Chapter 46 – Reverse The Situation.
By the time they returned to the hotel in the evening, it was nearly eleven o’clock. Based on the performance in today’s match, it was clear that the coach was very satisfied, so he only gave a brief comment before dismissing everyone. “The playoffs are a battle of attrition. This is only the first day, so everyone must keep a steady mindset. Don’t be arrogant in victory, don’t be discouraged in defeat. Who laughs last is still uncertain. Alright, go back to your rooms and rest up for tomorrow’s match.”
Sang Ye left the conference room but didn’t head directly toward the elevator. Instead, he turned toward the practice room.
“Hey! Bai Mao!” Xiao Pai called out behind him. “Aren’t you going back?”
Sang Ye waved his hand without turning around.
“What’s bothering you?” Xiao Pai muttered. “Don’t tell me you want to play a few more rounds? When did White Hair become so diligent? Isn’t he just a happy-go-lucky, brainless fanboy?”
“Maybe it’s because he was mocked by the Koreans. Although the Weibo post was taken down, the hurt has already been done,” Hu Fu sighed and said. “Also, during the match, it was clear that he couldn’t match JunX’s aim, so he’s probably bothered by it.”
“Oh, that makes sense…” Xiao Pai shrugged. “Although Xiao Bai Mao doesn’t seem as serious as ELan, he’s actually quite proud. In the whole esports world, he probably only respects my brother. As for everyone else—hah! Whoever beats him, he’ll definitely hold a grudge and won’t let it go until he gets his revenge.”
“Spirit is commendable,” Hu Fu gave a thumbs-up and said. “But the boy might find it a bit difficult to defeat JunX in a short time. He’ll have to take it slow.”
After Sang Ye sat down in the practice room, he didn’t start the game. Instead, he typed “2020-2022 PKL match recordings” in the search bar, selected a video from the results, and sat down in front of the computer, hands in his pockets, watching it.
After taking a shower, Tan Mo sent Sang Ye a message, as usual.
But there was no reply from that side for a long time. He thought the other person must have fallen asleep, so he didn’t bother them further.
Perhaps the pressure of the playoffs was greater than that of the previous matches, as Tan Mo had a dream in the night. Accompanied by the sound of a gunshot in the depths of the dream, he suddenly opened his eyes. The faint color of fear still lingered in his pupils as he stared at half of the ceiling illuminated by the soft glow of the night light. He couldn’t move for a long time.
It was unclear how much time had passed before he turned over, sat on the edge of the bed, and deeply lowered his back.
The moon-shaped night lamp, suspended on the nightstand, spun quietly, casting the man’s silhouette onto the wall. With the shifting light, the shadow’s blurred edges flickered in and out of view, like firelight trembling in the wind.
Twenty minutes later.
Tan Mo used his mental training to dispel the lingering chill and, exhausted, reached for his phone to check the time.
It was 3:07 AM.
Just an hour ago, there were still messages in the WLG team’s group chat.
Tan Mo swiped open the notification bar.
YuNiHuanXi: [Everyone, please take a moment to fill out this official information collection form.]
NotChangingMyNameUntilILose10kg: […….xlsx]
3.1415926: […….xlsx]
[……]
YuNiHuanXi:[@T. @S. Where are yours?]
3.1415926: [Bai Mao hasn’t returned yet. He’s still in the practice room, maybe hasn’t seen the message. You can collect it from him tomorrow morning.]
Tan Mo raised an eyebrow slightly.
Still not back in his room by 2 AM?
Tan Mo opened the chat with Sang Ye, about to ask, but when he glanced at the time, his fingers paused. He closed his phone and stood up to go to the bathroom.
…
The hotel corridor remained lit throughout the night, the champagne-colored light casting its glow on the passing man, masking some of the sickly pale hue on his face.
Tan Mo, with the mindset of “I can’t sleep anyway, might as well come down and take a look,” pushed open the practice room door.
The lights in the room were off, except for the glow of a monitor by the window, and the boy sitting in front of it had already dozed off with his head tilted.
The boy’s slender body was curled up in the gaming chair, his feet resting on the chair. His even breathing was calm as his eyelids gently shut, hiding the usual cold sharpness.
Tan Mo walked over to Sang Ye, glanced at his computer, and noticed the voice of a commentator still playing from the speakers. It was in Korean, and the title displayed a certain season of the LCK, featuring the BTF team, the one where Li Junxian had spent two years.
Tan Mo pressed the spacebar to pause the video, and using the light from the screen, he saw a piece of paper laid out on the desk. It was covered in messy handwriting with difficult-to-understand symbols and some brief notes.
Tan Mo placed his finger on the paper, bent down to study it for a moment, and realized that Sang Ye had written an analysis of Li Junxian’s gameplay.
As for why Tan Mo knew it was about Li Junxian, it was because the top left corner had “JunX” written on it, with several circles drawn around it, and an “X” boldly marked in the middle.
Tan Mo could only smile at Sang Ye’s childish behavior.
He certainly couldn’t let the boy curl up on the chair all night. But when he saw Sang Ye’s peaceful, innocent sleeping face, anyone would feel reluctant to disturb him.
Tan Mo gently pulled the gaming chair out, one hand wrapping around the boy’s back, the other sliding under his knees.
Just as he was about to lift the boy horizontally, Tan Mo paused.
His eyes lowered, and he saw the screen’s light softly illuminate Sang Ye’s small face, which had a healthy flush.
From his angle, Sang Ye’s long eyelashes and delicate, fair skin made him look fresh and dewy, as always. His petal-like lips, slightly parted, gave off a relaxed, serene beauty… and yet, there was a subtle, almost seductive allure in it.
The room was silent. A strange warmth stirred in Tan Mo’s chest.
He slowly lowered his head, but as he was about to come close to Sang Ye’s face, he stopped once more, lingering for a second or two.
He exhaled deeply, turned his face, and gently buried his nose in the boy’s soft, fluffy hair, inhaling deeply before exhaling again to calm the strange emotions rising within him.
The next day.
Sang Ye sat up from the bed, his hair sticking up in odd directions. He looked around in confusion and asked, “How did I get back here?”
“Are you asking me?” Xiao Pai, who was fixing his hair in front of the mirror, turned around. “I woke up, and you were already lying there. You didn’t sleepwalk back here, did you?”
Sang Ye thought for a moment. It was possible. After all, he had experienced amnesia from being too tired before. He stopped dwelling on it and quickly got out of bed to shower. There were still many videos he hadn’t finished watching.
In the afternoon, when the WLG team arrived, they happened to see NSN doing a pre-match interview.
No one seemed particularly interested, but they still took a glance as they passed by.
The host was just handing the microphone to Li Junxian, asking, “In yesterday’s official match, JunX, you seemed to be in great form. Now that you’ve experienced the first day, how do you feel about it?”
Li Junxian smiled with squinted eyes and spoke in Korean.
The translator, standing beside him, repeated in Chinese, “As I said before, it’s too easy. There’s no sense of pressure, it feels like a vacation. At the same time, I’m puzzled by my most anticipated opponents, WLG. Is that all their strength? Whether it’s Talk or Song, the two players who are said to frighten the PCL, I dealt with them easily. I almost feel like it’s not right.”
Shine and Lulu both had their hands behind their backs, their heads lowered. It seemed they thought this Korean player was too much of a hate magnet, and neither of them wanted to have their faces shown on camera.
Lu Qikai was the quickest to respond, jokingly adding, “It’s okay to talk trash before the match, right? No problem, right?”
The host forced a laugh and nodded.
But the online audience didn’t like this kind of trash talk segment. They were irritable, angry, and frustrated.
[This guy is too arrogant!]
[Some comments are useless; there’s no sportsmanship in esports. Winning means everything. The Koreans dare to say this because NSN won 3 out of 6 matches on Day 1. If we can’t produce results, we just have to swallow it.]
[Go, all-Chinese team! WLG! 22! XXY! Charge forward!]
Sang Ye glanced at the stage one last time, expressionless, then put his earphones back in and continued walking forward.
At 6 PM, the Day 2 matches officially began.
Previously, XXY had approached WLG privately to discuss rotating the P City position for one person per day, to avoid the two teams fighting each other too early.
Tan Mo had said at the time, “I don’t think WLG will be beaten down.”
Fang Fang gritted his teeth and asked, “…So, can we do this or not?”
Tan Mo didn’t make things difficult for him and agreed.
As a result, today WLG switched up their drop point, landing near M City, which was close to NSN but not in the same area.
In the first phase, the safe zone appeared on the west side, centered around P City.
Xiao Pai immediately commented, “Fang Fang’s lucky, that scoundrel.”
“Let them have it, I don’t mind,” Tan Mo replied calmly. “Go around the school.”
However, NSN’s and WLG’s paths crossed, and the two teams met and engaged in a battle in the east part of M City.
Tan Mo was playing position one, with Sang Ye covering him. Tan Mo quickly downed Shine, but Sang Ye was caught off guard from a side angle. When he tried to counterattack, his aim didn’t align with the position, and he was immediately headshot and eliminated.
Looking at the kill feed, the shooter was JunX.
However, after Li Junxian knocked down Sang Ye in the house, he didn’t stick around to fight. The NSN team quickly retreated from behind the wall.
As a result, this battle ended with a one-for-one exchange.
Commentator A: “WLG lost out more in this one, losing Song. Saying their combat power dropped by 30% wouldn’t be an exaggeration. JunX still has a sharp strategic mind. His clear goal was to ambush Song, to take out Tan Mo’s right-hand man, making it much harder for Tan Mo to play afterward.”
Commentator B: “Yes, it seems JunX is very focused on Song, repeatedly harassing him on the battlefield. It’s a real mind game for the players. And we could see yesterday that compared to JunX, Song lacks experience in movement and positioning, with his combat power completely suppressed by the international opponent. Let’s hope our young player can hold steady.”
Sang Ye pursed his lips but didn’t feel as frustrated as yesterday. He managed to steady himself and didn’t lose focus.
WLG lost an important player, which put them at a disadvantage. But in the fifth phase, the circle came back to cover them, giving them a brief opportunity to breathe. When the game ended, they secured fourth place.
First place went to catch22.
In the second match, WLG took a counter-slope position when entering the safe zone, with NSN positioned above them.
Fighting from a lower point against opponents higher up put them at a natural disadvantage, but Sang Ye still managed to land a perfect shot on Lu Qikai with his exceptional gun-swipe speed. Almost in the same instant, someone from the slope quickly peeked out and knocked Sang Ye down.
Xiao Pai, who was nearby, quickly provided fire support and then deployed smoke.
A grenade rolled down the slope.
Sang Ye told Xiao Pai to move out of the way, but it was too late. After the explosion, Sang Ye was eliminated, and Xiao Pai was left badly damaged.
Tan Mo’s position was locked down by Lulu, but after resolving that threat quickly, he skipped the scope and directly fired at Li Junxian.
Li Junxian was left with very little health, but using the cover of the slope, he quickly lay down and rolled down the other side of the hill, narrowly escaping.
WLG didn’t make it to the final circle in this match.
After being eliminated early, Xiao Pai took off his headset and threw it aside, muttering two words: “It’s tough.”
Hu Fu also chimed in, “That Korean guy is too good at ambushing, like he’s playing guerrilla warfare. You just can’t shake him off.”
Only Sang Ye didn’t say a word and remained unusually calm.
Tan Mo stood up and softly said, “I’m going to the bathroom.”
Sang Ye noticed the hint of restraint in his voice and looked up at him.
Sure enough, Tan Mo’s face had turned pale.
This time, Sang Ye lost his composure and tried to get up to follow, but Tan Mo, passing by, placed a hand on his shoulder to stop him from moving.
Sang Ye anxiously waited through the break, and just before the third round started, Tan Mo returned.
It was clear that he had washed his face, his bangs still damp.
Before Sang Ye could speak, Tan Mo gave him a reassuring smile and said, “It’s not a big deal.” He added, “Don’t worry.”
The third round was about to begin, so Sang Ye had no choice but to suppress his own unease and continue the game.
In the break room, Yu Haotian noticed something through the camera’s fleeting shot and furrowed his brows, saying, “Tan Mo’s not going downhill again, is he?”
The coach looked less optimistic, “In the latter half of the last round, his rhythm was a bit off. He might have been affected by something.”
Yu Haotian glanced at the scoreboard, his anxiety growing. “We’re falling further behind NSN, and it looks like catch22 is closing in. Tan Mo’s not in good form, and Song is being targeted by that Korean guy. If we rely only on Xiao Pai and Hu Fu, the whole team’s performance might not be promising. Should we sub someone in?”
The coach replied irritably, “If Tan Mo doesn’t want to, can a substitute even make a difference?”
Yu Haotian sighed deeply, but no matter how much he worried, the third round had already started.
At the tenth minute, the P City building where WLG was located was on the edge of the circle. They were about to split resources and then relocate.
Tan Mo heard a strange sound coming from the left and suddenly said, “Don’t move, someone’s coming.”
Hu Fu, who had an idea of the nearby teams and their positions, speculated, “It should be NSN.”
“D*mn, they’re back,” Xiao Pai said nervously, quickly adding, “Bai Mao, hide! Don’t let that Korean guy catch you again.”
Sang Ye furrowed his brow, clearly offended. “Get lost!” He then adjusted his attachments and said, “I’m going to assist.”
“Don’t move,” Tan Mo replied. “Xiao Pai and I will take the first move here, you guys stay behind in the building and cover us.”
Sang Ye furrowed his brow again, not happy. “I can—”
“Be quiet,” Tan Mo said, already aiming through his scope, waiting at the window. His words were short and to the point, “It’ll hurt too much if you’re downed.”
Sang Ye felt a tingle in his ears. Before he could react, his face had already turned red.
“What’s that supposed to mean, brother?” Xiao Pai said angrily. “So it won’t hurt if I’m downed? I don’t matter to the team, right? Sacrificing me is fine, huh?”
“Shh…” Tan Mo lowered his voice. “You’re too loud. I can’t hear their footsteps.”
Listening carefully, he realized there were only two sets of footsteps.
At the same time…
Sang Ye looked toward the door. “Someone’s coming here too.”
Tan Mo almost immediately realized what was happening, clicking his tongue in slight frustration.
Hu Fu also understood and quickly reminded, “Song, you need to get out of that building. NSN’s been using tactics all game, trying to separate you. They’ll isolate you, and if they get you, it won’t be good for us. They’re clearly targeting you. If you jump out of the window, you’ll make it. Quick, I’ll cover you.”
“Could it be JunX again?” Xiao Pai was shocked. “He’s really relentless today.”
At this moment, on-site…
Commentator A raised his voice: “We can see that JunX and Lulu have sneaked into the building. Are they going to ambush Song again? It’s already tough for Song to fight against JunX! Oh my, with Lulu added, there’s no way out for him! Can Song hear the footsteps? If he reacts quickly, he could jump out of the window and abandon the building!”
However, from the audience’s perspective, Sang Ye didn’t move at all. He remained completely still.
Commentator B was puzzled: “What’s going on?”
Sang Ye was assessing his surroundings. He was in a room on the second floor, with a window on the left and a door on the right. Stepping out of the door, he could see the stairs ahead, the position where the enemy was about to ascend.
In the past, he wouldn’t have been afraid to face anyone from NSN, but now, Li Junxian was too crafty. It wasn’t just about a direct gunfight—Li Junxian could use his movement to gain a significant advantage.
Plus, the enemy had an extra helper now. If he was smart, he’d retreat and meet up with Talk and the others.
Weighing the pros and cons, Sang Ye thought it through. With a quick flick, he pulled the bolt and said to the others, “I’m familiar with this. I’ll handle it.”
Xiao Pai was stunned: “What!”
Sang Ye quickly side-stepped, using the door frame as a boundary. He peeked halfway out, without pre-aiming or zooming in, almost relying purely on his instincts. He swiftly moved the gun upward with a sharp, flexible motion and fired a bullet.
[WLG-Song uses Beryl M762 to headshot and knock out NSN-Lulu]
The entire venue gasped!
That shot was too swift and lethal.
The moment Sang Ye fired, he was already back inside the door and quickly jumped out of the window from the other side of the building.
So, when Li Junxian fired, he missed entirely, with all his shots hitting the door frame.
Commentator A: “That shot from Song was really clever! Before escaping, he even took one of them down. Now, not only did JunX fail to ambush someone, but he also has to help his teammate. And look—Tan Mo’s team is in combat too! JunX doesn’t have time to assist! You could say Song just bought the team a full eight seconds!”
Commentator B suddenly realized something: “Wait! Wait! Song wasn’t planning to escape at all! He entered the building again through the back door below the window. The situation has flipped! Song’s got both of them trapped upstairs! This positioning is so agile!”
Li Junxian had crouched down, intending to revive Lulu, but upon hearing footsteps from below the stairs, he immediately stood up, aimed his gun, and took position, ready to face the stairs.
Commentator A found it a bit amusing: “Well, now JunX is in a more awkward position. If he crouches down to revive Lulu, he’s worried that Song might rush up and ambush him from behind. But if he doesn’t help, he’ll easily run into a gun barrel when coming down the stairs, and Lulu doesn’t have much time left either.”
Sang Ye lingered at the bottom of the stairs on the first floor, letting out many audible footsteps, creating significant mental pressure on Li Junxian, but he didn’t rush upstairs, instead playing leisurely as if he were a cat toying with a mouse.
In this silent tug-of-war, Lulu was left without help and was eventually eliminated, falling to the ground.
Commentator A: “Now, Song only has to deal with JunX. But if he goes upstairs now, the height advantage might make the gunfight harder… Huh? What? He’s leaving?”
Yes, Sang Ye was leaving.
He lowered his gun.
“See you never.”
In the break room.
The coach was grinning widely: “Finally playing carefully, not just rushing forward. If there’s no chance, we retreat. In this favorable situation, there’s no need to engage too much with the enemy. It would only hurt us to risk it.”
Sang Ye managed to enter the building where his teammates were before Li Junxian could appear at any of the second-floor windows.
Since his teammates were all knocked out, Li Junxian had no choice but to retreat through the back door without risking a direct confrontation.
The round ended with WLG securing their first victory of the day.
“Nice job, nice job, Bai Mao!” Xiao Pai said. “How did you manage to retreat from Li Junxian unscathed and even eliminate Lulu? I was so worried about you, afraid our little white-haired one was going to get knocked out again.”
“Sh*t up,” Sang Ye said as he took off his headphones. Then he added, “2020 Han City Invitational, Day 2, Round 5. Li Junxian used the advantage of the second-floor window and back door, taking out one player first, jumping out of the window, then re-entering the building. He used this tactic to bypass a Chinese team and ended up wiping them out.”
As soon as the words were spoken, the glass room fell silent for two seconds.
Xiao Pai mumbled, “So you stayed up late last night studying Li Junxian’s playstyle and tactics?”
Hu Fu chimed in, “And today, you’ve been holding your phone, watching too.”
Both of them simultaneously exclaimed, “D*mn!”
Xiao Pai took a deep breath, respectfully saying, “Bai Mao, when you’re in study mode, you’re really something.”
Sang Ye shot back, “You’re the one who’s not human.”
Tan Mo commented, “Use the enemy’s tactics to defeat them.”
Sang Ye, unable to retort, awkwardly said, “Wh… What?”
Tan Mo smiled and, with practiced ease, patted his head. “You’re very smart.”
Sang Ye lowered his lashes, starting to feel a little flustered again.
…
The halftime break after the third round was quite long, almost half an hour.
Back in the break room, after Sang Ye received the coach’s mysterious smile of approval, he collapsed onto the couch and picked up his phone to check messages. Bored, he ended up clicking into the rap fan club.
To avoid leaving any traces, he carefully used his secondary account while browsing the fan club.
User A:
[The rap duo’s teamwork on the field today was as smooth as always~ Talk voluntarily gave up the team leader position for Song, to help him make it into the final circle, getting resources, covering gun lines, and even doing the dirty work that used to be unnecessary for him. So pampered and sweet~]
— Below is a highlight video of the game, showing the operations that Tan Mo and Sang Ye worked together on today.
Sang Ye liked the post.
User B:
[Every moment of the rap duo on screen today was like a painting, and they contributed many adorable couple moments, [heart] [heart] [heart] take your pick, family!]
— The post included three sets of avatars, all taken from the game.
Sang Ye liked the post and saved them one by one.
[Did JunX call Song a little kitten last night? And today he’s chasing him down with a sniper, it’s got that love-hate relationship vibe, so cute, don’t fight me, I think this pair really has potential as a couple~]
Sang Ye furrowed his brows tightly, quickly typing with his phone in hand:
[Do not ship this! Reject the ship! Shipping us as an official couple in the fan club? What are you even doing here? Get off our turf! Kindly delete it and show some respect!]
Sang Ye let out a frustrated breath. Just the thought of people pairing him with that guy made him feel unclean.
— “What’s got you so worked up?”
Sang Ye froze, snapping out of his trance from obsessing over the ship. He turned his head and met Tan Mo’s gaze.
Then, Tan Mo’s gaze dropped to his phone screen.
“Mm?”