Chapter 20 – Team Up for a Live Stream!
On Monday, Xu Shaoqiu called everyone to the training room.
“The live broadcast room is ready. Unique will be here tonight. Clean up your space and don’t make a fool of yourselves.”
Da Shu heard this and pushed the snack bag on the table aside. “We’re all just playing games. Why are we being so particular?” he said with a pout.
Xu Shaoqiu rolled his eyes at him. “The second team’s computer desks are spotless! I never see any trash whenever I go over there. And you? If the cleaning lady didn’t come regularly, you’d be playing in a dump. Wait—whose desk has an ashtray? Didn’t I say no smoking?”
Mi Li turned around. “Wolf. He just took a call.”
Xu Shaoqiu crossed his arms. “I’ll wait for him to come down. I’m definitely confiscating his cigarettes today. Why is he smoking at such a young age?”
Da Shu whispered, “Brother Qiu, he’s been unhappy for days since you scolded him last time. Please don’t bother him anymore.”
Xu Shaoqiu was puzzled. “How did I scold him? Wasn’t that just a routine review? I pointed out everyone’s issues. Didn’t I also address yours?”
The sound of footsteps coming down the stairs mixed with a hoarse voice.
“So you’re singling me out to make it look like I have a bad attitude?”
Unfazed, Xu Shaoqiu turned to Wolf and explained, “Why would you think that? Everyone makes mistakes, even your captain. The important thing is to recognize the problem and fix it promptly. And quit smoking. Players have an obligation to take care of themselves.”
Wolf scoffed and ignored him, returning to his seat and pulling out a chair.
Xu Shaoqiu had been in the esports industry long enough to have dealt with plenty of rebellious kids. He stubbornly went over and took Wolf’s ashtray.
“I’m confiscating this! No more smoking!”
…
Knowing he’d be joining the first team that night, Ji Wei spent the entire day in a state of trepidation.
He usually didn’t care about his appearance. During live streams, he would just wet his frizzy hair with water after washing his hands, which only made it puff up worse once it dried.
For a while, his fans had been calling him the Lion King of the Rainforest.
In the afternoon, he suddenly grabbed Ban and asked, “Is there a barbershop nearby?”
Ban scratched his head and thought. “There’s one in the neighborhood, but it’s super expensive and requires an appointment. The ones outside are a bit far.”
“Okay…” Ji Wei lowered his head dejectedly.
Ban asked, “What’s wrong? Why do you suddenly need a haircut? I’ll take you on Sunday, when we have the day off. I know a really good Tony in the city center—he actually understands what I’m saying!”
Ji Wei hesitated. “I just want to get a haircut right now… Can you check? Is my hair too long? Will it make me look sloppy or lazy?”
Ban frowned. “No, it’s not even as long as mine. Why are you suddenly so concerned about your appearance today?”
Ji Wei didn’t know why.
It just felt like… after finally getting to see Yin Sijue, he wanted to look better.
After a few seconds, Ban suddenly realized. “Oh! I forgot you’re going back on air today!”
“Uh, right… right…” Ji Wei breathed a sigh of relief. No need to think too hard about the reason.
Ban patted his shoulder cheerfully. “Don’t worry about it. You’re already handsome enough. I was wondering if your fans only liked you because of the beauty filter, but it doesn’t seem to make a difference offline. Remember to queue with me tonight.”
Ji Wei blushed slightly at the compliment. “Okay. I’ll go live at seven and maybe interact with the comments. I’ll pick you up at seven-thirty?”
“Okay! I’ll be waiting in front of the screen~” Ban grinned.
That evening, Ji Wei barely ate a bite before heading to Team One’s base a little after six.
The first floor led into the living and dining rooms, where several team members were still eating dinner.
Ji Wei hadn’t figured out how to greet them before quietly poking his head through the door to observe.
As luck would have it, the diners were all pro players with sharp hearing. The sound of the door opening made them glance over, exchanging bewildered looks.
Ji Wei: “…0.0”
The others looked at each other in silence. Da Shu stared at him for a long moment before asking,
“What are you doing?”
“Ha… haha…!”
Ji Wei stiffened his neck. Meeting Yin Sijue’s gaze, his mind went blank. He let out a few awkward laughs. “I have to go live again tonight. I need to get ready!”
As soon as he finished, he quickly shut the door and scurried to the living room sofa like a startled rat, scratching his hair in frustration.
In the dining room, Da Shu glanced at the others with amusement, clearly wanting to tease.
“Hurry up and eat, then finish training,” Yin Sijue said.
“Okay, brother.”
After dinner, Xu Shaoqiu took Ji Wei upstairs to tour the newly renovated live studio.
The vacated utility room wasn’t large, but it was beautifully decorated, fully equipped, and even had a few PUBG maps taped to the wall as background props.
“See if there’s anything missing. Tell me, and I’ll have someone buy it next time.”
Ji Wei’s eyes lit up. This was so much better than his old, shabby rental apartment, where his stream background was just his bed and front door.
“No, no, it’s perfect already. Thanks, Brother Qiu!”
“Then take a look around and get familiar with it. I’ll ask the platform for a few more moderators. Your return stream will be trending on Aurora TV this afternoon. I expect a lot of people will be watching. Be prepared.”
After Xu Shaoqiu left, Ji Wei expertly adjusted the various livestreaming devices. He opened a video preview and realized he had just messed up his hair.
Silently straightening it, he noticed it was only 6:30, so he decided to check out the game map.
The new version of the Sano map included a building-destruction feature, which he wasn’t familiar with yet.
At 7:15, he opened Aurora TV and discovered that his account—created only the day before—already had 100,000 followers.
Ji Wei finally understood what Brother Qiu meant by “going viral.” He hadn’t been nervous before, but now he suddenly felt uneasy.
Regardless, he moved his mouse and clicked [Start Live].
The comments immediately flooded in:
[“Make way! I’m sitting in the first row!”]
[“Unico, Unico~ We love you!”]
[“Holy crap! This image quality! This background! This is the first time I’ve seen Weiwei’s face clearly!”]
[“Seriously? We were worried you’d starve if you stopped streaming, but you seem to be doing pretty well now. Why do you look a little fatter?”]
[“Not fatter, okay? The old camera was just too blurry. HD always makes people look wider.”]
[“Fans of your looks are eating well!! So handsome and cute, and those big eyes—come here, mommy, give me a kiss!”]
The haters who had been watching from the sidelines also joined in:
[“What kind of job did you land? How is it so much better than your old screen-recording streams? Are you being kept by someone?”]
[“This is hilarious! A bunch of women were so worried about you, but now they’re doing way better than you guys.”]
[“Keep throwing yourselves at the streamer. Do you think he’ll even notice you? Women should just stay out of esports. You’re annoying.”]
“If you don’t want to watch, get out. No one invited you.”
Unpleasant words are always hard to ignore. Ji Wei’s face turned cold. He frowned at the screen and blocked those obscene comments for 999 years.
Normally, he didn’t care about insults like [“weak”] or [“bitchy,”] and he had never proactively blocked anyone. But today there were an unusually large number of haters, and their comments were unbearable. He didn’t know why.
Ding ding—a message came in from Xu Shaoqiu, who had been watching the livestream.
AVG Xu Shaoqiu: [After going trending, a lot of people will come in just to dislike. Don’t worry about it. Just keep streaming, and I’ll have the moderators kick them out.]
Ji Wei saw the message and typed a careful reply.
Weiwei Dounan: [OK, got it.]
The comments kept rolling. Compared to Ji Wei, his fans were clearly more aggressive in defending him.
[“This is hilarious! How did I not know games nowadays require horse animation?”]
[“They’ve been streaming for so long. How could they not even have enough money to buy new equipment? Just admit you’re jealous.”]
[“You’re such a petty person with a foul mouth ^＿^”]
Ji Wei silently wrote an “awesome” in his heart.
“Long time no see. How are you all doing?” he asked.
[“Not bad. I’m so bored this summer. I thought I’d get to watch your streams every day, but then you suddenly said you were quitting.”]
[“Weiwei, what are you doing lately? You said you found a job. How’s it going? He’ll definitely be fired and forced to return to livestreaming in shame. How can a streamer without an education even work?”]
[“Are phones that smart these days? Even the pig in front can type the word earnings!”]
“Ahem, maybe no one cares, but… I went to school…” Ji Wei said softly.
The commenters started bickering, and even the streamer himself didn’t bother to respond.
[“This is hilarious! Just because you have a degree, you think you can get a job now?”]
[“What did I say wrong? Being a streamer makes it hard to integrate into normal work life. If you’re alone too long, you won’t get along with colleagues. I never saw him have friends in his previous streams.”]
[“Who are you, Bao Qingtian? Whether he has friends or not—is that your job to judge?”]
[“He took a call from a friend during a livestream once. I think his name was Lin. Can the haters please stop stirring up trouble?”]
Click! Someone pushed the door open.
Ji Wei was startled, remembering Brother Qiu’s warning not to reveal the contract. He hurriedly turned around, trying to signal the person to leave.
The one who came in was Ban. He leaned right into the camera, instantly silencing the chat.
“In case anyone’s trying to stir things up, I’m here to tell you—I’m his colleague and his friend. We’re going to play together tonight. So those of you with nothing better to do can shut up. Bye.”
With that, he coldly exited the camera, leaving the streamer stunned.
As soon as he was off-camera, Ban held up his phone to Ji Wei.
“Brother Qiu asked me to come!! He knew we were duo-queuing tonight and told me to support you! He even specifically told me to act mature. Do you think I seemed mature just now?”
Ban’s parents had sent him to AVG’s youth training program at a very young age. He had never streamed before, nor had he ever attended any major tournaments. Only a handful of people in the club even knew about him, so his sudden appearance didn’t raise suspicion among the viewers.
[“He looks so young! Is this friend really an adult?”]
[“Chubby people tend to look younger, don’t they?”]
[“If you’re coming in, at least send a message first! Hahaha, look how scared the streamer was!”]
[“So you two are living together?”]
“No… no,” Ji Wei said, finally recovering from his shock. After watching Ban step aside, he stammered out an explanation: “Our unit… it’s a dormitory. Everyone lives nearby, so it’s convenient for him to come over, huh.”
It wasn’t exactly a lie. He nodded at the camera, reassuring himself as much as the viewers.
[“This is a fantastic unit—and no rent? Awesome!”]
“Okay, enough chatting. Let’s play. Tonight, my friend and I will lead everyone. Room manager, please pick two viewers for me and send me their IDs.”
Entering the matchmaking lobby, Ban was already online, using the smurf account he had added that afternoon.
“Quite fast…” Ji Wei muttered, adding the viewer the moderator sent him and pulling them into the room.
“Hello, can you hear me?” The player in position one spoke on the mic—a girl with a clear, sweet voice, a little shy.
“Hello! I can hear you. But wait—didn’t expect it to be me!” The other player chosen for position two was also a girl, her voice mellow and cheerful.
“Oh my!” Ban immediately exclaimed in excitement. “Yes, yes, ladies, we can hear you loud and clear.”
[“I really hate this… Why did I get two girls in one draw?”]
[“The streamer’s fans are mostly girls, right?”]
[“I’m a guy! Not only did I not get picked by the streamer, I didn’t even get matched with a girl. How unfair!”]
[“A veteran viewer says this luck is because the streamer always drops with just a pistol and never jumps into safe zones. Do you want it?”]
[“No more”]
[“No more”]
…
Ji Wei couldn’t help laughing at the comments. “How could I be so unlucky? I’m honestly a little embarrassed to have two girls playing with me today.”
“It’s okay,” Ban reminded him. “I believe they knew when they joined the lottery that this isn’t exactly a girls’ game.”
“That’s right,” the two girls replied at the same time.
Ji Wei: …
In the first game, he chose the Rainforest map as everyone requested.
“It’s been so long since I logged in, my ranking has dropped a lot,” Ji Wei said while idly dancing with the others on the spawn island.
“By the way, have you guys played the new version of the Sanhok map? You can destroy terrain and buildings.”
[“You finally get why we asked you to play Sanhok.”]
[“I call it the Sixth Hell version.”]
[“Do you know how embarrassing it is to hide in a room, then get blown up and left standing in the open?”]
[“There are so many hilarious clips on TikTok, hahahaha. Have you seen them, Weiwei?”]
“I haven’t, but I tried it myself these past couple of days, and it’s quite fun.”
Ban was shocked on the other end. He’d also been grinding Sanhok the past few days and was utterly tortured by the new version.
“How can it be fun! When this version dropped, everyone looted all the throwables in Sanhok. Luckily—” He stopped just in time.
Fortunately, this map doesn’t have a competition arena!
Ji Wei smiled. “You can destroy buildings, which is like changing a house’s structure yourself. It gives you more ways to hide.”
No. 1 asked, “So where should we jump this time?”
“For this circle, let’s jump here and grab a car.” He marked a blue dot on the map. “Then we’ll drive to the dock. We probably won’t run into anyone.”
Ban: “Okay, I’ll drive!”
As Ji Wei predicted, they drove all the way to the dock without encountering anyone.
Unfortunately, when they arrived, the dock wasn’t in the safe zone.
Ji Wei: “…It’s fine, as expected. Grab some meds and we’ll drive in later.”
Girl No. 2, stifling a laugh, said, “As expected of you. You’re really unlucky.”
Ji Wei chuckled. While collecting supplies at lightning speed, he was already mentally planning a route into the circle.
They were more than 600 meters from the safe zone—a perfect distance.
Although Sanhok’s map was small, it had resource points clustered close together, making it easy for players to crash into each other and end up in gunfights while escaping the poison zone.
He silently plotted a safe route and focused on gathering projectiles. Even at the small dock, he managed to find eight grenades.
Ji Wei glanced at the comments with a smug look. “See? I’m still lucky, right?”
[“Cute Baby -3-“]
[“Giving You Some Sunshine, You’re Brilliant!”]
After everyone had looted nearly the whole area, they drove toward the safe zone. On the way, the third circle appeared. Under Ji Wei’s command, they ditched the car at the edge of the safe zone.
“These houses will most likely end up inside the next circle. Let’s hole up here.”
No. 2 was puzzled. “Why not go a little further in? That area’s bigger and easier to hide in.”
Ji Wei, playing it up, raised his hand and pushed up imaginary glasses. “There’s only one truth—this is the place I carefully selected.”
No. 2: ?
The anchorman got out of his car, pulled out a grenade, and—finding a tricky angle—tossed a quick-explosion grenade onto the roof.
A small hole blasted open in the wooden shingles.
“Come over here and learn from me later,” Ji Wei called out.
Then, under everyone’s gaze, he climbed onto the roof, lay down, and slowly crawled along the beams inside, blending in with the room.
Ban: “WTF???”
No. 1: “This actually works?”
No. 2 ran into the room to check. “It’s hard to spot from either inside or outside. Amazing!”
Ji Wei jumped down. “There are exactly four houses. Hide like I just did.”
With that, he went around and blew a small, neat hole in each of the other houses.
[“???”]
[“I’m impressed this version can even be played like this.”]
[“Lao Liu’s simple tricks ruined my life again.”]
[“Next time you see a bombed house, throw a grenade! If he’s up there, good luck hitting him…”]
[“The beams in these houses used to be impossible to climb, but he’s figured it out again.”]
[“Easy to do… clean and solid… I’ll learn this!”]
The four of them hid between the beams and the roof, successfully wiping out two squads that wandered into the circle.
No. 2: “Honestly, this is the easiest kill I’ve ever gotten in this game.”
No. 1 was also thrilled: “Great!”
But three minutes later, the houses were no longer in the safe zone.
Ji Wei: “The circle’s shrunk to the plains. No houses left to hide in. Let’s crawl forward.”
The four climbed down and prepared to move into the circle.
Ban followed Ji Wei across the open, windy plains, hoping for safety.
“…your clothes,” Ji Wei muttered.
Ban was wearing PUBG’s insanely expensive red mech skin—bright, glossy, and a size bulkier than the others. He looked like a giant red arrowhead sprouting from the grass.
Seeing such a living target crawling beside him, Ji Wei’s vision darkened. He immediately scuttled to the side.
“Uh, yeah… we better not lie together.”
Ban instantly got it. “I know! Wait, there’s a green one—I’ll change.”
“Okay, okay, hurry up and change.”
The new skin made Ji Wei want to slap him.
[“Oh my god, fluorescent mantis!”]
[“I was just wondering who actually buys all those ugly, overpriced skins Bluehole keeps dropping. Turns out it’s you…”]
[“Unique must have mentally written a thousand ‘patience, patience’ mantras…”]
[“Is the streamer regretting agreeing to duo with him?”]
A little, indeed.
Ji Wei pondered in silence.
In the end, Ban’s ridiculously conspicuous suit still got him spotted by the enemy. Their positioning wasn’t great either, so they unfortunately finished second—a complete loss.
Ji Wei: “Number Four, hurry up…”
Ban: “I know, I know, I’ll change right away. Oh my god, it’s been ages since I last wore one of those free skins.”
Ji Wei: “Okay, enough talking.”
In the following games, perhaps because Ban’s butterfly suit was no longer in play, things went relatively smoothly, and Ji Wei won most of them.
Once, facing an opponent who was also hiding, Ji Wei simply tossed a C4 into the house in the center of the circle, securing an easy victory.
At 11:15, Ji Wei said goodbye to his fans.
“From now on, I’ll be streaming on Saturdays and Sundays. Don’t miss it.”
[“You’ve changed! Didn’t you always stream on Fridays and Saturdays? QwQ”]
[“Forget about me.”]
[“My kid has school now, please be understanding.”]
[“Please update Weibo more often!”]
“Got it. I’ll interact with everyone on Weibo when I have time. My Weibo name’s on my homepage. I’m logging off now. Good night, everyone.”
After turning off the livestream, Ji Wei took off his headphones and let out a long breath.
His first day back on air had gone much smoother than he’d expected. He was genuinely happy.
Just then, Xu Shaoqiu knocked on the door.
“Unique? Done already? Auntie cut up some fruit—let’s have some.”
“Coming,” Ji Wei replied, opening the door and heading to the dining room with his coach.
“By the way, Brother Qiu, thanks for helping with the ban when the broadcast started.”
Xu Shaoqiu waved him off. “Oh, that was nothing. We’re family. If you need anything, just talk to me. If I hadn’t been watching the stream, the rhythm would’ve gone off the rails.”
“Yeah,” Ji Wei’s eyes lit up.
“Hurry up,” Xu Shaoqiu said with a smile, patting him on the back. “Otherwise, they’ll eat it all before we get there.”