Chapter 20 – WLG looks forward to your joining.
Ever since he learned that Talk genuinely recognized him, Sang Ye became increasingly convinced that one day he would receive a tryout invitation from WLG.
Every day, he camped in front of his computer, checking his spam folder seven or eight times a day, afraid that the invitation might be mistakenly filtered as junk mail.
On Saturday, after one last thorough check of his inbox, Sang Ye let out a small, bewildered sigh.
Why hasn’t it come yet…
No worries, I’ll check again next week.
It was lunchtime, and after a week of eating takeout every day, he didn’t know what to order anymore when he opened Meituan and Ele.me.
Remembering that clubs don’t work on Saturdays, Sang Ye decided to close his inbox, grab his keys, and head out for a meal.
As he was about to close the door behind him, his roommate popped his head out from the master bedroom across the hall. “Song?”
Sang Ye turned his head, his gaze questioning.
“My graphics card is fried, and I’m too lazy to go to the internet café. Can I borrow your computer to upload a resume?” Liu Mingxuan, rarely showing a friendly smile, waved the USB drive in his hand. “I just got an interview from Huangchao, and today’s the deadline. If I don’t send it now, I’ll lose my spot.”
It wouldn’t take more than a few minutes to upload a resume.
Sang Ye pushed the door open wider and stepped aside. “Make it quick, I’m heading out to eat.”
“Ok, ok, I won’t hold you up.” Perhaps due to his good mood from the recent news, Liu Mingxuan seemed much more cheerful than usual. As he walked past, he even tried to make conversation. “Tryouts are happening everywhere. I see you cooped up in your room all the time. What’s up? Haven’t heard from any clubs yet?”
“None of your business,” Sang Ye shot a glance at the computer. “Once you’re done uploading, leave it there and don’t mess with my files.”
“What do you take me for?” Liu Mingxuan chuckled. “I’m just using the browser, won’t even glance at anything else.”
Sang Ye watched Liu Mingxuan open the browser and navigate to the Huangchao website. He then turned and used the time to quickly visit the bathroom.
Two minutes later, Sang Ye returned, wiping his hands on his cotton T-shirt as he walked to his room. Just then, Liu Mingxuan stood up from the desk.
Sang Ye asked, “Already done?”
“Yeah, yeah.” Liu Mingxuan unplugged his USB drive, keeping his head down as he turned to leave. “Thanks, man. Your internet speed’s pretty good.”
Sang Ye watched Liu Mingxuan walk past him, then glanced at the glowing computer screen before shutting the door.
…
In the WLG base conference room,
Yu Haotian, under the watchful eye of Tan Mo, nervously edited an email, typing the subject line “WLG looks forward to your joining” before hitting send.
“Is that… done?” he asked, and just then, the phone on the table vibrated.
Tan Mo set down his phone and said flatly, “I sent you his WeChat ID; add him.”
“…” Yu Haotian wiped the sweat from his brow and cautiously went to add him as a friend. “With you cornering him like this, if Song still doesn’t come, it’ll be hard to explain.”
While speaking, he quickly typed the reason for the friend request to Sang Ye:
[Hello, I am the manager of the WLG team. Is it convenient for us to chat?]
“Whether he comes or not is his decision. Who said that?” The coach chuckled from the side. “You spoke so casually back then, but now that it’s real, you’re this anxious.”
Tan Mo couldn’t be bothered to respond to him and kept staring at Yu Haotian.
“Tan, don’t look at me like that!” Yu Haotian felt immense pressure under Tan Mo’s gaze and looked distressed. “I’ve done everything you asked me to do. Now we’re just waiting for a reply. Staring at me won’t help…”
Before he finished speaking, a red dot popped up on the WeChat interface. He clicked on it without thinking and instantly shut his mouth.
Tan Mo slid a bit closer in his chair. “What’s wrong?”
“He replied immediately…” Yu Haotian struggled to articulate his feelings and handed the phone over. “You… you read it yourself.”
Tan Mo glanced at the screen.
[S.] has declined your friend request, with the following message:
[Not interested ^_^ Please do not disturb.]
…
A week later, Elan signed the employment contract with WLG.
That night, WLG officially announced it, welcoming the new member, which sparked a wave of discussions in the esports community.
[I thought it would be Song?]
[But Song didn’t even try out.]
[Aw, I really wanted to see a rap collaboration. I’m so disappointed.]
[Why are there CP fans everywhere? Spamming under their official announcement is so out of line.]
Sang Ye closed Weibo, his eyes slightly red. He realized he wouldn’t be getting a tryout invitation from WLG this year.
He felt particularly lost and empty, wondering where he fell short. Even Talk said he was good, yet WLG remained indifferent to him.
Could it be that… Talk was just joking around for the sake of entertainment during the stream?
Sang Ye sat at his desk, his sour emotions churning in his heart. It was too chaotic, making him grit his teeth as he opened Steam.
He found that long-dormant ID and opened the chat window.
With three parts reluctance and seven parts anxiety, Sang Ye flexed his fingers and placed them on the keyboard, solemnly typing out a line:
[Hello, Talk, I’d like to ask if there are any tryout spots available at WLG…]
His fingers suddenly stopped. Sang Ye realized that this wasn’t what he wanted. He had promised himself that he would reach Talk based on his own skills.
…But the reality was that he wasn’t even given the chance to showcase his abilities.
Sang Ye waited a full half month, his high expectations finally crashing down. In that moment, he came to terms with the fact that WLG had shut him out. At the same time, he couldn’t hold back his grievance any longer. He raised his arm to rub his eyes and pouted, letting out a cry:
“If you’re not going to let me play, then don’t! Even if you invite me, I won’t go… I hate you all…”
…
On Monday night, Liu Mingxuan returned home drunk but didn’t forget to start his livestream.
As Sang Ye was revising his resume, he could hear loud laughter coming from the next room. He discontentedly pursed his lips and put on his headphones.
Tonight, Liu Mingxuan was online talking to his fans.
“I, I’m going to sign with the Royal Dynasty, so I might not have as much time to stream in the future.” Liu Mingxuan slumped in his gaming chair, slightly slurring his words. “I’m pretty happy about it and hope to bring you all more exciting performances on the battlefield… hic…”
Amidst the rolling barrage of comments, he caught one:
[“Royal Dynasty? They’re not that great, always playing in the PDL development league. Just a mediocre team.”]
“Are you looking down on me?” Liu Mingxuan suddenly lunged at the computer, as if he had hit a nerve, becoming very angry. “Royal Dynasty can’t compare to WLG, but my achievements were earned step by step! Look at that kid next door, what good is it that he received invitations from TES and NSN? He doesn’t dare to go! He’s fake! He’s afraid of being exposed! Afraid that he’ll perform differently offline than during a livestream!”
[“That kid next door? Sang Fugui?”]
[“He does live next to Song; he mentioned it when he streamed before.”]
[“What’s wrong with the streamer? Fugui hasn’t provoked you, right? Are you secretly saying he’s cheating without evidence?”]
Liu Mingxuan leaned back, giving a bitter smile before grinning foolishly, a bit manic. “The evidence is just lying in his inbox! All first-tier teams! D*mn it, d*mn it! I’ve waited four years, and the peak I could reach isn’t even as high as others’ starting point… But you’ve all been fooled by him, even WLG is no exception! Ha! Sending out invitations on a Saturday? You’ve got to be kidding me! Is he really that amazing? I realized later that if he wasn’t cheating, how could he ignore the tryouts from TES and NSN? He definitely has something to hide…”
The audience was confused, not understanding what he meant. Many urged the streamer to log off and rest, finding his state quite alarming.
As Liu Mingxuan spoke, his gaze gradually shifted from a dazed look to clarity. Suddenly, he focused intensely, a cold sweat breaking out on his back.
He quickly sat up, the drunken stupor vanishing, panic washing over him. “I, I was joking! I was talking about another friend. No, I didn’t say he was cheating; that’s not what I meant! I was drunk, I didn’t know what I was saying; none of that counts! I’m a little dizzy; let’s just leave it at that.”
With that, he unplugged the internet cable.
In another room.
Sang Ye was still making last-minute adjustments to his extremely simple resume when his phone vibrated beside him.
He casually glanced over and noticed it was almost eight o’clock. Thinking it was a message urging him to go live, he frowned and typed a few more words, saved his resume, opened the WLG official website, and, with a surge of determination, uploaded the file.
[Welcome to submit to WLG’s 2022 Summer Training Camp. We have successfully received your application~]
Sang Ye looked at the system notification and let out a long sigh of relief.
He had made up his mind; he wanted to join the training camp.
As long as he got in, he was confident he could stay on the second team.
As long as he remained on the second team, he could dare to say that he could be promoted to the first team like Shine did back then.
As long as he could make it to the first team…
Sang Ye’s long eyelashes fluttered, and his face felt a little hot.
He closed the webpage and picked up his phone to check the messages, only to find it was Jiang Bobai.
Benbo Erba: [Didn’t you say WLG didn’t send you an invitation???]
Benbo Erba: [Video Link]
Benbo Erba: [Why do all your roommates know they sent it, but you don’t?]
At first, Sang Ye didn’t understand what it meant until he opened the video.
A few seconds later, he saw his expression drop, his fair cheeks flushed with anger, and his body tensed to the point of trembling slightly.
He thought so; someone as outstanding as him, how could WLG not want him?
With a “smack,” he slammed his phone face down on the table and ground his teeth.
“D*mn you, Liu Mingxuan.”