Zuo Tao raised his eyebrows and, under the praises raining down on him from Ding Lei, recalled to the base with almost no health.
He moved his wrist. And to think he was beginning to accept that WIND was so powerful. The former top midlaner from FTU turned to be just that.
Except for Ding Lei, their team played well, developing smoothly and taking advantage of any opportunity. After almost 40 minutes, their team marched to the enemy base and destroyed their crystal.
Most high-ranked games usually developed this way. If there was even the slightest mistake in the midgame, and advantages and disadvantages begin to take shape — unless the other team’s lineup required reaching the late game to reach their power spikes — the result could easily be determined.
Zuo Tao did not hesitate, hitting the enemy base and making it explode. It was only when the game finally ended that Zuo Tao found out that there was another pro player on their team who was using an alternate account.
【nauq284n: Hello ZZ, I’m FG’s WIZARD. Would you like to duo queue later?】
【nauq284n: I’ll pay the fees based on your commissions.】
WIZARD was FG’s jungler.
FG, or FREE GROWTH, was currently one of the most popular teams in the league, boasting both qualifications and equipment. Their base was in a prime urban area where every inch of real estate was worth its weight in gold. Su Yueyao was FG’s coach, so Zuo Tao had met WIZARD several times in the past. He was quite nice.
Had it been anyone else, Zuo Tao would have had them go to the app and book an appointment. However, it was someone in Su Yueyao’s team.
【ZZ: It’s late now. Let’s set up an appointment for later.】
He even added the account to his friends list.
Ding Lei was the only one who knew about him being ZZ, an account which had never before had any contact with FG. Since WIZARD was interested in ranking with him then he couldn’t refuse no matter the rationale. After all, he owed Su Yueyao so much.
Ding Lei was watching quietly as these two people spoke. When they returned to their lobby, he immediately objected to Zuo Tao’s decision: “Why are we stopping? It’s only midnight. Can’t we get two more matches in?”
Zuo Tao yawned. “I can’t. I have to wake up early for training tomorrow.” Besides, Jiang Ming had also reminded him to wake up early tomorrow since someone was coming to take his measurements to get his uniform done.
“Alright,” Ding Lei answered with a sigh. “Then I’ll just play solo. Remember to make some time to carry me, I want to go up another rank before this season ends.” He paused. “Also, free up your time this weekend. We have a class event. Preliminaries should be over by then, so make sure you come.”
Zuo Tao agreed and logged out of the game.
His phone was vibrating. He was also receiving notifications during the game, and so many of them, too. They were all from Weibo and he barely had to use his fingertips to check who all those messages had come from.
Zuo Tao finally opened his phone and saw, as expected —
【WIND is the world’s number 1: Call it cheap or whatever, but it’s nothing compared to FIRE. What ‘number 1 AD in the local server’, his title should be ‘number 1 scumbag in the local server’, right?】
【WIND is the world’s number 1: And you. You think being a companion player makes you some noble who’s better than everyone else? Maybe look in the mirror first before you start yapping.】
【WIND is the world’s number 1: You can only dare to play among casual gamers, anyway. You’re just going to cry if you meet a pro player.】
【WIND is the world’s number 1: Nothing else to say? Are you scared? Are you scared?】
【WIND is the world’s number 1: Idiot.】
Zuo Tao rolled his eyes at the last message. He was actually planning on going straight to sleep, but when evil things dare come knocking on his door to seek righteousness, of course it was difficult to resist.
Five minutes later, ZZ posted a Weibo update.
ZZ: That’s all there is to WIND? I can solo kill him even with Fairy Song? Also, @WIND is the world’s number 1, I, your father, am indeed noble above everyone else, and killing your master is just like playing around.
Along with the text was a clip of the previous game. In it, the soft and weak Fairy Song, her build already complete, gracefully fluttered her wings and moved in the air, reversing the general understanding of her as a hero as she chased after WIND relentlessly, successfully killing him several times.
This video was well-edited. On each kill freeze-frame, accompanied with a dramatic clown sound effect that was both melodious and comical, red characters were written —
【REBORN-WIND has been killed by this noble one again!】
The number of views, likes, comments, and reposts increasing refreshed Zuo Tao to the point of losing his sleepiness. He opened the comments, ignoring everything that was already there and instead mentioning WIND is the world’s number 1.
【@WIND is the world’s number 1 nothing else to say? Are you scared? Are you scared? Idiot.】
Zuo Tao’s laughter was uncontrollable, rubbing his face as he said, “Sure enough, I feel much better after shedding my skin.”
Feeling full of himself, Zuo Tao put on a jacket over his pajamas and went out the balcony while humming under his breath. The rain had stopped outside but it was still humid, making the early morning breeze colder than usual.
He fumbled around his jacket and took out a box of cigarettes. Before he could light one, his phone started ringing.
It was Su Yueyao.
Zuo Tao accepted the call. “Hello?”
“What do you want?” Su Yueyao asked, sounding tired even through the call.
Zuo Tao was puzzled, until he remembered he’d sent a message to Su Yueyao earlier that afternoon. He leaned against the railing and answered lowly: “Nothing, I was just curious about what happened with FTU…”
He was interrupted by another voice on Su Yueyao’s side, and he stopped speaking since she seemed to be discussing something with someone else. It seemed to be about some kind of competition.
Zuo Tao waited patiently.
“You were saying?” Su Yueyao finally said closer to the mic. “I was so busy that I wasn’t able to talk to you earlier.”
“Why’re you suddenly so busy?” Zuo Tao asked curiously.
Su Yueyao laughed. “Well, it’s fine to tell you in advance, anyway. Team FG decided to register for the preliminaries. Kid, we’re going to meet on the field now.”
Zuo Tao had just beaten WIND in the game and his confidence was sky-high. He answered, “Come at me, I’m not scared of you.”
Su Yueyao laughed again. “Alright, enough. What were you asking me?”
Zuo Tao played with the box of cigarettes in his hand. He was stopped from speaking by a noise from the other balcony beside him.
Zuo Tao’s eyelid twitched as he quickly stuffed the cigarette box back into his pocket. He turned around and saw Song Shihan stepping out of his room. Perhaps because he was wearing nothing but light gray pajamas, his usually cold temperament was nowhere to be found; instead, it was replaced with a subtle gentleness.
The pot of mint on the balcony that was almost balding became the center of attention. Zuo Tao blinked, the smile curling on his lips freezing in place. He truly did not expect that Song Shihan would be coming out at this time of the night.
Over the phone, he said: “Uh, let’s talk about it later. I’m hanging up!”
“Talking to a friend?” Song Shihan lit a cigarette, placing an ashtray on a random spot on the railing. He lowered his gaze to his phone, which seemed to be open on a certain Weibo page.
Zuo Tao: “No, my aunt.” He ruffled his hair. “Did I wake you, captain?”
“No,” Song Shihan answered. He looked up at Zuo Tao and flicked off the ash from the end of his cigarette. “You mind?”
Zuo Tao shook his head.
“Alright.” Remembering him choking earlier, he added: “Stand a little further away.”
Zuo Tao smiled and said it was fine. From a glance, he saw that Song Shihan seemed to be watching a video. Curious, he asked, “Captain, what are you watching?”
“A friend forwarded something. Want to see it?” Without waiting for his response, Song Shihan raised the volume.
Zuo Tao truly was interested. He moved closer and, the next second, he heard a familiar clown sound effect coming from Song Shihan’s phone —
“REBORN-WIND has been killed by this noble one again!”
Zuo Tao: …
“Using Fairy Song as well.” Song Shihan didn’t notice the subtle changes in Zuo Tao’s expression, continuing with subtle amusement, “He plays quite similarly to the way you did earlier.”
Alarm bells rang in Zuo Tao’s heart. He dared not continue watching for fear of reacting more obviously. “Is it… similar? Doesn’t look like it.”
“Quite,” Song Shihan answered, “and the way he developed was the same. Do you know each other?”
Zuo Tao immediately shook his head without thinking about it deeper. “Of course not!” he said as he shook his head. Fearing that it might have been over the top, he laughed it off and continued: “You know… I was a senior in high school. I didn’t get much time on the internet.
“Yeah, he probably saw the broadcast and tried your routine out,” Song Shihan said, not doubting him at all.
Zuo Tao took the bait and agreed. “Yeah, that might be it.”
The conversation lulled, and they remained silent, lost in their own thoughts, until Song Shihan finished smoking. Pressing the butt into the ashtray, he said: “It’s getting late. Go to sleep.”
Zuo Tao nodded. “Good night!”
Back in his room and laying on the bed, Zuo Tao finally heaved a sigh of relief.
That was careless. Maybe he shouldn’t have played Fairy Song tonight, but Song Shihan fortunately didn’t seem to have any further suspicion. Remembering the incident, Zuo Tao took his phone and checked Weibo. His post had already broken 10,000 likes, which surprised him; the account only had 200,000 followers, so this number was beyond expectation.
He found the answer on the repost list.
【FG-WIZARD: Played Fairy Song well, everyone can try and learn. //repost: ZZ: That’s all there is to WIND?…】
Zuo Tao: …
So did WIZARD made the mistake of reposting this on his professional account? Or did he kind of, maybe, hate WIND too?
Feeling his scalp tingling, he leaned against the bedside table, lost in thought. Struck by inspiration, he immediately forwarded WIZARD’s post, deciding to play along.
【ZZ: Thanking WIZARD for his support. I also learned from PINK, he’s pretty good. //repost: FG-WIZARD: Played Fairy Song well,…】
This way, he could also cement Song Shihan’s conjecture, saving him from future grief!
Zuo Tao smiled.
I’m so smart.
Based on the principle of following through with an act, Zuo Tao waited for another hour despite his sleepiness, then switched to his PINK account and forwarded this post.
【Wildfire-PINK: Thank you for the shoutout, I’ll continue to work hard /cute_blush.jpg //repost: ZZ: Thanking WIZARD for his support….】
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