DSF Chapter 1

During the rainy season, the air was heavy with dampness.

Inside Zero Club’s livestream room, the screen was lit up, as per usual.

【Is Bing Shen¹Bing Shen: 冰神 is a nickname for Yan Yibing(言易冰), that can also translate to Ice God coming online? Is Bing Shen coming online? Is Bing Shen coming online? If he doesn’t come online soon, your club’s windows will be shattered.】

【Wait a little longer; if the Earth doesn’t explode, Ice Dad won’t come online.】

【I’ve got my money ready; is it appropriate not to let me send gifts?】

【Are these scrub substitutes that we watch every day in the team? With this half-assed skill level, are they planning on dragging it out until Bing Shen turns thirty, competing with CNG, AXE, Prince, and the others? Even the most exceptional players can’t endure being dragged out like this!】

Yan Yibing, the captain of China’s top-tier powerhouse Team Zero, the chief honorary advisor of the professional league, and the number one on the C-PUBG point leaderboard, had been in the professional gaming scene since the age of seventeen. For eight long years, he had dominated the domestic PUBG professional circuit, without serious injuries or a decline in performance, earning him the title of “The Eternal Light of PUBG.”

Yan Yibing was exceptional in many ways, but unfortunately, he was a hopeless case when it came to life. After all these years, he couldn’t even find a girlfriend.

After fans argued for a while, but when they saw that the room moderators were as unresponsive as dead pigs, they quieted down.

However, half an hour later, the livestream room exploded once more.

A comment flooded the screen.

【F*ck! The C-PUBG point leaderboard has been updated! Bing Shen has been overtaken!】

For nearly five years, Yan Yibing had single-handedly dominated the C-PUBG point leaderboard.

There were two main reasons for this. Firstly, his skills were genuinely top-notch, and secondly, he had the longest active career.

Players could earn points by participating in all events recognized by the league, and in the early years, professional players were eager to climb this leaderboard, hoping to push Yan Yibing down even for a day.

But in recent years, with an increasing number of international events, professional players were stretched thin and couldn’t afford the time to participate in all the competitions. As a result, their point accumulation slowed down, leaving Yan Yibing firmly at the top.

Being number one certainly had its perks. He received a bonus each year as the league’s spokesperson, securing prime advertising slots on various esports media throughout the year, received a 10% higher cut from livestream revenue, and was adored by countless female fans who only had a vague understanding of esports.

Some media even jokingly claimed that Yan Yibing had accumulated enough points in eight years that he could retire without playing another match.

Yan Yibing himself shared that sentiment.

Until today.

Zero Esports Club in Shanghai.

Lunch break, the takeout had just arrived.

Vice-captain Song Tang ordered Korean fried chicken, treating all the members of the second team and the youth training camp to an improved meal today.

A group of young men hurriedly received the fried chicken, but their expressions didn’t seem quite natural.

Song Tang raised an eyebrow, waiting for them to speak.

Cheng Bin, from the second team, licked his lips and forced a smile, “Ge, Bing Shen just had us run five kilometers around the Huangpu River to exercise, so we’ll skip the fried chicken for now.”

Song Tang furrowed his brow, “Your stamina isn’t up to par?”

Cheng Bin shook his head, “It’s because we have large pores, and our skin needs to breathe in fresh air.”

Song Tang: “…”

Cheng Bin whispered, “The C-PUBG point leaderboard has been updated. Our Bing Shen’s eight years of points have been surpassed by Han Mo in just two years. Bing Shen is quite upset about it.”

Song Tang’s heart skipped a beat.

The leaderboard wasn’t that important now, and Yan Yibing had no intention of clinging to it.

But it didn’t matter who had surpassed him, as long as it wasn’t Prince team captain Han Mo. The two of them had a bitter history from when they had fallen out.

Song Tang patted Cheng Bin’s shoulder solemnly and said, “You better tread carefully these next two days, steer clear of our captain.”

Cheng Bin tugged at Song Tang’s sleeve, hesitated for a moment, his face turning red, and then couldn’t resist asking, “Didn’t Han Mo train under Bing Shen for half a year in our team before? Why do they have such a huge grudge now? I heard some rumors online…” Cheng Bin took a deep breath, closed his eyes for a moment, and then plucked up the courage to continue, “It’s said that Han Mo snatched our captain’s girlfriend!”

The corner of Song Tang’s mouth twitched as he raised his hand and slapped Cheng Bin’s head, “Don’t pay attention to those damn rumors. If the captain ever finds a girlfriend, that would be the day fireworks go off at the team’s doorstep.”

Cheng Bin stuck out his tongue, “I was just curious. Mainly because Bing Shen never talks about it, and everyone can’t help but wonder. It makes our relationship with Prince kind of awkward; we don’t even greet each other when we run into them on the street.”

Song Tang fell silent for a moment and sighed, “If you need to greet them, greet them. This is a matter between the captain and Han Mo, and it has nothing to do with the two clubs. But… forget it, we’ll talk about it later.”

After greeting all the team members, Song Tang nervously carried the last box of fried chicken into the first team’s training room.

As soon as he entered, he saw Yan Yibing leaning back in his gaming chair, wearing a single-sided headset, and playing on his smurf account.²smurf account: a secondary or alternate account that an experienced or skilled player creates, typically for the purpose of playing at a lower skill level than their primary or main account.

Among esports players, Yan Yibing was undoubtedly a face that lived up to female fantasies.

He was a genuine Southerner, with almond-shaped eyes, delicate eyelids, long hair that reached his earlobes, and soft, fine hair.

Living in a humid climate all year round had given him fair and translucent skin, and you could easily see the faint, turquoise blood vessels beneath the surface.

When viewed against the backlight, there was a hint of the dramatic in him, as if he belonged in an esports drama.

Song Tang leaned closer to the screen and noticed that the safe zone was about to shrink, and Yan Yibing was in an unfavorable position. To enter the safe zone, he had to cross a bridge where enemies were likely waiting.

Song Tang subconsciously held his breath, not wanting to disturb Yan Yibing as he listened to the sound to identify enemy positions.

However, the randomly matched teammates were incredibly noisy.

Both teammates were novice players, but they could tell that Yan Yibing was genuinely skilled, so they didn’t dare to cross the bridge first, waiting for Yan Yibing to pave the way.

As the safe zone closed in, they huddled in the grass, healing themselves while chatting casually.

“D*mn, haven’t you checked the forums?”

“I haven’t been there for days. Is there anything worth seeing besides the flame wars?”

“You don’t know yet? Yan Yibing was overtaken by Han Mo!”

Yan Yibing, holding a UZI submachine gun, was startled by the news and accidentally fired a shot at the bridge, creating a hole in one of the wooden supports.

His teammates were startled.

“Number Three, calm down, why are you getting so agitated? Didn’t you just reveal our position by firing that shot?”

Yan Yibing’s thin eyelids lifted slightly, his expression cool, “You want to try?”

His teammate chuckled, “I’m good, I’m good. I’ll definitely die if I go out.”

After his teammate spoke, they resumed chatting cheerfully.

“Have you never heard about the love-hate relationship between Yan Yibing and Han Mo?”

“Nope.”

“Tsk. It happened two years ago. Han Mo was under Yan Yibing’s training back then. At that time, Han Mo wasn’t a big deal, quite rash and naive. He was so arrogant; he could hardly keep his mouth shut in front of Yan Yibing. He could talk anyone’s ear off.”

“How did their relationship turn sour like this?”

“Listen up. Yan Yibing had a crush on a girl, but she liked Han Mo. You know how it goes, just a typical love triangle. Yan Yibing pushed the honest young lad into a corner. Then, in a show match last year, Han Mo had the positional advantage and knocked down Yan Yibing. Instead of finishing him off, he walked up to Yan Yibing, made him kneel down, slowly drained his health, and even said, ‘Bing Shen, it’s time to retire.’ How ruthless and cruel!”

“Damn, that’s heartless! After all, Bing Shen is more or less his master.”

Suddenly, a burst of chaotic gunfire echoed.

Amidst the gunfire, Yan Yibing stood tall, not falling, and three crates appeared on the opposite side.

“Brother Number Three is amazing!”

“Brother Number Three must have a level of over a thousand; I think you could go pro!”

“Brother Number Three, add us as friends, let’s play together next round, okay?”

Two teammates rushed out of the bushes and ran to Yan Yibing.

“Why isn’t Number Three leaving? Out of meds?”

Yan Yibing didn’t move.

His eyes narrowed slightly, a cold gleam flickering in his beautiful irises. He took out a grenade, pulled the pin, and said softly, “You guys are so bad at this; why bother with PUBG? Play as Fan Wei and conquer the world instead.”³Play as Fan Wei and conquer the world instead: “玩范伟打天下吧” (Wán fàn wěi dǎ tiānxià ba) “Fan Wei” (范伟) is the name of a Chinese actor. The phrase “玩范伟打天下吧” is a playful way of suggesting that someone should excel in something else if they’re not doing well in PUBG.

Teammate: “?”

With a pleasant explosion, he and the two idiots ascended together.

Song Tang: “…”

What a brutally ruthless guy.

Yan Yibing took off his headphones, and lazily leaned back in his gaming chair, his fair arm resting on the table, his fingers lightly tapping.

He looked at Song Tang. “What’s up?”

Song Tang approached, hooked his arm around Yan Yibing’s shoulder, and said, “Well, you know, how about having a drink tonight?”

He knew that Yan Yibing’s mood must be pretty bad.

No top-tier god could easily accept being surpassed by the younger generation, especially when that young talent was Han Mo.

Yan Yibing glanced at him, a faint scoff escaping his lips, “Would I care about an outdated leaderboard?”

Song Tang dryly laughed twice, “Of course not. We don’t even bother with those small competitions anymore. Only that lunatic, Han Mo, takes it seriously. Your focus is on the World Championship. Only those dumb internet trolls think you care.”

Yan Yibing shifted his gaze, paused for a moment, and then, with his tense posture suddenly relaxing, he slumped in his chair, reluctantly admitting, “I do care.”

“…Damn?” Even though the other person was the team captain, Song Tang couldn’t help but curse

Yan Yibing furrowed his brows. “It’s not about the prize money and reputation; it’s just that I used to speak without thinking.”

He pushed his phone towards Song Tang.

On the phone screen was a voice message from an unknown number with no contact name.

Song Tang sneakily glanced at Yan Yibing and then reached out to play the voice message.

First, Yan Yibing’s voice came through, sounding somewhat cheerful, with a hint of drunkenness. “Don’t be fooled by the fact that I’m always scolding you guys. But this group of trainees is the best I’ve ever mentored. Whoever surpasses me on the leaderboard in the future, name your price, and I’ll provide it.”

Immediately following was a distant, chaotic laughter.

Amidst these sounds, there was a young boy’s voice that had recently gone through the voice-changing period. It was deep and magnetic.

He seemed to be speaking intimately, with a seductive tone, as if his breath could caress Yan Yibing’s lips.

“What benefits are there in surpassing you?”

Yan Yibing, somewhat breathless and disheveled, still mumbled earnestly, “There will be a lot of female fans, all beautiful girls.”

The young boy chuckled, his voice carrying a hint of huskiness as he murmured to himself, “How beautiful can they be? I haven’t seen anyone more beautiful than our captain.”

Yan Yibing, his thoughts muddled by alcohol, continued along with his words, “If you can surpass me, I’ll be your girl.”

“Okay.” The young boy’s response was wicked yet solemn. “Captain, don’t forget that.”

The voice message ended there, and there were no more messages from the sender.

“…”

Song Tang’s face darkened, and the corner of his mouth twitched.

Thank you for reading! 

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• 1
  Bing Shen: 冰神 is a nickname for Yan Yibing(言易冰), that can also translate to Ice God
• 2
  smurf account: a secondary or alternate account that an experienced or skilled player creates, typically for the purpose of playing at a lower skill level than their primary or main account.
• 3
  Play as Fan Wei and conquer the world instead: “玩范伟打天下吧” (Wán fàn wěi dǎ tiānxià ba) “Fan Wei” (范伟) is the name of a Chinese actor. The phrase “玩范伟打天下吧” is a playful way of suggesting that someone should excel in something else if they’re not doing well in PUBG.