Chapter 24 – Spring Decision
“It’s half past eight. Get up, and let’s go eat… Oh, I bought you some AD calcium.”
“Hey…”
“Brother Feng woke up and didn’t see you. He thought you were kidnapped by human traffickers. He went out and told Wu You and the others. Wu You insisted that he ate children. I didn’t say anything… You better explain it well later, haha.”
“Hehe~”
“…”
Things were progressing as Lin Xingling had expected. The hype of Clear helping TG enter the finals only lasted for a few days. The incident that happened last week was hardly mentioned this week.
Well, Brother Feng was always happy with peace and quiet.
During this time, he focused on training the team for practice matches without any specific rhythm.
Activities such as live streaming were stopped, and the official Weibo account of the team remained silent except for notifications about player changes.
The top account on the following list was “DCT-Clear,” and apart from that, the DCT team completely disappeared.
Their fans were used to this, so they didn’t think much of it.
Cheng Che understood it even more.
The hidden strategy was to quickly refine their tactics and secure victory in the KPL Autumn Qualifier on Saturday, securing a temporary spot in the KPL and the opportunity to compete.
Cheng Che’s thoughts aligned closely with Lin Xingling’s. After winning against FG (the former KPL champion team) on Saturday, they planned to sign a contract with a live streaming platform and officially start operating their Weibo account.
During this period, everything was calm, and Cheng Che played many games with them. They didn’t make any major mistakes, and their performance was nearly perfect.
In the top lane, Phantom collaborated with the jungler Wu You to pressure the enemy marksman and support. In the mid lane, Liu Ying was outstanding. The coordination between Cheng Che and Lin Xingling as the duo in the bottom lane also improved day by day.
Brother Feng had always been worried that the team’s playstyle would be limited to focusing on protecting Clear, but currently, it seemed that there was no other way.
Fortunately, Cheng Che was steady, and this playstyle posed no problem.
…
Friday evening at six o’clock was the start time for the KPL Spring Finals, with TG, the first-place team from the East, facing SYG, the first-place team from the West.
One was Cheng Che’s former team, and the other was Lin Xingling’s former team.
That night, Brother Feng didn’t organize training for everyone. Instead, he gathered everyone in the living room to watch the KPL Autumn Finals on the TV.
In the first game, TG had an easy victory.
In the second game, SYG had the advantage, but TG stubbornly resisted and managed to come back in the late game.
“What’s wrong with SYG? Charity is useless.” Wu You picked up a glass and took a sip of Sprite, looking disdainful. “They are actually being crushed by TG.”
“It’s because… they lost Stars.” Cheng Che murmured softly, then waved the empty cup he had finished drinking in front of Wu You.
Liu Ying followed suit and waved his own cup in front of Wu You.
Wu You couldn’t hear what they were saying clearly but saw the cups in their hands. “What about you two?”
“Let’s have… another cup.” “This is the last one, really.”
Cheng Che and Liu Ying sat on either side of Wu You, crowding him and not giving him a chance to take the Sprite and run away.
“Don’t drink too much carbonated drinks, or your teeth will hurt.” Brother Feng cracked sunflower seeds and casually lectured them.
Reluctantly, Wu You poured them another Sprite. “I’m only on my second cup, but they’ve already finished their third cups.”
“Drink less, Xiao You. Pour one more cup, and we’ll call it a day.” Lin Xingling took the Sprite bottles from them after Wu You poured for each of them and laughed while looking at Phantom, whose cup was still full and untouched.
Brother Feng added, “You all should learn from Xiao Pei.”
“Hey…”
After a short period of commotion, they turned their attention back to the Autumn Finals live broadcast, which entered the third game.
TG’s Pei Qin Hu System vs. SYG’s Zhenxiang System.
“SYG will win this game.” Lin Xingling took off his glasses and did some eye exercises. When he opened his eyes again, SYG had indeed gained a small advantage.
“Triple Kill!“
SYG’s marksman, Charity, played fiercely. Stepping on double buffs, he led the support into the fray, taking on a 2v3 fight and securing a triple kill without any panic.
The volume of the commentators suddenly increased, “Triple kill! Can he continue?… Taking down Pei Qin Hu! Quadrakill!!!”
SYG pushed down TG’s high ground and then engaged in a decisive team fight in front of TG’s crystal, wiping out the enemy in a 3-for-5 exchange and winning the game to make it 1-2.
The MVP of this game was SYG’s marksman, Charity, whose real name was Chen Enci, a great partner of Lin Xingling.
The two of them were known as the strongest double-core marksmen in the KPL.
In their past lives, SYG’s wild shooting double core and TG’s mid shooting twin stars were the most famous and dominant duo in the KPL arena. They were equally matched and formidable.
Chen Enci’s skill level was second only to Cheng Che, while Lin Xingling’s role was slightly higher than Liu Ying, just slightly.
On the screen, Charity lowered his gaze and smiled, seemingly saying something to Zhi Shi, the midlaner of their team.
Zhi Shi smiled after listening to what he said.
Off-screen, Lin Xingling said, “No need to watch, SYG will win 4:2.”
“Barrier-free communication.”
“In the first game… I always felt something was off, but I can’t pinpoint what exactly.” Brother Feng put down the melon seeds, wiped his hands with a tissue, and patted Lin Xingling’s shoulder, whispering to him.
Uncertain, Lin Xingling asked in response, “Is someone manipulating the odds?”
“Tsk… I hope not.”
If the team intentionally lost the first game to TG due to someone manipulating the odds, it would be a despicable act.
…In theory, SYG wouldn’t do such a thing.
The first game can only be attributed to being in a bad state.
…
On the other side, Wu You and the others didn’t know what the coach and team captain had discussed. They were busy giving their own opinions, “Yes, I agree. TG starts strong, weakens later, and eventually falls, hahaha.”
Liu Ying nodded, “I bet all my betting coins on SYG.”
Wu You added, “I bet my tokens on SYG too, and I bet on Charity for FMVP… I placed the same bet for Xiao Pei.”
Phantom glanced at him helplessly but didn’t say anything.
Cheng Che calmly picked up his cup, tilted his head back, and finished off more than half a cup of Sprite.
Then he choked on his drink after being startled by Wu You’s next words.
Wu You asked, “Ying Mei’er[mfn]”Ying” with the term “Mei’er,” which means “little beauty” or “little charm” in Chinese.[/mfn], didn’t you bet FMVP on your Lian Shen?”
Confused, Liu Ying replied, “I did, why do you ask?”
Cheng Che coughed uncontrollably, “Ahem, ahem, ahem, ahem, ahem…”
A sudden realization struck him. “Ah Rong… Lian Rong??” Liu Ying, do you like Ah Rong? What the hell? He’s a Sea King! He changes girlfriends more often than clothes… Tsk, quickly avoid the Sea King lightning!”
Lin Xingling patted his back lovingly to help him recover, while nagging, “Drink slowly, no rush.”
“You, you like Lian… Mmm…” Cheng Che didn’t even finish speaking the name before Wu You covered his mouth. “Hmm?”
Wu You: “Hush.”
Mysteriously, why couldn’t they talk about it?
Cheng Che couldn’t understand.
The next second, he understood.
Liu Ying transformed into a teenage girl, clasping his hands in front of his chest, “Yes, I do like the Lian Shen, but it’s the kind of liking one has for an idol… Hmm… It would be even better if I could be with him.”
Cheng Che, who had never seen him like this before, finally realized. His eyes widened.
“Here we go again. Fine, let’s treat it as accompanying Brother Che to listen to Ying Mei’er’s crush story again.” Wu You facepalmed, then picked up his cup, wanting to take a sip of Sprite, only to find that he had already finished it.
“Oh, Xiao Pei—”
Without hesitation, he snatched Phantom’s cup and took a big gulp, “Refreshing!”
Phantom rolled his eyes and ignored him.
“I’ve been watching and chasing after Lian Shen since the autumn of 2016 in the KPL…”
“…”
While everyone watched the game and half-listened to Liu Ying talking about his infatuation with Lian Rong, it was all insignificant little things.
Teenage concerns.
Except for Cheng Che, who was attentively listening, everyone else’s focus was mostly on the game, with Wu You occasionally chiming in.
SYG won two consecutive games, and Liu Ying also commented on both games. This time it was shorter, finishing within an hour.
Wu You grew tired of listening and lay on the sofa, sliding down like a puddle of water. Cheng Che helped him up, but he slipped down again. After several attempts, Cheng Che finally managed to keep him in place.
“You should sit properly.”
Brother Feng threw a melon seed at Wu You’s face and said, “If you want to sleep, go back to your room.”
“I’m not sleeping, I’m waiting to see SYG win the championship~” Wu You yawned and smiled, cracked open a melon seed, and threw the shell into the trash can.
Cheng Che also seemed a bit absent-minded. Lin Xingling patted his shoulder and smiled, “Feeling sleepy?”
“No.”
Cheng Che shook his head and then gave Liu Ying a thumbs-up. “Um, hope you can… fulfill your wish.”
…That’s nonsense; he doesn’t deserve it. You deserve someone better.
“Thanks for the well-wishes, hahaha.” Liu Ying looked at the TV screen, which was showing TG’s mid laner, Lian Rong.
Lian Rong looked serious as he stared at the enemy jungler, Lava. He said something, but it wasn’t audible.
“…”
SYG won the fifth game as well, and the current score was 3:2, with SYG having one match point.
In the sixth game, Lin Xingling guessed that TG would pick Dun Shan , and he was right. Then he guessed that SYG would pick Guan Yu and Marco Polo, and he was right again.
He guessed that TG would contest the first Dominator, and he guessed that SYG and TG would exchange dragons, and both guesses were correct.
Spoiler-based blind guessing.
Brother Feng raised an eyebrow. “This game will be delayed by twenty minutes.”
“Yes, TG has to control the red buff if they want to win.”
While Lin Xingling and Brother Feng were engrossed in watching the game, Cheng Che quietly bent down to reach for the Sprite next to his leg.
However, he was suddenly bumped by Wu You, who had abruptly stood up, and accidentally ended up leaning on Lin Xingling’s leg.
Lin Xingling looked down and said, “Hey?”
This is so embarrassing…
Cheng Che immediately stood up, but in the process, he bumped his chin.
“Ouch…” “Tsk…”
One was clutching their head, the other was rubbing their chin.
“You two… Do the marksman and support have some kind of telepathy?” Brother Feng mercilessly mocked.
Liu Ying asked worriedly, “Are you okay?”
“We’re… we’re fine.” “It’s fine, don’t worry.”
They simultaneously spoke again…in unison.
After speaking, they looked at each other in a synchronized manner. Lin Xingling looked bewildered, while Cheng Che apologized sheepishly, “Sorry… I’m sorry.”
“It’s okay.”
TL/Note:
[mfn_list]