These days, Li Zhongchen would wake up naturally before 9 o’clock.
He would get up early day after day, eating a bowl of hot noodles first thing in the morning. When it was time, he would supervise the training of the new members, then give Zheng Xiaokui additional training in the afternoon. But occasionally, special events would occur. FOr example, he dreamed of Qiao Yi once.
Almost two years had passed. Qiao Yi was like the muscle memory from when he played FPS games. There was no way for him to forget.
At this time, Li Zhongchen was playing ranked matches on his alternate account. After ending a few matches, Yao Tong joined the team uninvited, but as the computer he used was far from the other, the two of them could only turn on their mics and converse through the voice channel.
Li Zhongchen casually asked. “How was training these few days?”
Yao Tong: “It was fine. We have been practicing both the assault positions and defense. Initially we were playing by the books, but we have made some big improvements. But speaking of which, it’s quite fun playing the meat shield. It’s good material.”
Trying to grab onto both roles, Li Zhongchen was aware that he did not think much of Zheng Xiaokui.
Admittedly, the essence of both periods were not very different, but the training in the later half was more important. Although it looked as though he had chosen Zheng Xiaokui who had not joined for only a short period of time by drawing lots and was taken as a joke by everyone else, but in actual fact, he was confident that he would be able to train the young lady to surpass all expectations.
Yao Tong spoke again. “Don’t even say it. Although Zheng Xiaokui doesn’t look all that smart, during team practice, everyone was complimenting her on how quickly she was improving. She really is the closed door disciple chosen and trained by our Brother E.”
Li Zhongchen: “You with the surname Yao, you insult me.”
Yao Yong: “My ass, what opinions can I have when you’re training an assaulter? That is already the highest standard of special training you can get in the national server. Anyway, it’s exactly because of how you treat the healer like a constantly refreshing output, you only care about rushing forwards and never healing anyone. As long as you aren’t training a healer, everything else can be discussed.”
“Get lost.” After hearing what was said, Li Zhongchen chuckled silently to himself, the unruly rebelliousness once again reappearing on his handsome features.
In fact, he had changed quite a lot ever since he stopped playing professionally. That sense of ruthlessness had been watered down to the point of disappearing completely. He was still really handsome, but it was as though there was something that was missing.
Since team SVG’s debut from the grassroots level to when they swept the battlefields, they had made some great achievements, holding all kinds of trophies from different competitions until their hands grew soft. Echo had contributed a lot to them.
— But at the same time, it seemed like a cloud of smoke from the past.
As they chatted, they played a few more matches. Every one of their teammates were passers by.
During that time, Yao Tong went to grab something to drink. Li Zhongchen could not help it and went to open the Newcomers’ competition’s registration list window. The deadline for registration had long been displayed, but he had gone there only to see a certain someone’s name.
On the page that reflected every team’s new members, it was arranged according to last year’s top three in the national league. MW was ranked first—-
– Team: MW team
– New Star: Sugi / Leading: Joe
…
…
Not long after, Yao Tong returned. His voice came through the earphones. “Let’s continue, I’ll change hands and try out your Brother Dog.”
Li Zhongchen collected his thoughts and switched back to the interface of Apex.
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.
Brother Dog was the nickname for Bloodhound. It was the assault hero that Li Zhongchen used most often. Bloodhound’s tracker ability was impressive. For enemies who were alone or were in the process of consuming healing items, Bloodhound would cause them to have nowhere to hide. This was assuredly the hero with the most aggressive playstyle.
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Li Zhongchen on the other hand did not play Brother Shield. “Let’s play double assault. I’ll take Mirage?”
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As soon as he thought of that, a healer with the ID Sssss really came.
They got on the plane and chose a destination. Yao Tong directed the flight.
It was common that passers by teammates did not turn on their mics. Li Zhongchen and Yao Tong never cared, directly turning on their team voice chat in order to communicate more conveniently in game. But this round, it was a little strange. The passer by teammate they were matched up with paused after landing and did not respond for a few seconds.
[Yo Yo Check It Out y]: Brother, can you hear us talk? You didn’t even turn on your mic, if you’re going to be that way we’ll just play as a duo.
[Sssss]: I can hear you.
[Yo Yo Check It Out y]: Alright then, we won’t abandon you.
Li Zhongchen did not take it to heart. Normally when he was matched up with passers by, he would treat his matches like he was playing solo queue, reaping heads on his own. Others were not able to keep up with his speed.
The start of this round was a little rough. The passer by teammate moved independently, and Li Zhongchen felt that the other had skills but was trying to conceal it.
Later, the slow pace caused Li Zhongchen to crave for a cigarette again. He reached for a piece of candy from the candy jar and popped it into his mouth.
But Yao Tong unmistakingly heard it. “How many years have you been a hard core smoker? If you want to smoke, then just smoke a cigarette occasionally. By simply depending on a few pieces of candy to quit smoking, isn’t it difficult?”
Li Zhongchen: “It’s not difficult. They are all candies given to me by my ex.”
The passer by teammate had been climbing the chain at this time and his positioning deviated, causing the view of the hero that Li Zhongchen was operating to shake.
Young Master Yao continued to chatter on. “Wasn’t it sweet when you were still together? If you have the ability, go boast about it outside. Now that he’s back, I don’t believe that you can continue to be calm about it.”
This time, Li Zhongchen switched out for a sniper rifle, speedily taking down two enemies at a distance.
He switched back to an assault rifle, operating Brother Shield to continue on forwards. “Can I not be calm? When he went to America, what he signed was not indentured servitude. I should have known that his old club would always save a place for him.”
Young Master Yao continued. “Speaking of which, you’re really mother fucking not affected or melodramatic.”
Li Zhongchen laughed angrily. “He is now someone else’s fiance. Even if this engagement was to sell someone a favor, isn’t it ugly for me to just be blindly melodramatic?”
The both of them fell silent for a few seconds, only because [Sssss] urged them to hurry up and enter the circle through team chat.
But Yao Tong had a talkative personality. As he entered the circle, he continued to talk. “Ai, in the beginning, it was already difficult for him to sign into club MW because of his nationality. Later on, it was not surprising that he was forced to return to the North America competition zone. It’s just that outsiders only saw that he caused you to not be able to continue competing, not knowing that at that time, your hand was already injured.”
Not only that, after Qiao Yi returned to America, he even got engaged. It caused such an uproar and the fans all went crazy.
As he listened, Li Zhongchen’s eyebrows furrowed, feeling a slight discomfort in his chest.
It was probably because it had been a long time since anyone had mentioned it. Instead, it was like he was influenced by magic, immersing himself in old memories. His eyes were dark and dull. “It’s all in the past.”
In the national competition two years ago, team SVG’s assault player Echo and team MW’s healer Joe had a pre-competition wager.
Both of them had laid down their stakes. At that time, Joe’s contract was about to end. Everyone was spreading online that it was highly unlikely for this Chinese American player to stay in MW.
As for the contents of the wager, they had both already fought into the top three. If MW lost to SVG, then Joe would have to admit defeat and stay in the country, as well as sign into SVG.
On the other hand, if SVG lost to MW, Echo would not be able to compete ever again.
Yao Tong eventually spoke. “With the situation at that time, not to mention winning, we didn’t even have much confidence getting into the top three. You and I knew best what the situation was like in our team then. He really……”
“He was really good. He did not want my injury to worsen.” Li Zhongchen advised Yao Tong to stop there. “But it’s all in the past now, stop talking about it.”
It was probably because their passer by teammate’s act of not paying heed to what they said was too much like he had disconnected. He did not conform to the team nor did he turn on his mic, but he was still able to play independently, hence Li Zhongchen and Yao Tong completely treated the other as an invisible person.
They kept that up until they fought into the final circle. The team temporarily hid behind a rock mass south of the slum lakes. By then, there was not much medicine left, but there were still a considerable amount of survivors.
Yao Tong: “Brother Zhong, do you still have enough medicine?”
Li Zhongchen: “I’ll have enough if I use them sparingly.”
As they conversed, not only did Li Zhongchen share some syringes, he had no more med kits left. He still turned over and asked the passer by teammate. “What about you, number 3?”
The passer by teammate was player number 3, and was hiding behind a rock mass a few meters away.
If it was not for what Li Zhongchen said, Yao Tong almost thought that the other had disconnected eight hundred years ago, but in actual fact, he was just a distance that was not too near or far from them.
[Sssss]: I have enough to make do.
Without saying another word, Li Zhongchen operated his hero to move over, tossing two syringes to the other. “Hold on to these.”
[Sssss]: ……
[Sssss]: Thank you.
At the end of this round, they successfully attained victory.
In a certain area of a high-end community in Feng Xian district, Qiao Yi logged off Sssss’s account and turned around to play CSGO.
Qiao Yi had a cool temperament. His good looking facial features were like a clear spring, bringing comfort to others. But most of the time, he was serious in his speech and mannerisms, making him distant from others. Now, he had even dyed his hair gold, which made his temperament even more prominent.
But because of this, when he smiled, it brought to people a warm feeling that melted ice and snow.
Ever since he returned, Qiao Yi’s daily routine had been in disarray. He lived his day and nights in reverse. In order to accompany new players to practice their marksmanship, he had to bear with drowsiness and wake up early, occasionally driving over to MW’s club base for breakfast together with the others.
Earlier on, the Sssss account that he had logged onto was his disciple’s alternate account. He was helping him rank up, but he did not complain.
Only Qiao Yi did not expect that he would have matched up with Li Zhongchen and Yao Tong, and even unprecedentedly overheard the two discuss about himself. Aside from identifying him by his full name, everything else had been said.
His ex-boyfriend had even complimented him. There was a slight fluctuation in Qiao Yi’s chest. His pretty eyes began to sting, but he could only immerse himself in another game.
As for Li Zhongchen who did not know anything, he eventually got busy with giving his little disciple a demonic special training.
This rookie disciple of his was his ex-boyfriend’s fan. According to rumors, she had liked him for a few years. Not mentioning all sorts of gifts that were given during his broadcasts, she was always at the forefront of being involved in super topics, votings, and procuring accounts for votings. It could be said that she was crazily chasing after a celebrity. But since she had joined the enemy’s team, they were truly ill-fated.
“Practice well, I’ll change to the Happy Forward Scout and accompany you.” But Li Zhongchen did not wear a filter as he spoke frankly to the other.
This hero was a pure support. His character design was like a robot, and his skills were able to intermittently create paths for his teammates. “There were a few times you were unable to get around the enemies. It was not bad to depend fully on your marksmanship, you were able to scrape by and win because of headshots.”
Zheng Xiaokui stuttered. “……Th, then should I continue to practice using Yan Mei, Master?”
Li Zhongchen: “Pick between Wraith and Mirage.”
“Wraith! Sister Wraith!”
Only to see Li Zhongchen smile perfunctorily. “Mirage, then.”
“…….”
“Among the main assault heroes, you play Mirage the worst. Are you afraid of being scolded by me?”
Zheng Xiaokui: “……”
The young lady thought internally, I already made a big mistake in front of you. What was a scolding? I’m more afraid of being hit by you.
After a little more than an hour, the additional training made Zheng Xiaokui want to throw up as soon as her character got ready to jump off the air ship. She had already made countless run throughs of every nook and cranny in Kings Canyon. Her mind, which had been tense before, had long become lax, her head dizzy with all the corrections that Li Zhongchen had drilled into her like a fire breathing Tyrannosaurus Rex.
Seeing that it was about time, Li Zhongchen finally let Zheng Xiaokui off.
He was also worried that if he got too intense, he would get into the zone and lose track of everything, but would end up starving the other. In fact, he did not have a cast-iron stomach himself. Had it not been for the large room for progress his fan of a disciple could still make – in other words, it was still not enough to meet his expectations – he would have let her leave earlier to eat.
As soon as he was free, Li Zhongchen leaned heavily against the back of his chair. By reflex, he wanted to reach for a cigarette from the corner of his desk to soothe his tense nerves, but was stunned when he touched nothing but air.
Haa, he had quit smoking and drinking for such a long time, but he still had reflexive responses like these.
Forget it, he should just continue to quit smoking.
Now that he thought about it, he had not live streamed for a few days. No matter if there were malicious comments made by black fans as vicious as fierce floods and savage beasts, or a swarm of melon-eating crowds, he still had to broadcast.
Hence, he logged into his streaming account and got ready to broadcast–
i’m already feeling second-hand embarrassment on their behalf
Ah their break up sounds messed up…I hope it’s wasn’t wholly MLs fault! He doesn’t seem like a scum
thanks for the chapter <3
Thanks for the chapter <3