The crowd of the 2023 Candy Cone Cup tournament was plentiful, with many E-sports fans attending with high hopes for either the gaming itself, or the drama.
Despite the efforts both Candy Cone and Shark Smiles used to put distance between the present competition and the competitions of previous years, the CCC cup still held a reputation for backstage drama after the previous years incident.
While no names or faces were ever revealed, and the post had since been deleted, many LOW fans still remembered the image of a brawl behind the scenes between AFK’s temporary reserve players that happened right before the competition—
A post had also circulated recently—
The poster put together clues and dropped the observed news that the brawl occurred less than two weeks before the official announcement of the disbandment of their trainee program was posted by AFK’s company, Playfusion, on weibo, thus stimulating all the gossipy fans that had begun speculating as the competition drew near.
Regardless of whether it was to see if anything similar would go down, or to actually watch gaming, there was no shortage of people.
It had gotten to the point where they had to change the venu last minute to the same venue as the previous years competition, simply because the venu shark smiles originally wanted to use wouldn’t have been able to accommodate the demands of the fans who wanted to attend.
The CCC tournament had been around since only a year after the games launch, so it made sense that fans would want to continue attending, because it held a special place in many hearts.
Candy Cone was one of the first companies willing to invest in the game in a professional circumstance, and even after their minor rebranding, they continued to hold a completely pure competition that was strict, heavily enforcing rules over match-fixing and foul play in a way that newer, more highly-hyped competitions with larger prizes and mass appeal, didn’t.
That was to say, neither shark smiles nor Candy cone would ever allow their rules to be bent or broken by players regardless of how much money teams, players, or companies tried to throw at them, which earned considerable respect among the gaming community.
After all, no one liked watching a rigged competition, regardless of whether it was openly rigged or only rigged behind the scenes.
Because this competition had been around for years and was the first event Candy Cone had put on ever since they’d been acquired by Shark Smiles, they placed extra importance on the tournament and spared no expense, going so far as to invite the current most popular LOW streamer, peach, to do commentary on the competition along with the host.
However, an unfortunate situation arose—
Peach caught a cold two days before the tournament and completely lost his voice, rendering him unable to co-host.
After the official announcement, fans waited nervously to see who would replace him, only for Candy Cone to announce that they would be having a secret special guest appear as the co-host.
Many guesses spread throughout the internet, and eventually, a popular LOW-centered weibo account made a poll, and the situation only got more out of hand.
So, as the competition began, a heavy sense of anticipation had already spread throughout the audience.
“Welcome everyone to the fourth annual Candy Cone Cup!” the host exclaimed as the stage lit up, and the audience began cheering, “now, I know we have a lot to get into, so I don’t want to delay this too long, but I’m sure everyone is wondering who will be joining me today, right?”
The host, Qian Liqiu, had been hosting the competition since the very first competition, and many returning LOW fans were familiar with him getting straight into things.
“As I’m sure you may know, our original co-host couldn’t attend. So, our new co-host kindly offered to fill in. Everyone please give it up for Liang Enlai!”
As the words were uttered, the audience fell into a daze, the silence so intense one could’ve heard Chang Hui cursing the dating simulator backstage if Xi Zhe hadn’t already snatched his phone.
Liang Enlai stepped out from backstage, a dazzling smile on face, and he waved to the fans as they shook away their stupor and began cheering and screaming like crazy.
While the Liang Enlai Zheng Shun was familiar with was a promiscuous playboy who often cursed and fooled around, the Liang Enlai shown to the public was completely different.
After all, one couldn’t become one of the country’s most popular young actors based on skills and looks alone.
On stage, he was dressed in an expensive suit that made him look handsome and refined, and also covered way more skin then the outfits he chose to wear normally.
After all, he had to appear like a kind gentleman, at least to the public.
The reason for the audience’s inherent surprise was simply that he was way too popular.
From winning the title of film emperor for the third year in a row, to starting his own flourishing entertainment company, there was no question that Liang Enlai was becoming a household name.
His busy schedule filled to the brim with TV, movie, modeling, and advertisement shoots, as well as plenty of public appearances, was available for the public to view, and it left practically no room for rest inbetween, let alone enough time to come and do commentary for a competition that wasn’t even officially sponsored by Legend Of The Wind.
While both E-sports fans and entertainment fans had their suspicions, the real reason was actually quite simple—
Liang Enlai was just doing his childhood friend a favor, but his manager refused to let him mention it, lest the press have a field day learning that two of the most powerful youngsters in their respective industries were close friends.
So, the reason continued to be a mystery, leaving fans more and more eager to figure it out.
Hearing people continuing to shout out asking why he was there even after repeatedly answering vaguely, he suppressed a sigh.
“I don’t want to delay the competition, so let’s just focus on the gaming, okay?” He batted his eyelashes in a way that only made him more handsome, causing fans of his in the audience to squeal.
From his VVIP seat, Zheng Shun narrowly overcame the urge to walk to the stage and drag him off, opting to shiver with a disgusted look instead.
Liang Enlai glared at him as he smiled, the look in his eyes expressing his desire to stick his tongue out at his friend.
“Now then, let’s introduce our teams,” Qian Liqiu continued, “first up, we have Hardcore!”
A number of fans began cheering then as the team walked onto the stage and stood where they were led to by staff to wait for further instruction.
Similar introductions occurred for SWA, Crypto, and UWO, and the more teams entered the large stage area the more nervous Wu Biaoqing felt.
It was his first time ever being in such a place as a professional gamer, let alone being the one on stage in front of thousands of people.
He most definitely wouldn’t have been able to do it the year prior.
He still wasn’t certain he would remain composed, adrenaline and anxiety mixing together as the familiar word LIFE echoed from the stage and Men Wu gently guided him to walk with them.
The lights were practically blinding, and the sea of people felt as though it stretched on for miles, as he couldn’t see them well.
In that moment, he suddenly felt incredibly, overwhelmingly small, like an insignificant piece of an all too large puzzle.
But his teammates were smiling, waving to the fellow gaming enthusiasts standing there in the crowd, and he could make out through all of the screaming a few people yelling out both the nickname the streamers had given him, as well as his username.
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.
Standing in his white and red uniform jacket, that same username still etched on the back, he took a deep breath and tried his best to appear a hundred times more confident than he felt, if only for the fans.
“And last but not least, ZD!”
The crowd roared as soon as they were announced, and the members of ZD stepped out from the opposite side of the stage.
It was clear that the organizers paid close attention to LIFE’s specific request to not place the teams together so as to avoid incident, but that didn’t stop Wu Biaoqing’s anxiety from reaching an all time high as his gaze shifted from the unfamiliar members in the bathrooms, to Zeng Yuan, before finally landing on the man he hadn’t seen in an entire year—
Jiang Yu.
His mental state was in shambles, but the competition continued on regardless, leaving no time for him to rest.
“Now that everyone’s settled, let’s begin our yearly tradition,” the host grinned as he explained, “every year, for the first match, we have each team take a turn and pick a stick. Whichever teams get the two shorter sticks will be the first teams to go up against one another in the competition. The rest will be determined at random afterward, and the two teams with the most wins will earn their spot in the final!”
Qian Liqiu handed Liang Enlai a stick, which he held up awkwardly, which caused the audience to laugh.
“Film emperor here will be in charge of holding the normal sized stick for comparison,” he carried on, “and he gets the wonderful task of picking which team to come up first!”
Liang Enlai, clearly not expecting this, made a cute surprised face that would be undoubtedly clipped and turned into a meme later.
“Uhm, then,” he hesitated for a moment, before suggesting, “should I just spin around and point?”
“Spin around and…?” The host echoed, before laughing loudly, amused, “sure.”
So, the crowd of gaming enthusiasts watched as the hottest man of the year stood on stage, closed his eyes, and spun until he dizzily pointed at a random team.
He opened his eyes, and found that he pointed at LIFE, one of the up and coming teams.
“Seems like LIFE will be the first to take the plunge,” Qian Liqiu explained, “Ferocity, as the team leader, please come up and draw for your team!”
Xi Zhe gulped, the pressure of being the one to do it not an easy weight to carry.
Anyone with eyes could tell that Wu Biaoqing didn’t look right, not to mention his teammates who all knew he may not be prepared enough psychologically.
But, so long as he didn’t draw a short stick, they would more time to sit backstage and help him adjust.
Xi Zhe took a deep breath and reached into the appropriately themed novelty ice cream bucket, rummaged around for a bit before finally deciding, and pulled one out.
In front of the cameras, his thin, youthful hand retrieved a stick, and compared it with the one Liang Enlai held up, and it was…
Shorter.
Fuck.
—
“Earnest, stick to me and keep healing, make sure to take as little damage as possible. Lethal, we need you over here as back-up asap. And Isolation, what the fuck are you doing? It’s the last round, get your head in the game.” Xi Zhe’s authoritative voice echoed through their headphones as the team fought hard in the final round against their opponent, the three year old pro-team UWO.
Currently, the two teams were tied, with LIFE getting utterly destroyed in the first round, and managed to squeeze out a win in the second.
While just Wu Biaoqing getting distracted wouldn’t be the complete end of the world, in the first round something seemed to be going on with Chang Hui as well, as he played with confusing technique that ultimately led to it being a 2V4 match, practically a suicide mission.
The second round, he snapped out of, working together with their other two teammates to snatch a narrow victory in the second thanks to a mixture of teamwork and stalling for time.
The biggest problem was that, even if they didn’t need to rely on Wu Biaoqing to carry the team, working together was an integral part of any multiplayer competitive game, let alone a professional one against a strong team that had plenty of experience.
With him sitting there at the computer screen, dazed, it was no wonder they were falling behind.
He seemed to realize, then, that he wasn’t doing what he was supposed to, but his movements were still slow, and much less coordinated than normal.
Both fans in the audience and netizens online watched his gameplay with heavy hearts, realizing from the beginning that the isolation who had slowly made waves throughout the LOW streaming community was performing at barely a fraction of his usual level, for no apparent reason.
Obviously, this attracted considerable hate, and fans flocked to LIFE’s team weibo, as well as the competition’s official livestream, to start trashing him.
[A120484: No wonder he’s in a shitty little rookie team, could someone like that ever make it in an actual competition? Laughing myself to death just thinking about it.]
[sleepylemon: what kind of professional player is this? Freezing up during a minor competition…]
[onceamoon: what, is one player supposed to carry an entire team? Our family’s qingqing is so good, but he shouldn’t be the only good member!]
[littlewishesbigdreams: It goes to show that not all teams are equal. Not just any new team can make it, only teams with both good mental stability and skills will be able to survive in the professional league. If this new LIFE team is getting thrown by this tournament, they should pack up and go home before they suffer major losses in the preliminaries. Forget qualifying for the playoffs, they’ll be lucky to not get absolutely destroyed by the other teams based by purely on temperament alone!]
[prettyfly: even as expressionless’s stream fan, I have to agree with the above commenter. Some people just can’t stand the pressure and it seems like Wu Biaoqing is one of them. Without Wu Biaoqing, LIFE is failing like this, it’s embarrassing as a fan. Have I really been staning such a trash team, and am only realizing now that they’re actually up against pros?]
[Nightlyremedy: but Wu Biaoqing was able to stand his ground and fight back against ZD’s poet, was he not? From the looks of it, they were matched closely in skill. I think things might not be so clear cut if he manages to pull himself together.]
[liuliuliuliuliuliu: +1!!!! I feel like something’s definitely wrong with isolation. He looks so pale, could he be sick?]
[eatandeattodeath: it doesn’t matter if he’s sick, didn’t the captain of that Korean team, Archive, show up to nationals sick and still manage to lead his team into the globals last year?]
[BaobaoBaobei: don’t bring Korean teams into this discussion over a Chinese competition! Qingqing is strong, and he’ll definitely prove it!!! :fightinghard:]
[wanderingfaraway: praising even when he’s dragging his team down? What kind of brainless fucking fans does this shitty team produce?]
[wuwuwuwuwu: They certainly produce better things than the one your parents did!]
[redandwild3563: flinging insults around now that you know your team can’t win?]
The live comments continued on like that as the match drew to a close—
Despite everything, LIFE still managed to secure the rounds victory through nothing more than sheer luck.
Both teams were down to their members only having a sliver of health each, and there was no sign of the fighting stopping as both were merciless in their pursuit as they sent tons and tons of troops to each side.
Through some miracle, LIFE managed to gain access to just enough more troops then UWO had, successfully claiming victory right as their final standing member was killed.
However, to say they were excited about this first victory would be hilarious.
As the team made their way backstage, they were all solemn yet subtly shaken, having utterly and clearly taken a hell of a beating.
“Wu-ge…” Men Wu called out, his voice trailing off as he stared at his childhood friend’s grievous appearance, glaring down at the ground with water eyes, the embarrassment and shame he felt obvious to his fellow teammates.
“I’m going for a walk,” he replied simply, “I’ll be back soon. I won’t get in the way.”
Without waiting for a reply, he walked out of the waiting room with hurried steps, and no one was able to explain that not a single person had been worried about him getting in the way—
They were worried about him.
—
“Yes, I know,” Zheng Should spoke softly into the phone as he stood backstage.
He felt mildly frustrated, having to take a call in the middle of the tournament, but he was even more preoccupied wondering what was happening with a certain LOW streamer.
From the moment he walked on stage, Zheng Shun could feel something was wrong, and his suspicions grew as he remembered the poor expression on Wu Biaoqing’s face when he passed him on his way out of the restroom previously.
It seemed that something was going on, but it wasn’t like there would be a chance for them to talk in person, not until the competition was over and they were able to leave together at the agreed upon time.
Of course, Wu Biaoqing was always one to defy the expectations and ideas of other people, as right at that moment he walked straight into the CEO who had just finally hung up the call.
“Oh,” his voice was soft and a bit rough, a sign that he was slightly out of sorts and also had been trying not to cry, “I’m sorry.”
Zheng Shun turned around, flashing a dazzling smile at him, “it’s completely alright.”
He watched Wu Biaoqing’s expression morph from dazed, to shocked, to confused, and it made him laugh.
“You- you-” he stuttered, “you’re the handsome jacket guy!”
The CEO quirked his eyebrow, a smirk growing on his face, “handsome?”
Wu Biaoqing’s eyes went wide, like a deer caught in headlights, and he backtracked, “no, that’s not what I meant- I mean not that you’re not handsome, you are, but I didn’t mean it in like a weird way I just meant that like, conventionally, you’re very attractive- and I’m just making this worse, aren’t I?”
Zheng Shun stared at his bright red ears and resisted the urge to tug him down and ruffle his hair.
“You’re fine,” he replied cheerfully, “but you seem stressed.”
“…!” Wu Biaoqing paused, clearly not expecting him to notice it, “I didn’t play well just now, I’m sure you must’ve seen it. I’m sorry, your autograph probably won’t be worth much after that, will it?”
The other man burst out laughing, a cheerful laugh that echoed like a bell on a warm summer afternoon, one that could life a person’s spirit simply by hearing it.
Wu Biaoqing, ever the faithful husband, refused to be swayed by this beautiful melody.
He couldn’t afford to get caught up in this strangers rhythm, not when his little wife was going to be there soon!
…but some eye candy with a good personality never hurt anyone, did it?
“I think it’s worth plenty,” he replied simply, a small smile still on his face, “and one day it’ll be priceless.”
This made Wu Biaoqing smile too, though it was small and a bit unspirited.
“Yeah,” he nodded, “one day.”
As he walked away, Zheng Shun pulled out his phone and typed a casual sentence.
Zzzshun
Doing alright?
qingqing010
If by doing alright you mean failing miserably, then yes, I’m doing alright.
Zzzshun
You’re not failing miserably! You still made it through the match! Angry Cat Huffing.jpg
qingqing010
My team might’ve, but I totally blew it. I knew this was going to happen. I knew I was going to screw up, but I still insisted on pursuing E-sports. I was basically a deadweight the entire three matches.
Zzzshun
You’re being too hard on yourself.
Zzzshun
Okay, I admit that some of it’s deserved, but still. Cut yourself some slack! It’s your first competition, isn’t it?
Wu Biaoqing sighed as he walked down the hallway, typing his reply.
Zheng Shun stared at his back that was slowly disappearing from his line of sight, and longed silently to run up and squeeze him in a tight hug.
But meeting now would only end up putting more pressure on this silly little gamer, so he waited patiently for the proper chance.
qingqing010
Does that matter? I have to live up to the fans’ expectations. To my team’s expectations. If I can’t perform now, how will I be able to make it through the official tournament? How will I be able to win the global championship?
Zzzshun
Is that your goal? Winning the global championship?
qingqing010
Isn’t it everyones? Anyone who plays games has that kind of dream, even if they don’t admit it.
Zzzshun
Fair point.
Zzzshun
But who says that just because you have a goal means that you have to do what other people expect?
qingqing010
What?
Zzzshun
Think about it! When you live stream, do you worry so much about doing this or that in the name of some shitty expectations?
qingqing010
Well, no.
Zzzshun
Exactly! So just fuck around. Who cares if you don’t place first? Hell, even if you end up in last place, it doesn’t matter. You still have next year, and the year after that, and the year after that. You have every year until the day you give up. So why get all up in your head about it? The more you worry, the more you’re inclined to give up.
qingqing010
I can’t just fuck around in an actual competiton. It’s easier said than done.
Zzzshun
Well maybe it is, but try it. Just try even once to put your faith in yourself and your team, play in a way that you actually enjoy, and you can curse me to high hell if you suck anyway okay?
qinqing010
…okay.
Zheng Shun smiled, and went to put his phone away and get back to his seat, when the screen light up once more with a new message.
qingqing010
Thank you, Zheng Shun. I needed it.
He happily clacked away at the screen.
Zzzshun
AWWW DARLING YOURE SO SWEET
Zzzshun
Need my reassurance for something like this? My my, Wu Biaoqing, I’m worried you might be falling for me…
The professional gamer rolled his eyes, but a small smile never left his face as he replied simply.
qingqing010
We’ll see about that.
Zzzshun
You are, you are! You’re falling for my irresistible charm (^з^)-☆
Wu Biaoqing stared at the dumb emoticon on the screen, and huffed out a laugh, feeling slightly better.
What the hell was he doing?
A few matches weren’t the end of the world—
He was isolation, for fucks sake.
He’d been knocked down before, but he would always get back up.
With a newfound determination, he turned around, prepared to make his way back to his team, when a familiar voice called out his name.
“Xiao Wu… can we talk?”
The author has something to say
Me: I want to get the full chapter out so there’s no unnecessary cliffhangers!!
Cirb wf: *fcvr mtjqafg qegqbrfis bc j milootjcufg*
Ccbatfg mtjqafg, jcbatfg mtjcmf obg wf ab qegqbrfoeiis rxlq kglalcu vfajlifv ujwlcu rmfcfr. Ycf vjs P’ii kglaf bcf, yea abvjs lr cba atja vjs. Yt kjla, P tjnf ab kglaf ujwlcu lc mtjqafg 14… Ktf mibkc kjr jmaejiis wf.pqu
P rajgafv jcbatfg afwqbgjgs pby abvjs, ktlmt wfjcr fnfc ifrr ogff alwf obg wf HCH la uba lc atf kjs bo atlr mtjqafg, rlcmf ws olgra vjs kjr jirb atf vjs P kjr reqqbrfv ab gfifjrf mtjqafg 13, jcv P’w kbgxlcu fnfgs cluta obg atf cfza 4 kffxr. P’ii vb ws yfra ab ufa eqvjafr bea lc j alwfis wjccfg fnfc klat atlr yers rmtfveif! Ktf eqvjafr klii yf fnfgs Zbcvjs ogbw cbk bc (≧∇≦)
On another note, MIC officially has a (albeit loose) plan!! Meaning I finally wrote down all of the random thoughts floating around in my head into one semi-linear story plan, so I know the general idea of what will happen for the remainder of the book, though the final chapter count remains to be seen.
I was surprised by how much there was in terms of story arcs for this book, since I wasn’t planning for it to be a very long novel. After all, the main characters are flirting from the get go. Turns out, gaming novels actually require a substantial amount of gaming along with the plot that I already had a few arcs planned out for in my head, so it became much longer then my intial expectation… (;´༎ຶД༎ຶ`)
I’m very excited for what’s to come, and I hope you are too! I think that, even with my newbie writing, MIC is going to be a book that I will be very proud of. Both because of the plot, and the fact that I accidentally gave all the characters way more depth than they probably needed, oops. I hope you’ll come to love them just as much as I do. Here’s to a fun gaming novel, and the stories to be told! See you in the next chapter dears~
If that’s jiang yu at the end, pls fuck off peacefully 🙂
You can never have to much depth even with side characters. I love them all already 😊
I am glad that WBQ could be cheered up by ZS! I understand ZS’s reason for not revealing himself yet but at the same time I was like “Nooooo!!! Tell him who you are!!! Pleaaaseee!!!” Haha
God damn I fear that this person calling out to him is JY that asshole >:(
Good thing or having had no time is that now I don’t have to wait for the next chapter 😀
Also @author: please take care of yourself and don’t worry if you can’t make an update in time or have to skip it. Your mental health is important so remember to take breaks!
Rest assured that my mental health is totally fine (≧∇≦) it’s more my schedule and physical health getting in the way of my writing than anything, plus me being a chronic procrastinator… but I shall prevail! Fighting.jpg (￣^￣)ゞ
ZS’s identity reveal is going to be very… fun. Heheh. The pain of waiting is strong but it will be worth it (/ω＼)