Chapter 11 – Lao Liu’s Horror Stories
“The Taigo map… so tough. Brother Wei, help me…”
Lin Tao, who often got lost in the residential area, was finally defeated by the tryout map on the third day.
Ji Wei didn’t think there was anything wrong with the nickname, but he still felt a little embarrassed to be called Brother. “Think of it like an ‘M’ shape—advance from the outside of the city inward.”
“Ah—” Lin Tao lost a gunfight and was killed in the residential area, slumping in frustration in his chair.
“I’m so bad! Even though the coach hasn’t announced the real-time points yet, I bet I’m last.”
Xing Zi, crouching inside a building while healing, said, “I’d guess the same. First place will definitely be Unique.”
After killing the last opponent, Ji Wei finished the day’s practice match in first place. He turned to the others and asked, “Did you order takeout? I’ll go pick it up—we can go together.”
“Wait a little, give me five minutes,” Xuan Feng said, checking his phone.
He said he was getting takeout, but what he really wanted was to see the dogs. Ji Wei’s pockets were stuffed with dog treats. He firmly believed that opportunities favored those who were prepared, and he wouldn’t let Xiao Hei down today.
But there are always people more prepared than you. Jogging all the way to the bushes, Ji Wei immediately spotted a familiar figure standing over the puppy.
He had no choice but to slow down, muttering as he walked up, “Do you come here every day?”
Yin Sijue caught him from the corner of his eye and said calmly, “Not every day.”
“Okay.” Ji Wei squatted down and added some of his own treats to the dog’s bowl. “I asked the coach yesterday—one of the staff at the base is allergic to dog hair. We can’t bring him back to the dorm.”
“…”
Yin Sijue stayed silent for a long moment before speaking. “We’re under the same staff.”
If even I can’t take him home, how could you possibly take him back?
Ji Wei: “…Yeah.”
Swallowing his embarrassment, he quickly shared some good news. “But our teammate Xing Zi has decided to adopt him. He lives nearby, so he’ll be able to take the dog home.”
Yin Sijue nodded. “That’s great.”
He brushed the crumbs from his palm, rested his hand on the dog’s head, and rubbed gently. His voice was cold and low: “Then we won’t see you again. Be good.”
The slight rise at the end made Ji Wei’s scalp tingle. His eyes couldn’t help but linger on those hands. The man’s slender fingers slid through the fine white fur, curling slightly now and then to rub. The puppy seemed soothed, turning its head to lick those fingers.
Feeling a tickle, Yin Sijue withdrew his hand. He turned to the boy beside him and found his face inexplicably red.
“Do you want me to walk you back this time?” he asked.
“No, no thanks.” Ji Wei shook his head. “I’m just going to pick up the takeout.”
“Then I’ll be going.” Yin Sijue turned and left.
Ji Wei stood alone for a moment before remembering the purpose of his visit and heading toward the security room.
Even after he returned to the base with the takeout, his mind was still in a daze.
That night, he had an incredibly strange dream.
He dreamt that someone was gripping his neck, slowly tightening the pressure and rubbing it again and again.
Everything went white before his eyes. Amid the suffocating feeling of being trapped, he could feel hot breath brush against his ear.
“Be good.”
Ji Wei jolted awake.
He glanced at Lin Tao, who was still sleeping soundly beside him, then suddenly leapt out of bed, clutching the quilt tightly around his head.
Oh my god, something must be wrong with me.
…
Two days later.
“Brother Wei, tomorrow’s the last day of tryouts, right? I wonder what the assessment will be.”
Lin Tao leaned against the washing machine, bending down to unload the clothes one by one and handing them to the others.
Ji Wei shook out his wrinkled T-shirt and said, “It’s just games anyway.”
Lin Tao pouted. “I don’t really care about the assessment. It’s mainly because I’m leaving after the tryouts… I just can’t bear to leave you.”
Ji Wei smiled. “We can still play together after the tryouts. It’s not like we’re breaking up.”
Lin Tao lit up at once. “Brother Wei, you’ve had the highest score these past few days. You’ll definitely pass the tryouts. I think you’re better than the guys on the second team. You’ll definitely be a starter, and you’ll shine on the big stage as a pro player. Just don’t forget me when you do.”
Ji Wei was touched.
He didn’t want to admit it, but in truth, no one had ever praised him like this since he was a child. He couldn’t even remember the last time someone had said such words to his face.
In the past, if he failed a test, his parents would be upset. If he did well, he wasn’t allowed to show the slightest joy—otherwise he’d be branded arrogant and conceited, and mocked in ways far worse than a scolding.
Over time, he lost all sense of accomplishment.
Because deep down, he knew: no matter what he did, the result would always be the same.
…
The next day, the trainees logged into their computers as usual, preparing for the final assessment.
Xu Shaoqiu, unusually, gave no explanations. He simply told them they’d be playing a scrim together at 4 p.m., and that the rest of the time they were free to play solo or in groups.
Lin Tao: “Brother Wei, let’s duo? I’ll use my main, and we can climb rank together.”
Xuan Feng: “Please get in line. I already booked him over breakfast.”
Lin Tao: “Bullshit! You don’t even wake up until noon every day. How would you have breakfast?”
Xuan Feng: “Brunch! Do you even know what brunch means?”
Lin Tao: “Okay, you’re still full of bullshit!”
Ji Wei interrupted weakly, “I didn’t agree to that. I said I wanted to practice hip-shooting on my own, and now the training camp has already started.”
Yesterday, he had noticed his hip-shooting accuracy had slipped a little — a crucial skill in close combat. He planned to practice it before the assessment, then test it in a solo four-player queue.
It’s impossible to stream a swashbuckling game for so long without losing some sharpness. He had to get back into form quickly if he wanted to catch up to that person.
Xuan Feng curled his lips. “Okay.”
Then he turned to Lin Tao and said, “Xing Zi’s going solo too.”
Lin Tao’s eyes lit up with expectation. “So?”
There was only one option left! Invite me! Invite me!
But then he watched as Xuan Feng logged into the game, chose a map, and smirked.
“Then I’ll play solo, too.”
Lin Tao: …jksh11@**sdh#%
How childish!!
…
At four o’clock, the four players in the training room wrapped up their free practice and prepared for the final tryout.
Xu Shaoqiu wasn’t there; no one knew where he had gone. He had only told them in the group chat to follow the coaching staff’s instructions.
When the time came, the assistant coach pulled them into a custom room. This time, it wasn’t a partial map, but the entire Erangel map. There were also many more sparring partners in the lobby.
The only ones missing were the second-team players they had scrimmed against before.
Xing Zi: “Strange. We played against Team 2 in the first tryout, but not in the final assessment. So we’re just up against sparring partners?”
Xuan Feng: “Seems like Team 2 has a small match today, so they can’t practice with us. We’ve been on tryouts for so long anyway, I guess today’s just a formality.”
Xing Zi: “Okay, then can I slack off?”
Ji Wei, who had been grinding solo squads for hours, had just been flamed by someone from Team 1 who thought he was cheating. No matter how he explained through his mic, it was useless — the guy stayed furious. Now Ji Wei was slouching, completely drained.
But hearing Xing Zi’s words, he jolted upright.
“No! Take every game seriously.”
Lin Tao noticed, out of the corner of his eye, that Ji Wei suddenly sat up straight. He didn’t say anything, just propped himself up and glanced at the map. “Where do we jump?”
Ji Wei marked a yellow dot on M City. “Play it safe this time.”
As it turned out, the spot really was safe. Fifteen minutes later, M City had already survived two circle shrinks and was still dead center. Everyone was looting fat and steady. Ji Wei was scouting from the apartment building, watching to see if anyone would try to rotate in and deliver them free gear.
Lin Tao: “Southeast, 135. Someone’s coming — a sedan.”
Xing Zi: “Unique, they’re heading your way.”
Ji Wei could already hear the car pulling up downstairs. He crouched at the end of the second-floor corridor, eyes locked on the staircase.
A full squad arrived, and Ji Wei could tell all four had entered his building.
He said to Xing Zi, who was in the building next door, “They’ll be coming up soon. Help me set up a crossfire.”
Bang!
Gunshots rang out from downstairs before he even finished speaking.
A flurry of footsteps mingled with the gunfire. Those four were actually charging upstairs with advance warning!
Ji Wei’s eyes widened in disbelief.
He hadn’t moved at all, deliberately keeping out of sight. How could they have known someone was upstairs?
Could there be others here?
Impossible. They’d been in M City the whole time. If there were other players, they wouldn’t have missed them.
Without hesitation, he drew his gun and braced for a fight.
Bang! A test shot rang out in the hallway.
Ji Wei reacted instantly, springing out from the corner of the corridor, crosshairs locked on the stairwell as he opened fire.
From the next building, Xin Zi also spotted the enemy coming up the stairs. Without hesitation, he scoped in and coordinated with Ji Wei to take him down.
[xiaohao0] used SCAR-L to knock down [peilian1]
As the enemy collapsed, another one rushed out of the stairwell.
Ji Wei didn’t fire immediately. Instead, he pivoted, retreating along the wall and using it as cover to slip into the adjacent room.
He crouched in the corner, angling himself to watch the stairwell. The enemy wasn’t pushing up — instead, he was reviving his teammate.
Ji Wei instantly tossed a smoke grenade toward the stairwell.
Smoke billowed out, instantly shrouding the area. The enemy abandoned the revive and prepared to rush instead.
From the opposite building, Xingzai fired straight into the smoke. Ji Wei circled around the outside of the stairwell, closing in on the enemy, and together with Xingzai, cut him down.
[xiaohao0] used SCAR-L to knock down [peilian2]
[xiaohao2] used SCAR-L to knock down [peilian3]
[xiaohao2] used SCAR-L to kill [peilian4]
After the last one dropped, Ji Wei was still shaken — still unsure how the enemy had known he was upstairs in the first place.
These were just sparring partners. Cheating was out of the question. He must have been genuinely spotted.
For a (former) Lao Liu, this was nothing short of a horror movie.
Xing Zi had already run over from the next building and was frantically looting beside Ji Wei. The click-click of items being picked up echoed in his ears.
Ji Wei asked, “Did I just get spotted in that building?”
Xing Zi said, “No? I didn’t see anything from that side.”
“Then how did those guys find me? That’s weird!” Ji Wei frowned.
“Did you miss a step?”
“No.” Ji Wei still didn’t understand, but he joined in the looting anyway, afraid the glutton next to him would take everything.
Having just finished a fight, and with no signs of anyone else trying to intervene, they relaxed their guard a little.
Xing Zi tossed away some unwanted attachments and said, “Unique, let’s follow each other on Weibo after the tryouts.”
“Okay,” Ji Wei agreed.
Xuan Feng chimed in, “Me too, me too! It’s a shame you’re not on Aurora TV. Otherwise, we could follow each other’s streams and drop by later.”
From the fake garage, Lin Tao jumped into the chat: “Hehe, I already followed him.”
Xuan Feng: “Who asked you?”
Xing Zi: “Why don’t you come to Aurora? The platform has its issues sometimes, but it’s still better than Maoyu. It’s gotten a lot better.”
Ji Wei: “I didn’t know much back then, so I just picked randomly.”
Xuan Feng: “Then when your contract ends, switch over quick. Come to Jiguang. You’ll even be on the same platform as your idol, Solve.”
Ji Wei’s face flushed instantly. “How did you know Solve was my… idol?”
Lin Tao: “I didn’t say anything!”
Xing Zi: “It’s obvious. Last time he came to practice, you were so shocked and happy you played like you were sleepwalking.”
Ji Wei: “…”
No way, does that really make him my idol? Obviously, I was just nervous because he was standing right next to me!
Seeing his embarrassment, Xuan Feng got even more excited and gossipy:
“Hey, interview time! I was super hyped when I saw Solve too, but your reaction was way over the top. How long have you been a fan? Don’t tell me you’re one of those day-one fans from before his debut?”
Ji Wei didn’t know how to respond. He just stared at the game screen in front of him, a little dazed.
Every wheat field and building before him was a place he had once fought side by side with Yin Sijue.
He thought again of that ID photo he had seen three years ago. The boy’s stunning appearance was etched into his memory. No matter what happened later, that face was impossible to forget.
It wasn’t until later, when they met again in-game, that Ji Wei couldn’t help wanting to get closer. Because of a video of the other player losing a match, he had—without thinking—signed up for AVG’s youth training program and had been training there every day up to now.
Ji Wei had never been a fan of a celebrity, but he guessed this was probably how fans felt about their idols.
As for that night’s dream…
He didn’t dare think about it.
…
Xing Zi noticed he wasn’t talking and tried to tease him. “Let’s chat. The coach isn’t around anyway.”
Ji Wei pouted, remembering Yin Sijue’s lukewarm attitude. For the first time, he wanted to have a personal conversation with his new friend.
“I’ve been a fan of Solve for a long time.”
“If liking someone before their debut means you’re a long-time fan, then I guess I am too.”
Xuan Feng was shocked—he hadn’t expected such a fanboy to be sitting right next to him.
“So you’ve succeeded in chasing your idol, haven’t you? You queued up with him last time, and he even came to give you a gift.”
Ji Wei’s sadness deepened, and he admitted honestly, “Not at all. Solve didn’t even accept my friend request.”
Xuan Feng: “Huh? He’s pretty aloof, though. Did you ask for his contact info in person?”
“No, I just added him as a gaming friend.”
Xuan Feng was furious on his behalf. “What? He wouldn’t even give you a gaming friend slot? That’s a bit much.”
As everyone was chatting—
Click!
Without warning, the sound of a grenade pin being pulled came from downstairs.
Someone’s throwing a grenade!
Ji Wei instantly snapped out of his emotions and sprang to his feet.
He took two steps before suddenly realizing something.
He hadn’t moved at all while chatting, so how could anyone know he was upstairs?