Chapter 29 – Unique, Welcome to the Team
Ji Wei ran all the way back.
At that question, his mind went blank. Turning to see Yin Sijue’s half-smile, the feeling of being strangled by the throat returned.
He hadn’t done anything—so why did he feel so guilty?
He didn’t answer, his feet rooted to the spot. Fortunately, the other party didn’t press the issue, so Ji Wei could only sprint out the door with his head held high.
He quickly returned to his room, his phone vibrating in his pocket.
He unlocked the screen, and a bright white light shone on his face. The boy’s cheeks were tinged with pink, and after seeing the message, the color gradually spread to his ears.
S: [Good night.]
Ji Wei slammed his head into the pillow, choking on the thought:
He probably wouldn’t be able to sleep tonight.
…
The next day, when Yin Sijue woke up, the drowsiness from the day before had clearly faded.
It seemed the medicine was indeed working.
He picked up the ear thermometer by his bed and took a reading. Ding ding. 37 degrees.
He opened his phone and saw a message from Xu Shaoqiu pinned at the top.
Last night, after sending his goodnight message, he’d fallen asleep. Ji Wei’s reply was at the bottom, but Yin Sijue still opened the [Weiwei Dounai] chat box first.
Each of his friends on WeChat had a strict label and grouping, such as AVG Xu Shaoqiu, AVG Tree, and so on.
Only Ji Wei did Yin Sijue leave untouched. He couldn’t say why—perhaps because the username was interesting and easy to confuse—so he kept it.
Weiwei Dounai: [Cat Goodnight/jpg]
Yin Sijue stared at the picture of the cat with its head tilted, and his mind flashed back to the boy half-kneeling on the ground last night, looking up at him, the fine hairs on his face clearly visible.
He always seemed to post pictures that looked a lot like himself.
His recollections were interrupted by the persistent stream of messages from Xu Shaoqiu:
AVG Xu Shaoqiu: [Are you awake? Is your fever gone?]
AVG Xu Shaoqiu: [I’m going to knock on the door. I have something urgent to discuss. Don’t hit me!]
Just as he finished reading, a series of steady knocks echoed.
Yin Sijue stood up and opened the door, revealing Xu Shaoqiu’s bearded, bitter face.
“Just woke up. My fever’s gone. Let me wash my face.”
Walking into the bathroom, Yin Sijue brushed his teeth as he pulled a disposable razor from the bottom drawer and handed it to Xu Shaoqiu.
The haggard-faced man sighed in understanding and stood at the sink beside him.
“Wolf hasn’t come back yet, and he hasn’t replied to my messages. I’ve asked someone to look for him.”
“…”
The only sound in response was the hum of the electric toothbrush.
Xu Shaoqiu continued, “The coaching staff has evaluated and decided to make substitutions for the playoffs. The league requires lineup changes to be reported in advance, so I came over to discuss this with you.”
Yin Sijue glanced at him, his look meaning: What exactly is there to discuss?
After the last few weeks of competition, he had only one thought left: as long as it wasn’t that weirdo, anyone would be fine.
Xu Shaoqiu quickly shaved off his stubble. “It’s most likely Jerry. He was the one on the substitute list.”
Yin Sijue nodded, unsurprised. Every year, AVG listed a substitute on the competition roster. Previously it had been Wolf, and this year it would most likely be Jerry.
“I called you here to say…” Xu Shaoqiu spoke tentatively. “Actually, I listed two substitutes this time.”
The man finished washing up and asked, somewhat surprised, “Who?”
The moment he spoke, he had a premonition.
“Unique.”
Yin Sijue was stunned for a moment. “Didn’t you say he wouldn’t be revealed yet?”
Xu Shaoqiu rubbed his hands. “Indeed, he wasn’t. There was no publicity when the substitute ID was submitted. Maybe it’s because we’ve never changed substitutes before, and no one paid attention to the list this time.”
“If the audience didn’t notice, would the other teams notice either?”
Xu Shaoqiu said quietly, “Even if they did, do you think they could guess this Unique is the streamer Unique?”
Yin Sijue: .
Xu Shaoqiu: “They probably thought it was just AVG’s new youth trainee…”
Yin Sijue left the bathroom and returned to his room, sitting down and resting his head on one hand, thinking for a moment.
“So, are you planning on playing him this time?”
Xu Shaoqiu leaned against the wall, arms folded. “I came here to ask your opinion. I saw you spoke highly of Unique during your… argument with Wolf yesterday.”
“How could I have argued with him?”
“Okay, okay,” Xu Shaoqiu surrendered. “Just insulted him unilaterally.”
“So, what’s your opinion?”
Yin Sijue lifted his eyelids and glanced at him. “You’re asking me now, which means you’ve already made up your mind but you’re not sure yet. If you had already decided, like when you put Wolf in the starting lineup, you wouldn’t have asked me.”
Xu Shaoqiu was defeated. “Okay, I know that was the worst decision I’ve ever made. Let’s not talk about it, okay?”
He paused, then added, “To be honest, I kind of want to play Unique.”
The room was silent. Yin Sijue looked at him, without a trace of surprise in his eyes.
Xu Shaoqiu could only continue. “Judging from the data over this period, he really is the most capable player on the second team. But I’m scared. First, putting such a controversial streamer in the starting lineup won’t guarantee the public reaction he’ll face. Second, I’m afraid he’ll turn out like Wolf—excellent personal skills, but refuses to follow orders, and won’t mesh well with you…”
Yin Sijue: “I can’t give you an answer to the first point.”
“As for the second point…”
The man seemed to recall something, his eyes narrowing slightly.
“Personally, I think he’s quite well-behaved and wouldn’t disobey.”
…
“Let me go to the playoffs?”
The meeting room at the second team’s base.
Ji Wei stared wide-eyed at Xu Shaoqiu and the assistant coach, who was clutching a laptop beside him.
“Well, this is the result of our collective discussion. The player accounts have been registered, and the roster has been submitted to the league for review. The official announcement will be made tomorrow.”
“You’ll be training with the first team for the next two days, but don’t move in yet. It’s urgent, and there aren’t any rooms available.”
No, this was too sudden. Ji Wei was still in a daze, his sleepless night making it difficult to focus. Countless questions raced through his mind, but he only managed to ask one subconsciously.
“What about Jerry?”
Xu Shaoqiu: “I’ll talk to him. Our team doesn’t look at seniority, only skill. Jerry’s not unreasonable.”
He patted Ji Wei’s shoulder. “Although your current contract isn’t as good as a starting contract, we’ve talked to the boss about bonuses if you perform well.”
“No, I don’t care about bonuses.” The boy shook his head, somewhat flattered, but unsure what to say.
Playing alongside Yin Sijue had been his goal since the day he submitted his registration form, but he hadn’t expected it to happen so soon.
After a long silence, he clenched his fists, his fingertips turning white before releasing them. Looking up, his eyes were filled with determination.
“Thank you, Coach. I’ll give it my all.”
…
The first team’s training room was almost identical to the second team’s.
Aside from being a few square meters larger, the rest of the setup was practically the same.
When Ji Wei was led there by the staff, he didn’t feel any discomfort—just a faint sense of strangeness.
“Where’s Brother Qiu?”
The staff member tutted. “He’s probably busy terminating Wolf’s contract.”
Ji Wei was a little surprised. “Terminating? Won’t that mean the team has to pay a lot of money?”
“No. His disappearance, unexplained absences, and refusal to compete are enough for us to sue him for breach of contract. Not to mention the Weibo incident. He should be the one paying.”
“Sit here for a while. The team members are still in a meeting upstairs. They’ll be down right away.”
Ji Wei stood there, looking around. He recognized the Solve keyboard to his left, with a single S engraved on the top corner.
Before he could look any further, footsteps came down the stairs. Da Shu hopped down two steps, followed by Mi Li and Yin Sijue.
“Hey, Unique’s here already?”
Perhaps having been informed by the coaching staff, the others quickly accepted Ji Wei as their new teammate.
Da Shu walked over and sat down beside him. “You’ve been thrown into this at the last minute, huh? Super nervous?”
Ji Wei was still a little reserved. “Not bad.”
The gaming chair to his left slid back, and someone sat down, bringing with them a small gust of wind that bent the boy’s hair.
The man he had just met last night was now sitting beside him.
Ji Wei felt the burning sensation in his chest return.
Yin Sijue looked at him calmly, as if none of last night’s excitement had ever happened. “We already know each other, so there’s no need for further introductions.”
“Hmm…”
“Okay, let’s begin training. Time is running out, so you need to get used to our rhythm as quickly as possible.”
…
Miramar map, Picado.
Ji Wei crouched on the rooftop of the Red Building, aiming a 3x scope at the boxing gym.
Solve and Mi Li had jumped onto the third floor of the boxing gym. After grabbing their guns, they prepared to clear the first-floor ring from above.
Ji Wei: “Knocked one at the boxing gym entrance—he crawled inside.”
Mi Li: “I’ll finish him off. No one’s here.”
Da Shu: “Knocked one in the back alley.”
The next second, Ji Wei heard a faint sound through his earpiece. “Footsteps on the third floor of the Zuohong Building.”
Mi Li scoped in. “No windows on the third floor—I can’t see.”
Yin Sijue said succinctly, “Here he comes.”
[unique] used the UMP45 to knock down [Lurenyi]
Ji Wei: “One down on the third floor. Another’s coming from the back street.”
Yin Sijue: “I shot them.”
Da Shu: “Nice! I’ll patrol again. The people who just landed should be cleared out.”
Yin Sijue: “Yes. There’s gunfire from the fourth direction. We’re in the center of the circle, so we’ll hold for now. Everyone report your positions—I’ll get the car.”
Mi Li: “Roof of the boxing gym.”
Da Shu: “Second floor of the blue building on the back street.”
Ji Wei: “On the air conditioner outside the Red Building.”
Mi Li: “?”
Da Shu: “?”
Even Yin Sijue was stunned. “What air conditioner?”
From her rooftop vantage point, Mi Li had the widest view. He zoomed in on the Red Building—
Ji Wei, dressed in clothes that matched the walls, crouched on an air conditioner by the window, blending perfectly with the building. Without a close look, he was invisible.
Mi Li: “…6”
Da Shu: “Oh my god, how did you get up there? Teach me!”
Ji Wei: “Crawled up the water pipe. I’ll tell you after the fight.”
Yin Sijue drove past and paused for two seconds outside Ji Wei’s building.
One character sat in the car. The other crouched on the air conditioner. They stared at each other from a distance.
Ji Wei looked down at the parked car, inexplicably nervous, his Adam’s apple bobbing.
“It’s time to close the circle. Air conditioner operator, keep an eye on the ones ahead,” Yin Sijue said before driving off.
…
By the end of the day, the group had won effortlessly.
As Da Shu closed the results screen for his sixth game of PUBG, a question crossed his mind:
Is this really Unique’s first day here?
It felt as if he had already been playing with them for a long time.
Especially with their captain—several times, even before Solve gave a command, Unique was already standing at the exact spot he wanted, as if the two shared some kind of telepathy. Their coordination was uncanny.
It almost seemed like the one who had been Solve’s teammate for years wasn’t Da Shu, but Unique.
Da Shu was never one to keep his doubts to himself. When he saw Ji Wei take off his headset, he immediately went over and patted him on the shoulder.
“You and my brother knew each other before, didn’t you?”
“Huh?” Ji Wei was startled by the question, stammering, “We… ran into each other once while streaming, and later got matched in a game.”
He spoke very softly. Yin Sijue was right beside him, headset still on. Ji Wei didn’t know if he had heard.
Da Shu: “I’m not about to forget what happened last month. I mean before that.”
Ji Wei’s scalp tingled. “…We didn’t know each other.”
Da Shu: “Oh, fine. Then I think you should dig deep into your family tree. Maybe you two were twin brothers in a past life.”
Ji Wei: “…”
Who would want to be brothers with him?
“Let’s go eat.”
Ji Wei turned his head. At some point, Yin Sijue had already taken off his headset, the sides of his cheeks slightly red where the pads had pressed against them.
The man looked at him, a hint of mischief in his eyes.
“I forgot to say earlier—Unique, on behalf of AVG’s captain, welcome to the team.”