translator: xiin
editors: apricot & juurensha
When Asleep first joined the team, Leng Feng had been the one to personally review his application.
At the time, Zhou Xuehai had looked at Asleep’s face and immediately proposed letting him join during the meeting, “Sign him!”
Asleep was very good looking, and he also had certain characteristics: clean skin, lazy and careless eyebrows, and a constant half awake appearance. It held a sense of decadence, yet also had a youth’s unique fierceness.
This face, coupled with his considerable achievements meant that there was a chance that he’d be signed no matter which team he went to.
It was alright if he couldn’t make any achievements, because even if they kept him on just to do live-streaming, he would still be able to help the team gain money and popularity.
Leng Feng and Zhou Xuehai had different ideas. Compared with commercial value, Leng Feng paid more attention to strength.
“Cong Yi is a good player. He has a good overall view of the situation and good game awareness. He’s now playing in the support position, but his hand speed evaluation was very high, and it’s not impossible for him to switch to other positions.”
The coaches also agreed with this, so Zhou Xuehai said, “Cong Yi can be signed too.” The value of a support position was a bit lower, but the signing price wasn’t as high, and it would still bring a pretty good harvest.
Leng Feng didn’t look at him as he brought the topic back to the original subject, “I don’t recommend signing Asleep.”
Zhou Xuehai turned to look at him. “But Asleep is much better than Cong Yi in all aspects!”
Leng Feng words could draw blood with a single hit. “He’s not flexible enough.”
Zhou Xuehai was irritated. “We haven’t even started training him up, how can you know that he isn’t flexible?”
Leng Feng and Zhou Xuehai had worked together for many years, and he was very clear about this guy’s temperament. “We’re not in the entertainment industry.”
What’s the use of just looking at appearance?
In e-sports, being unable to achieve any results was the original sin. If fans wanted to see good looking faces, why not go chase after stars?
There were countless youths with faces better than Asleep’s in the entertainment circle!
Zhou Xuehai was unwilling to accept this. “He plays thief very well.”
Leng Feng: “The jungler position relies on coordination the most. If he doesn’t say a single word, how will he cooperate with his teammates?”
Zhou Xuehai hesitated.
Leng Feng knew what he was greedy for. “Even if he does live streaming, the fans won’t buy into it if he remains silent like a depressed gourd, either.”
This sentence was enough to convince Zhou Xuehai.
He just thought that Asleep was good looking and he played games well, so when the time came, he could open up a live broadcast to attract fans. But he’d forgotten that as an anchor, his ability to speak was more important than anything else.
After Leng Feng’s sharp comments, the final decision made at the meeting was to sign Cong Yi and let Asleep go.
Unexpectedly, when Leng Feng notified Cong Yi, Cong Yi didn’t hesitate to refuse. “No.”
Leng Feng thought that he was displaying a child’s temper, “I know that you and Asleep have a good relationship, but you can’t give up on your own future because of your friends.”
Cong Yi shook his head. “I came here with him, and I won’t leave him.”
Leng Feng stared at him, his gaze probing. “I truly appreciate the importance you place on your relationships, but Asleep isn’t suitable to play professionally.”
Cong Yi lifted his head to look at him. “Why.”
There was a sand table behind Leng Feng. He pointed to the jungler position and said, “Glory is a team game, and the canyon is a battlefield for five people. A player who can’t communicate with his teammates and can only play by himself doesn’t match the competition.”
There was no way for Cong Yi to refute this.
Leng Feng continued, “Asleep’s personal strength is very high, and I’m also very sorry to let him go, but you understand his situation better than anyone else. Do you really think that he can be suitable for this position? Do you really feel that a person who can’t communicate with people properly can lead the team to victory?”
Cong Yi’s eyebrows pulled together tightly in a frown, and his tone held a hint of childish obstinacy, “He can do it.”
Leng Feng looked at him in silence.
Cong Yi gritted his teeth, clenched his fists, and entered a standoff against Leng Feng.
After a while, Leng Feng sighed. “Cong Yi, the e-sports world is cruel. A person with an unstable mental state… this place isn’t suitable for such a person.”
We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.
He’d already stepped out of bonds with these words.
Jbcu Tl: “Criffq’r wfcaji rajaf lr nfgs ubbv!”
Ofcu Mfcu: “……”
Jbcu Tl’r nblmf gjlrfv eq ecmbcrmlberis. “Ktfgf’r cb qgbyifw klat tlw, tf pera vbfrc’a ilxf mbwweclmjalcu klat qfbqif!”
Ofcu Mfcu: “……”
Jbcu Tl gfjilhfv atja tf’v ibra mbcagbi jcv vgbqqfv tlr ujhf. “Vbggs.”
Ofcu Mfcu gfjiis jqqgfmljafv Jbcu Tl’r mtjgjmafg. Yatfgklrf, tf kbeivc’a tjnf rjlv rb wemt, “Po sbe gfjiis kjca ab tfiq tlw, atfc sbe rtbeivc’a ifa tlw fcafg atf qgbofrrlbcji jgfcj.”
Cong Yi hung his head and didn’t say anything for a long time. Finally, he uttered a very light sentence, his voice hoarse, “…… But he likes Glory.”
This sentence hit Leng Feng hard.
The emotions in Cong Yi’s eyes were solidly blocked by his hair, but his shoulders trembed. “In his whole life, he’s only ever accepted Glory, and this is the first time he’s taken the initiative to come out…” Out of his own world, out of the quiet and silence. It was the first time he’d attempted to come into contact with the world outside.
Leng Feng couldn’t say anything.
Cong Yi looked at him. The youth’s eyes were both questioning and filled with longing. “You really can’t give him a chance? I believe that he can do it. He’s different when he plays games, and maybe he… maybe he can learn to communicate with people in Glory.”
Leng Feng couldn’t bear it, but he still had to tell him the truth, “The competition won’t wait for anyone.” It wouldn’t wait for them to grow, wouldn’t wait for them to change, and wouldn’t wait for them to learn.
Anyone who stepped into this circle without being fully prepared would only be torn to shreds.
Cong Yi’s gaze grew a little distant. “Sorry.”
He’d been too naive. The club needed mature players and ready-made achievements, not a vague and uncertain future.
Leng Feng felt like he’d been stabbed in the heart when he saw him like this. “I can give you guys a chance.”
Cong Yi looked up at him abruptly.
Leng Feng knew that he shouldn’t be soft hearted, but this heart of his had never had anything to do with the meaning behind his own name. “I can’t guarantee if this will be a good thing or bad thing for Asleep.”
meaning behind his own name – Leng Feng’s name actually means ‘cold front’
“I understand!” Cong Yi bowed to him deeply, “Thank you!”
Leng Feng took responsibility for this decision and signed both Cong Yi and Asleep.
At first, he’d been the one who was most opposed to signing Asleep; later on, he was the one who’d had the most expectations for Asleep.
Zhou Xuehai only remembered Asleep’s commercial value, but Leng Feng was always anticipating––waiting for the time when Asleep and Cong Yi would break through their cocoon and become a butterfly.
The five people from 3U queued until midnight, until the assistant coach urged them, “Let’s stop here for today.”
Li Chun, who’d been enduring for several hours and almost felt like he could no longer breathe, got up and said, “Captain, Brother Yi, I’ll be going back to the dormitory first.”
Cong Yi: “Go ahead.”
Asleep nodded very lightly.
The team’s top-laner and marksman also got up one after another and said goodbye together.
Only Asleep and Cong Yi were left in the big training room.
Cong Yi released his mouse and looked at him. “Double queue?”
Asleep: “……”
Cong Yi got up and said, “Wait, I’ll go and smoke a cigarette first.”
Asleep: “……”
Cong Yi knew that Asleep didn’t like it when he smoked, but God Yi showed a rare moment of ‘obliviousness’.
Only Asleep was left in the training room, but his expression didn’t change at all. He wouldn’t become more active because there were a large number of people in the training room, and he wouldn’t be depressed because he was on his own.
He sat there in his seat, staring at the Glory canyon that had its defined limits and felt very calm.
Fixed maps, where every corner was familiar. Even the positioning of the jungle creeps was invariable.
But very different battles took place every time in this unchanging canyon.
Asleep liked it here––
He liked the constant and ever-changing, the familiar and the strange, the limited yet free Glory canyon.
He opened up a training module and poked sporadically at the red jungle creep.
One trait of a professional jungler was to have a good relationship with the red and blue daddies in the jungle zones. They had to know how to try and avoid their attacks in the early stages to retain their health, how to control their health bar, how to ensure maximum DPS, and they even had to know how to use punishment (an active skill that dealt damage to jungle creeps). These were all crucial details.
Asleep had just knocked down a red daddy when the sound of a phone ringing entered his ears.
A very recognizable female artist’s song rang out, and Asleep tilted his head to look at Cong Yi’s cell phone.
Cong Yi hadn’t come back yet, and it was impossible for Asleep to answer the phone for someone else.
It was already 12 o’clock in the morning. Could it be something urgent?
Asleep exited out of the training module and picked up the cell phone, preparing to bring it out for Cong Yi.
He inevitably saw the name of the caller when he picked up the cell phone–– Professor Zhang.
Asleep was stunned for a moment.
The call was cut off at this time, and a message popped up, “Aside from Asleep, you also need to pay more attention to your own state.”
When Cong Yi pushed open the door and came in, he saw Asleep sitting in the e-sports chair in a daze.
“What’s the matter?” Others couldn’t understand Asleep’s mood, but Cong Yi could tell with a glance that his mood wasn’t right.
Asleep shook his head.
Cong Yi glanced at his cell phone, then looked at Asleep. “Professor Zhang called?”
Asleep nodded.
Cong Yi picked up his cell phone and saw the message on the screen.
Asleep stared fixedly at his computer screen.
Cong Yi laughed briefly. “You saw it?”
Asleep: “……”
Cong Yi put down his cell phone and said very casually, “Professional players all have times when their mentalities aren’t great.”
Asleep looked at him.
Cong Yi laughed. “Don’t worry. I’m just upset by this new competition system.”
Asleep said lightly, “No…”
Cong Yi knew what he wanted to say. “Don’t be scared, there’s nothing to be afraid of.”
Asleep: “……”
Cong Yi entered the game. “Alright, I know you’re powerful. You can abuse Yue Wenle, beat up Quiet, and win against the great demon king.”
Asleep: “Mm.”
The two of them double queued for two hours before Cong Yi yawned and said, “Time to sleep.”
Asleep didn’t move.
Cong Yi looked at the time. “In that case, you keep playing. I’m going to sleep.”
Asleep: “Goodnight.”
Cong Yi: “Goodnight.”
Saying goodnight at two in the morning wasn’t much different from saying good morning.
Asleep single queued in the professional server and played all the way until 7AM.
“Stayed up all night?” A private message popped up.
Asleep looked at that blinding ID––I Love Close The Most.
It had still been ‘I Like Close The Most’ during the opening game, but now it had been changed to ‘love’. Really worthy of being Quiet.
Asleep didn’t like to talk, but he was alright when it came to typing, “You haven’t slept yet either?”
I Love Close The Most: “What are you thinking? Big brother got up early.” My boyfriend went out for a morning run and sleeping on my own was too lonely.
Asleep: “You got up quite early.”
Wei Xiao yawned and teased him, “Nervous?”
“What’s there to be nervous about.”
“You ran into your daddy in the semi-finals.”
Asleep: “……”
Wei Xiao really liked teasing Asleep. “Call me daddy and during the game, I…”
Asleep: “……”
Wei Xiao finished typing, “I possibly won’t spare your life.”
Asleep: “…………”
Wei Xiao’s eyes were filled with laughter. He opened up a game room. “Solo?”
He sent him the room number.
Asleep didn’t want to pay attention to him, but he also couldn’t resist this temptation, so he searched up the room number. Unexpectedly, there was actually a password for the room.
Wei Xiao sent him a private message, “The password is ‘big brother’.”
Asleep: “… I’ll shark you.”
shark – shark and kill sound the same in Chinese. chinese internet joke/meme
Wei Xiao: “Come on, come on, I’m waiting.”
Asleep entered the room and chose a hero within seconds.
Wei Xiao casually took the storm hunter.
Asleep didn’t say much either. After entering the game, he used up his skill points, bought equipment, and entered stealth mode to attack the storm hunter.
This new solo mode was very different from before.
Killing soldiers? Unnecessary.
Developing? No need.
Players had maxed gold, maxed equipment, and maxed levels at the start of the game, and fighting against each other only relied on a player’s operations.
Asleep took the hidden thief, and Wei Xiao had taken the storm hunter.
Although thieves had a natural advantage over hunters, the storm hunter itself had assassin type attributes. When played well, it was difficult to say who would win or lose.
Wei Xiao covered up half the screen with raindrops, attempting to stimulate the stealthed Asleep into coming out. Unexpectedly, Asleep’s positioning was godly and not even half of a raindrop was able to touch him…
There was a whistling sound, and Wei Xiao was stabbed in the back with a blade.
The hidden thief landed on the ground from the shadows, stabbing its dagger into the storm hunter’s back.
Wei Xiao stepped on raindrops to escape, and he even had time to type while doing so, “Brother Sleep, a man’s waist can’t be harmed.”
The author has something to say:
Hello? Is it Captain Lu? There’s a Reckless Wei over here…
Ah, I’ve been killed by the storm hunter’s arrow.
i don’t know what to feel at the moment …i was still immersed in the backstory of Yiyi and Asleep then laughing so hard at Wei xiao last comment😂😅
What’s up with Cong Yi?
Thank you for the chapter~~! 💜💜💜
Thanks for the chapter ♥️♥️
The author note 🤣🤣🤣
Thank you for the chapter ❤️
Thanks for the update 💕💕
“I Love Close the Most” he’s not even trying to hide it any more lol
Cong Yi and Asleep backstory is super sweet. (does anyone know asleep’s name? i can’t seem to recall..)
Same… Maybe the author’s just been calling him Asleep this whole time? Or his name sounds similar to Asleep in Chinese XD
Nope author have not revealed it…And not just Asleep, even Moonlit, Eurostar names are also not revealed….
congyi and asleep relationship are ao cute tbh, i want to ship them as well (｡ﾉω＼｡)
whats stopping you 🤗
aahhhh that backstoryyyy
thank you for the chapter 💖
What a lovely chapter huhuhu 😭😭😍😍
I want to see Asleep and Cong Yi’s transformation into butterflies but I want to see FTW win this championship as well. 🙁
Thank you for the chapter.
I read this at first as “a Man’s WRIST can’t be harmed” which makes sense for e-sports but ofc it’s WX and he said WAIST… 😂