qiao remained expressionless.

“Okay, got it—”

“?”

At nine o’clock that night, the lobby of the Faith training base was brightly lit.

“The youth team scheduled a scrim?!” Rong Qing double-checked the group chat to make sure he hadn’t read it wrong before looking up.

“No way, Pei. You didn’t mess this up, did you?”

He had gone out for dinner with his girlfriend earlier and had kept his phone on Do Not Disturb the whole time. He had only just gotten back and checked his messages.

And the moment he saw them, he was completely dumbfounded.

Pei Ming sat on the couch playing Tetris.

“No mistake.”

“I was shocked when I saw it too, okay?” Jiang Jiang finally looked away from the variety show he was watching.

“At first, I didn’t understand what Captain meant… but now I get it.”

Rong Qing frowned.

“Get what?”

Jiang Jiang paused the show, then handed over his phone.

Rong Qing saw that it was open to the Weilan TV interface. The number one trending topic read: “Face to Face?”

He tapped into it and saw that the hottest video thumbnail was from Qi Qiao’s livestream.

The screen was frozen on “Private Messages.”

And there, from Faith-Devil, the message— “Face to Face?” —had been zoomed in infinitely.

“So? Get it now?”

Rong Qing suddenly felt a headache coming on.

He already knew about how Monster’s star academy mid-laner had flamed Devil last night, and about the apology this morning, but he hadn’t paid much attention to it.

After all, in all the years Pei Ming had been playing professionally, haters had followed him like a shadow.

But for Pei Ming…

…it never seemed to affect him at all.

But what Rong Qing hadn’t expected was that Pei Ming would personally get involved.

Rong Qing hesitated for a moment.

“Well… Pei, I’m not sure I agree with tomorrow’s scrim.”

Pei Ming glanced at him.

“Reason?”

Rong Qing cleared his throat.

“Ahem… you’ve dealt with haters and trash-talkers for years now, and you’ve never really reacted before. So why are you this angry over this one?”

Pei Ming paused for a moment and looked up at him.

Jiang Jiang could clearly see the confusion in his captain’s eyes.

“Well, what I mean is… this Ghost kid who flamed you—he’s only seventeen. Young and reckless, you know? No need to get worked up over it.” Rong Qing carefully chose his words.

“Besides, he’s with Monster’s Youth Team right now. If you go after him, things could get awkward between us and Monster.”

“I’m not trying to go after him.” Pei Ming set down his phone.

“Huh?” Rong Qing looked puzzled.

“Wait, if you’re not trying to go after him, then why did you use that account you haven’t touched in forever to send him ‘Face to Face’?”

Jiang Jiang looked equally confused.

Pei Ming replied calmly.

“Face-to-face apology.”

Rong Qing: “?”

Jiang Jiang: “?”

Pei Ming added another sentence.

“And while I’m at it, I’ll test his skill level.”

“Wait, what do you mean test his skill level? Captain, you scheduled a scrim with the Youth team!” Jiang Jiang cut in immediately.

“Monster is short on ADCs right now, not mid-laners. Even if he signs with them, he’d probably just end up warming the bench. So what exactly are you testing him fo—”

Halfway through speaking, Jiang Jiang suddenly realized something was off.

Monster lacked an ADC, not a mid-laner.

But they lacked a mid-laner, not an ADC.

“!”

Jiang Jiang’s eyes widened.

“Holy shit! Captain, y-you’re not thinking about making a trade, are you?!”

Jiang Jiang silently counted to three.

Pei Ming didn’t answer.

No answer meant confirmation.

“No way, Captain… don’t do this to us!” Jiang Jiang wailed dramatically.

“That little green-haired trash-talker flamed both me and Ink before too! If he joins the team, won’t that make things super awkward?!”

“And he literally trashed you just last night! He’s your hater!”

Pei Ming put on his headset.

“He’s not my hater.”

Jiang Jiang stared at him.

“How do you know he’s not your hater? When he heard your ID, he straight-up scoffed. It was so obvious, okay?!”

Rong Qing spoke up again.

“If that’s really what you’re thinking… I honestly think you should reconsider.”

“First of all, I watched his stream clips. Ghost is definitely talented. Last season, he ranked number one among mage players on the Chinese server.”

“But judging from his personality, if he really joined our team, I doubt he’d fit in.”

“Second, there’s no guarantee he’d even want to come.”

“And the club already gave me a list of players interested in transfers this season. There are candidates from the Chinese server, the Korean server, and even the European server. All of them already have competitive experience.”

Pei Ming didn’t respond.

He simply said in an indifferent tone,

“We’ll talk about it later.”

…

Qi Qiao had been staring at the private message on his phone screen for thirty minutes.

It was clearly just three simple words.

Face to Face.

But somehow, it all felt incredibly complicated.

What exactly did face to face mean?

An apology?

Was scheduling the academy team scrim because of that too?

Were they finally going to meet tomorrow?

Qi Qiao felt like his thoughts were a complete mess, yet his fingers unconsciously tapped into [Faith-Devil]’s profile page.

There were still only three lonely videos there.

When he had clicked on them before, he had simply hit like, comment, and subscribe in one go, then exited immediately without actually watching any of them through.

Qi Qiao hesitated for two seconds before finally tapping on the pinned video.

It was a highlight clip from the ACR Global League Finals grand finals from three years ago.

Devil playing Odin.

The moment that truly made him legendary.

“The match timer has now reached 43 minutes and 21 seconds. The Chaos Dragon has spawned, and aside from Odin, four members of Faith are already down!”

“If ZR secures the Chaos Dragon here, then this year’s champion will belong to the European region!”

Three minutes earlier, ZR had forced a full team fight against Faith in the bottom lane.

Because of the disadvantage they had accumulated during the early game, even though both teams had already destroyed each other’s towers, Faith was still trailing ZR by a huge margin in gold.

ZR initiated the team fight first.

Their mid-laner landed a massive crowd-control combo on four members of Faith.

In the end, only Odin escaped alive, left with barely half health.

“There’s no minion wave, but that doesn’t matter. All five members of ZR are heading toward the dragon pit.”

“Once they secure the Chaos Dragon, they’ll still have enough time to push the central World Tree before Faith’s four fallen players respawn.”

“It looks like defeat is inevitable. At this point, Devil can only fall back to defend the World Tree and wa—”

“Wait… what is Devil doing?!”

The camera switched to Devil.

Odin, with only half a health bar remaining, was standing silently inside the brush behind the Chaos Dragon pit.

After winning that team fight, ZR naturally assumed Devil had already retreated to the World Tree to defend.

The Chaos Dragon’s special effect allowed the team that killed it to summon a wave of super minions outside the enemy team’s first defensive tower, making it one of the strongest late-game siege tools.

And after securing the dragon, if Devil stayed back at base to defend one more wave, he might be able to stall long enough for his teammates to respawn.

But Devil didn’t do that.

“So Devil is preparing to take a desperate gamble here? A last stand?”

“Looks that way. But if he fails to steal the Chaos Dragon this time, Faith won’t have any chance of turning this game around.”

The five members of ZR noticed nothing unusual.

They were focusing all their damage on finishing the objective as quickly as possible.

The game clock reached 45 minutes and 11 seconds.

The Chaos Dragon had less than one hundred HP remaining.

Just as ZR’s jungler was about to use Smite—

Devil flashed into the pit and instantly stole the dragon with a perfectly timed Purple Smite!

Before ZR’s five players could even react, Odin’s Chains had already wrapped precisely around every single one of them.

Although ZR’s support immediately cleansed the crowd control— it was too late.

Devil blinked forward and unleashed his ultimate. Massive AoE damage exploded across the battlefield. Combined with his passive detonation—three health bars vanished instantly.

ZR’s mage and jungler attacked from opposite sides at the same time, both unleashing their ultimates straight at him.

At that exact moment, Devil—without any vision—threw out Time Spear, then leapt forward.

In a move that was nearly impossible to pull off, he executed a perfect 180-degree flick shot, piercing straight through both ZR’s mage and jungler at once.

The instant all the damage exploded—

he activated Stasis.

[Penta Kill——]

The announcer’s voice rang out across the arena.

A five-kill sweep.

His HP bar stopped at exactly 1%.

Silence filled the venue.

One second later—

“Oh my god, he built a Frozen Heart (Stasis)!”

The entire arena erupted.

Twenty-year-old Devil sat on stage wearing Faith’s black-lettered uniform against a white background.

The slightly damp strands of his wolf-cut hair fell over his forehead, while the sharp contours of his handsome face cast shadows beneath the bright stage lights.

He removed his headset.

His deep black eyes lifted—meeting the camera directly.

Qi Qiao stared blankly at Devil on the screen for three full seconds. Then, snapping back to reality, he immediately turned off his phone. The room fell into complete darkness.

His heartbeat was a little too fast. Expressionless, he glared up at the ceiling before viciously cursing himself under his breath—

“Pathetic.”

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