After that livestream, Wu Biaoqing ended up as a trending search.
Why?
Well, to figure that out we must first understand who FW is.
FW, or ForeverWin, was a popular streaming anchor for LOW.
He joined the LOW community roughly a year and a half prior to Wu Biaoqing, and made a name for himself as someone never defeated when playing squad games.
He was incredibly talented when it came to teamwork and was very good at camouflage, thus becoming known as the camouflage god.
However, he had a much lower win streak when it came to 1V1 matches.
He rarely ever solo queued, but it just so happened that he’d made a bet with a friend of his that he lost, resulting in his and Wu Biaoqing’s game.
Call it fate, if you will.
In any case, it saved LIFE’s management team from having to spend money on hot searches.
“Be careful about what you say,” the livestream manager warned Wu Biaoqing after the live ended, “ForeverWin’s fans are a particularly sensitive bunch. They won’t hesitate to go after you.”
Wu Biaoqing nodded, saying that he’d keep that in mind, anticipating some angry fans in his live chat in the days to come.
In the end, instead of attacking him, FW’s fans raided his chat to…
Convince him to duo queue with their so-called camouflage god?
[onceamoon: Please play with FW! He’s been talking about it nonstop during his lives]
[retreat2defend: Like hell he’d want to play after how you all dissed him!]
[BaobaoBaobei: two LOW gods playing duo… it would really be something beautiful… 555555]
Which is why he ended up agreeing to duo with him a week later.
Well, he hadn’t—
His live manager had.
“Do I really have to play with him?” Wu Biaoqing asked his live manager.
“Of course!” She said, “FW is one of our most popular anchors, you’ll be able to get a ton of publicity this way. Consider it a blessing from the gods and play to your hearts content!”
It turns out, some things that might seem like they’ll end up bad can actually end up rather good.
Who would’ve guessed?
“Wu-ge,” Men Wu called out, draping himself over his friend, “I’m so tired…”
“Then sleep.” Isolation replied simply.
Most people would be put off by his rather cold nature, but the members of his team had grown used to it.
They knew that deep down, Wu Biaoqing cared a great deal about them and the team.
He simply expressed his emotions much less than that of an average person.
He wasn’t immune to people doubting his abilities, of course, so the first game of his livestream involved quite a bit of talking.
But sure enough, once no one decided to question his judgement again, he played in almost complete silence.
After a few days of this, another search quickly popped up.
‘Expressionless isolation’ had become trending after his fifth live stream.
His new fans convinced him to turn on his live camera, saying that they would see him during the competitions anyway, so why hide?
Little did they know what they were getting into.
When it came to E-sports, it wasn’t as if it was a genre lacking in attractive men.
They were all ambitious youth after all, so many of them didn’t look all that bad, maybe just rather young with features they hadn’t yet fully grown into.
Wu Biaoqing never imagined the reaction he would get from simply turning his camera on, however.
For some reason, people thought that someone like him, with shoulder length black hair tied up messily, and a soft face that made him look approachable, would be a person very smiley and outgoing.
Yet he was the exact opposite, playing Legend Of The Wind with a blank expression on his face the entire game.
Still, the lighting was good, and it wasn’t as if he was old or unpleasant to the eyes, so many face fans flocked to the stream.
Upon noticing his blank face, one commenter called him “expressionless”.
[BaobaoBaobei: It’s fitting, no?]
[sevensenses: So fitting!]
[Z.fx2207: Impossibly fitting!]
[Topofthe.world: +1]
[WuDu990: +2]
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.
[Heaven_Sent: +3]
So, within a matter of less than a week, Wu Biaoqing had been trending twice!
If anyone were tired, it would be him.
“But captain’s making me train extra! He said it’s punishment for staying up too late.” The support moped, putting all of his weight against his poor teammate.
“Get off of me.” Wu Biaoqing griped, trying to push him away.
“Does our love mean nothing to you?” Men Wu cried, “Why not just divorce me and take the kids already?”
“Okay, I’ll take your custom keyboard too,” said isolation nonchalantly, making his friend whine louder.
Out of all of the team members, Men Wu could be considered as Wu Biaoqing’s closest friend.
The two of them grew up next door to each other, and went to the same school until Men Wu moved away in high school.
They lost all contact, and assumed they wouldn’t see each other again.
However, it seemed a lot of things in Wu Biaoqing’s life were fated, as they crossed paths again when LIFE was formed.
“I’ll leave you alone, I’ll leave you alone!” the support exclaimed, sitting down at the computer next to his friend.
In the training room, the computers and tables were all set up in a nice line along the wall.
There was a big table so that meetings could be held directly in the training room, and a large counter on the opposite wall for coffee and other snacks and amenities to fuel their insomniac lifestyles.
All in all, despite being a little cozy, it was a rather nice place to spend their days.
“Are you guys partying in here? Why are you so damn loud…” Chang Hui complained, walking into the training room with eye bags that looked big enough to hold at least three keyboards in them.
Yes, Wu Biaoqing measured with keyboards.
No, he was not ashamed of that.
“Yeah, we’re partying. Be a doll and get some wine so we can have a real fun time, huh dear?” Replied isolation deadpanly, queuing up another match.
“Now you’re cheating on me too?” Men Wu faked offense, “I’m going to die of heartbreak one of these days!”
“Good, it’s better than being divorced with two kids.” Wu Biaoqing shot back.
To understand such a legendary inside joke, we must go back to a month before, back when LIFE was just being formed.
You see, when Men Wu and Wu Biaoqing were separated— and no, that’s not another divorce joke— they swapped keychains.
They were simple plushie keychains, two different color birds, but it was enough to satisfy the teenagers, to make sure that they would still have a part of each other even when so far away.
When LIFE was being formed, the keychain story was mentioned, and the words that started it all wafted through the newly built LIFE headquarter’s air.
“What, are you guys married or something? It’s like you already have children.” Xi Zhe laughed when they were done explaining.
“Oh my god, we do!” Men Wu exclaimed, “How crazy is that, huh hubby?”
“Who’s your fucking husband?” Wu Biaoqing scoffed, “If you were my wife I’d already be poisoned to death by your awful cooking.”
After that incident, they continued to reference it every now and then, and eventually the plot went out of control.
Xi Zhe became grandfather Xi, and Chang Hui managed to snag the role of Wu Biaoqing’s mistress.
In the end, it was all in good fun, so no matter how confused other people— mainly their coach— were, they never said anything about it.
“Oh yeah, you have that duo match in a little while don’t you?” Men Wu asked his friend who was rather engrossed in his game.
“Mn.” Wu Biaoqing nodded, firing a shot at his opponent.
“Y’know, captain said that Chang Hui was going to end up as the most popular at first… who would’ve known that luck favors you.” The support noted.
At that moment, the ‘you win’ message appeared in bright letters on his screen.
“I… wouldn’t call it luck.”
With a silent sigh, he switched tabs to start his live broadcast, adjusting his settings slightly.
He’d become more used to the livestream software after using it a few times, and knew how to change simple things like lighting, video quality, donation sounds, and such.
Sure, this was mainly taught to him by his live manager, but he was still a little proud to be able to do it all by himself.
Simple things can be exciting, okay?
Right as he started the stream, a familiar notification popped up.
RedCamellia joined the stream, say hi!
Ever since his first live, this ‘RedCamellia’ had never missed one.
He learned later that this person was actually slightly famous in the LOW community, for being in practically every live comment section.
He was known, in particular, for being very judgmental and condescending of people’s skills & play styles.
He usually listed their faults, and called the outcome of games when they were barely halfway through.
However, Wu Biaoqing never noticed any of that during his lives.
Perhaps those messages were just pushed away by the flood of other people talking?
He wasn’t sure.
Sure enough, more people flooded into the livestream, prompting the isolating user to begin.
“Welcome, today I’ll be playing a few 2V2 matches.”
His eyes scanned the chat as it went wild, noticing one particular comment.
[RedCamellia: with who?]
“Ah, you might remember him as someone I beat during my first live— yep, I’m playing FW.”
As he said that, a friend request popped up on his screen.
‘ForeverWin’ wants to be your friend. Accept?
Yes No
Without any fanfare, he directly accepted the request, before joining a voice call with the player.
When it came to LOW, both team matches and duo matches allowed for voice calling, which was rather standard practice in those types of games.
However, it had a unique feature where players could choose to privately voice call anyone as long as you were friends.
When the call was accepted, a crisp and youthful voice sounded out of his computer.
“Hi everybody, sorry to keep you waiting!” FW said cheerfully.
To be honest, Wu Biaoqing was rather nervous.
The two of them had never interacted together before then, and it took him a moment to muster up the courage to speak.
“Hello,” he greeted hesitantly, pressing a little harder on his keyboard than normal, “are you ready?”
“Yes, yes!” ForeverWin exclaimed happily, “isolation-ge, is there a specific skin you want me to use?”
Wu Biaoqing blinked, caught off-guard by the nickname.
“No,” he replied, “just pick whatever you play normally.”
“Alright, don’t say I didn’t ask though!” FW laughed.
Despite sounding rather young, probably only around 16, he was a rather natural talent when it came to being a livestream anchor.
So much so that it made Wu Biaoqing feel a little more comfortable.
Emphasis on little, however.
“Come on, loosen up,” The more experienced live-streamer exclaimed as they played, “It’s no fun running your live by myself!”
As he spoke, isolation could almost picture the young anchor sticking his tongue out at him.
“I’m not forcing you to speak- or play, either.” Wu Biaoqing said simply.
“Gah, you’re not wrong, but quit being so robotic! I’m going to start thinking you’re some kind of freaky test subject…”
Despite his complaints, the livestream audience was rather entertained.
Between the actual gameplay, FW’s commentary, Wu Biaoqing’s occasional three word remarks, and their on-and-off banter, it was a live that was very well received, and quickly shot up to a comfortable 5 on the top livestream list, securing a spot on the homepage without the company having to do anything.
As they played, isolation noticed something particularly interesting.
Unlike during the solo match they played where FW was headshotted easily, the youthful anchor was a particularly deadly player in the duo mode.
Perhaps he should be the one to use the username lethal?
“…Aren’t you a little too good?” Wu Biaoqing asked as they won their fifth match in a row.
“The mechanics for duo matches are slightly different, so I end up being better at it than solo matches.” The younger player laughed.
Sure, there was a slight difference in how the game worked, but it really just came down to raw talent!
“Oh, quit drinking vinegar isolation-ge, your fans are going to start making reactions packs with your face.” FW teased, making Wu Biaoqing frown.
“What’s a reaction pack?” He asked, which made the young anchor burst out in laughter
[BaobaoBaobei: fuck, he doesn’t know??]
[sevensenses: Our dear expressionless must’ve been living under a rock during his time at the youth training camp!]
[WuDu990: bless this youngster, may he never be poisoned by the internet…]
[dirtylaundry: quit acting like you’re some sort of wise monk :angrycat:]
Of course, the chat wasn’t all a bunch of idiots, and a few people even tried to explain—
However, with so many people talking all at once, their messages were simply swept away before Wu Biaoqing could see them.
“…Never mind. I don’t need to know.” Isolation sighed.
Right as ForeverWin was about to explain, a message popped up on the broadcast, accompanied by text-to-speech.
{RedCamellia donated 1 globe with the following message:
‘It’s an emoji set for the purpose of reacting to things’}
Wu Biaoqing sat there, confused, as the chat continued to go wild.
[Z.fx2207: Oh hell- a whole globe?]
[retreat2defend: I’d gift that too, but my wallet is begging me not to 55555]
[onceamoon: fuck me, fuck me…]
[BaobaoBaobei: +1]
[Heaven_Sent: +2]
[misguided_apples: +3]
[L@dylu3k: +4]
“Oh,” he said, “I see.”
To understand the situation, there must first be an explanation as to what exactly a globe is.
The livestream service that LIFE partnered with, named XtraF, had different gifts that viewers could donate to the live-streamer they were watching to help support them.
The company would take a 50% cut, yes, but it was still helpful, especially to popular anchors.
The title of least expensive, and the one given most often, belonged to the ‘city’ gift, which amounted to a measly 50 yuan, not counting the cut that the streaming service took.
Covertly, the most expensive gift that can be given to a streamer is a ‘globe’, which without counting the amount the streaming service took was a whopping 5000 yuan.
[lovelypeaches: they could’ve bought a microphone for 200 yuan, but instead they got a fucking globe…]
[Heaven_Sent: maybe they’re a rich playboy with too much money to spend?? If only I could have that much! 5555]
“Huh? Is the globe a lot of money?” Dumb Wu-ge asked.
“Yeah, even I don’t get them that often!” FW exclaimed, “That’s one devoted fan, haha.”
“Huh? 5000 yuan? For what?” Wu Biaoqing watched the comments like a hawk for answers.
“…they’re talking about how much a globe costs.” The younger anchor explained helplessly.
“Fu— or. For real?”
[onceamoon: …I think we all know what he wanted to say.]
[BaobaoBaobei: hold on, someone pull out their Expressionless translator!]
[Heaven_Sent: isolation: I really want to say fuck, but if I do my live will get banned… wait, let me just say for!]
[BaobaoBaobei: oh isolation, if you can’t say it laozi will say it for you]
[BaobaoBaobei: Fuck!]
[Topofthe.world: Fuck]
[Z.fx2207: Fuck]
{RedCamellia donated 1 globe with the following message:
‘Think of it as compensation for your last few duo matches’}
[WuDu990: motherfucker??]
“Holy shit…” FW said, speaking softly enough that it didn’t pick up on the stream, “hurry up and make that guy a supermod!”
“…a supermod? What’s that?”
Truly, expressionless was the wrong word to describe him.
It should actually be dumbass!
“Just click on their profile and there should be an option to add them as a moderator or a super moderator.” ForeverWin explained, “Anchors usually give this perk out to large donators as a thank you.”
Following the brief directions from his new LOW friend, Wu Biaoqing found that it was really the case, and made the donator a supermod without any fuss or fanfare.
[BaobaoBaobei: Oh to be a supermod… :whistfulsigh:]
[Z.fx2207: +1]
[lovelypeaches: +2]
[Topofthe.world: +3]
[retreat2defend: +4]
{RedCamellia donated 1 globe with the following message:
‘There’s no need. I didn’t gift for special treatment’}
[WuDu990: motherfucker???]
For the third time in a week, Wu Biaoqing became a trending search.
…it was truly tiring being an expressionless god.
Lolol your rich boi just have way too much money at hand 😂
Wu Biaoqin so cutie ><
Forgot to say. I like how you tell us some details about streaming process
I love the inside joke thing, it’s just like my group of friends! (We call ourselves “family” and we’re a mafia group somehow)
That’s so cute (´；ω；｀) inside jokes between friends are the best
Yes, I love them, we have a bunch of them haha
[WuDu990: Motherf***er??] HE COMMENTED THAT TWO TIMES WHEN RedCamellia continuously donated globes lmao made me bust out a lung they’re so real
I’M GALLOPING THIS DANMEI ISZO FUN LMAO TNX FOR TRANSLATING!!!!