Jiang Shi stared at Juzi’s ID for several seconds, finally coming to terms with the fact that they had queued into the same match.
It was a case of enemies meeting on a narrow road.
The atmosphere in the team became increasingly awkward.
Eventually, Xie Xu broke the silence, saying, “I’m stepping out to take a call.”
Earlier, during the match, Yuan Yang’s calls had been non-stop.
Since Xie Xu was using team voice chat, Juzi didn’t realize that Xie Xu had already left and continued messaging in the team chat.
[Team Chat] Lion-Juzi: Xu-ge, I promise I won’t drag us down. Please don’t mind me…
True to his word, Juzi immediately locked in his signature mid-lane mage, Nuka, known for its synergy with Xie Xu’s Snowman.
[Team Chat] Lion-Juzi: Hey, did you and my team captain go out drinking the other day? Why did you suddenly leave? Sun was really upset when he got back and even said he was going to cut ties with you.
Jiang Shi was momentarily taken aback before recalling the incident Juzi mentioned.
Back then, Jiang Shi had been secretly streaming using Time’s account, and the chat was filled with comments about Xu and Sun going out for a private rendezvous, leaving Jiang Shi abandoned in the Rift.
So, Jiang Shi pretended to be pitiful and claimed he was hungry, prompting Xu to ditch Sun and return to base.
Jiang Shi smiled to himself at the thought of them “cutting ties.”
Break up!! He hoped they’d never speak again.
[Team Chat] Lion-Juzi: But I talked to the captain about it, and he said he understood that you must’ve had something urgent. He even mentioned wanting to schedule a scrim with you guys!
After Xu left that night, Sun had posted a heartbroken message on social media, sparking rumors that Xu had found a new partner and that the jungle-support CP from the two teams was done for.
Now, with Juzi’s clarification, Xu’s stream chat was buzzing with excitement.
[As expected from brother teams, their relationship is solid.]
[I’m ready to ship them again!]
[Not just Sun, Xu and Juzi are a great match too. Juzi is so sweet, even helping explain on his captain’s behalf.]
[TLG team is really weird. Xu is such a god, but he’s never been shipped with anyone on the team, yet he pairs so well with everyone on Lion.]
[Am I the only one who low-key shipped Xu and An when An first became a starter?]
[Xu and An? What kind of international joke is that? I even feel bad for An whenever he and Xu had to share the same screen.]
[You guys know An already found a new team before the finals, right? And because he wanted to steal the limelight, he went crazy reckless and gave away kills in the finals.]
[Because of An, I don’t have any good feelings toward TLG’s new ADC. As for supporting the CP? I dry heaved the moment I think about it. Gross.]
Jiang Shi, who was being innocently dragged into the drama: “?”
But these inflammatory comments were quickly blocked by the moderators.
Meanwhile, Juzi, who was also streaming, went quiet for a while before finally sending another message.
[Team Chat] Lion-Juzi: Xu-ge, you can always talk to me about anything. I promise I won’t tell anyone~
Seeing that “ge,” Jiang Shi could no longer hold back and took action.
[Team Chat] Don’t Look For Abuse: If I’m not mistaken, you’re older than Xu by a month. Aren’t you embarrassed calling him “ge”?
[Team Chat] Don’t Look For Abuse: The goosebumps on my arms say they can’t handle this level of cringe 🙂
When they had queued into the same match, Jiang Shi had snuck a glance at Juzi’s stream and caught a glimpse of his birth date.
Xie Xu’s stream chat was filled with laughter.
[I’m dying. Is this accompanying player always this funny? So blunt!]
[If he hadn’t mentioned it, I would’ve assumed Juzi was younger too. Now that I think about it, he’s actually an old man by league standards.]
[Juzi is just the cute type~]
[But why does this accompanying player sound so jealous? You’d think Xu was his or something!]
The viewers started mocking Jiang Shi, saying he didn’t know his place, and some even began digging into his accompanying player account’s background. But aside from the ID, there was nothing else to find.
However, Jiang Shi’s match history was open for viewing.
[Something’s off. This accompanying player has been playing ranked with TLG’s starters whenever he’s not solo queuing.]
[No wonder he seemed familiar. He showed up in Lele’s stream once with Back!]
[Huh? What does that mean?]
[Are you suggesting this accompanying player might be TLG’s new starting ADC?]
[No way, right?]
Only then did Jiang Shi realize he had forgotten to close off his match history. He usually didn’t mind people checking his stats since a good record meant more accompanying player jobs. But after joining TLG, he’d completely forgotten about it.
Although he quickly turned off the permission, quick-fingered fans had already taken screenshots.
In an instant, speculation about Jiang Shi’s identity took over the chat.
Meanwhile, on the other end, Xie Xu was still on the phone with Yuan Yang.
“Jiang Shi is our secret weapon. Why are you duo-queueing with him on stream?” Yuan Yang’s voice was laced with panic.
He was watching Xu’s stream and nearly fainted when he saw the fans speculating about Jiang Shi’s identity.
“Why are your fans so good at digging up information?”
Yuan Yang was sweating bullets. “Forget it, just go back on stream and say Jiang Shi is our exclusive accompanying player.”
That way, it would make sense for him to be playing with the other starters.
But Xie Xu had a different opinion. “No need.”
His right wrist was sore from holding the phone, so he switched to his left hand before continuing. “I know you’re keeping Jiang Shi under wraps to make him a dark horse in the Spring Split, boosting TLG’s presence.”
“But why not do it earlier?”
Rather than having the players go into the matches under the pressure of outside speculation, it would be better to gradually introduce Jiang Shi to the public, building anticipation. This way, TLG would still generate buzz.
Yuan Yang quickly understood his point. “You want to use your stream’s traffic and popularity to give Jiang Shi a pre-launch hype?”
“If you’re the one to introduce Jiang Shi, he’ll definitely generate buzz, but he’s got a clean background with no past achievements…”
If he didn’t perform to the fans’ expectations in the regular season, the higher Jiang Shi’s starting point, the harder he’d fall.
And when that happened, it wouldn’t just be some light-hearted jabs in the chat.
Xie Xu stared at the closed door of the training room, his tone indifferent. “You’re underestimating him.”
Seeing how confident Xie Xu was, Yuan Yang gritted his teeth. “Alright, we’ll do it your way.”
Recently, Lele and the others had been struggling during their streams, constantly facing criticism about TLG’s lack of an ADC and hearing comments that they should just disband. Lele had gotten so upset that he teared up multiple times, unable to refute the claims, and had even complained to Yuan Yang several times, asking when they could finally show off their amazing ADC.
“But make sure you discuss it with Jiang Shi first,” Yuan Yang added.
When Xie Xu returned to the training room, his stream was in an uproar. Most viewers believed that TLG had just hired a permanent accompanying player, while a smaller group felt it was obvious that this accompanying player was definitely TLG’s new ADC.
As the hero selection countdown neared its end, Xie Xu casually locked in The Cat and ignored the chaotic chat, instead reading the in-game chat logs.
When he saw the “Xu-ge” message, he twitched slightly. “Sun, is chatting while pretending to be your team’s mid-laner that fun?”
Jiang Shi was momentarily stunned.
So, that message had been from Sun? No wonder it sounded so coquettish.
Soon, Sun’s playful laughter came through the voice chat. “Oh, you caught on right away. I was just trying to tease your little accompanying player~”
Sun deliberately dragged out the words “accompanying player”, causing the viewers to flood the chat with questions about whether Sun knew any inside information.
“Inside info? You mean this accompanying player?” Sun’s tone was light. “Isn’t the person in question streaming right now? Why don’t you ask him directly?”
“But this accompanying player is really interesting. Any interest in coming over to our side?”
As an old friend of Xie Xu, Sun could easily guess what Xie Xu was up to. While helping create buzz was part of it, poaching was also on the agenda.
[Team Chat] Don’t Look For Abuse: Not interested.
[Haha, this accompanying player’s hand speed sure is quick. Sun barely finished speaking, and he almost replied instantly.]
[Clearly, there wasn’t even a second of hesitation.]
Xie Xu equipped his hero with runes. “He’s my accompanying player, so don’t get any ideas.”
The words “my accompanying player” made Jiang Shi’s face heat up slightly.
He shifted his headset, trying to hide his reaction.
During a lull in the early game, Xie Xu muted his stream mic and explained to Jiang Shi the plan he had discussed with Yuan Yang, along with the potential risks and benefits.
Jiang Shi quickly grasped the situation — TLG was pinning their hopes on him, expecting the new ADC to bring fresh energy to the team. The weight of their expectations was a foreign feeling, one that made Jiang Shi feel pressure for the first time in a long while.
“Captain, I’m not sure I can do it,” Jiang Shi admitted, his mouse aimlessly moving around while he stood under the tower. “I didn’t play well in our last scrim against MR.”
But before he could finish, Xie Xu cut him off. “Jiang Shi, you’re very strong.”
“That last scrim was a tactic Yuan Yang and I planned. We deliberately didn’t focus on bot lane to put you under pressure. We thought it would be a good way to identify any weaknesses,” Xie Xu explained. “Especially in the second game, I barely assisted you at all.”
Jiang Shi’s personal skill level was easily among the top three AD carries in the current professional scene.
Jiang Shi, who had been idly pacing under the tower, suddenly froze and turned to look at Xie Xu. “So, you mean in that second scrim, it wasn’t because you thought I was too weak that you didn’t stick close to me?”
The match results were secondary to Jiang Shi – what he cared about was Xie Xu’s opinion of him.
Xie Xu used The Cat’s ultimate to attach to Jiang Shi, proving his point through action. “Of course not.”
“I’ve never thought you were weak.”
Hearing this, Jiang Shi’s eyes brightened, and he immediately agreed to the plan they had discussed earlier. “Captain, I’m on board with what you said.”
He had been through plenty of challenges before – this kind of pressure was nothing to him.
Juzi came to bot lane to assist and noticed that the two had been standing under the tower for nearly a minute. He tentatively turned on his mic. “Xu-ge, Sun asked me to check if you’re flirting with the little ADC under the tower. He wants to listen in too.”
Maybe it was the embarrassment of the question, but Juzi’s voice grew softer, to the point that Jiang Shi could barely hear him even with his headset on.
Xie Xu finally unmuted his mic, his tone casual. “Since I’m flirting, do you think I’d let him listen?”
Innocent Juzi quickly replied, “No.”
Jiang Shi felt his face heat up again. Even though he knew Xie Xu was likely just creating buzz, he couldn’t help but feel a bit giddy.
He glanced at the The Cat attached to him, calculating the enemy jungler’s camp timing in his head.
[Team Chat] Don’t Look For Abuse: Need blue? I’ll secure it for you.
Mid-laner Juzi, feeling flattered, glanced at his nearly empty MP bar and hurriedly replied, “Huh? I—”
Before he could say “yes,” he saw the ADC and The Cat invade the enemy jungle. When they returned, The Cat was carrying a blue buff.
Juzi: “…”
Not only did he misinterpret the situation, but he also got served a plate of dog food?
After the game ended, Jiang Shi and his team unsurprisingly secured a victory.
Xie Xu observed the chat’s focus on Jiang Shi’s gameplay and the ongoing speculation about his identity. Knowing that the stream had achieved its purpose, he ended the broadcast.
Jiang Shi, on the other hand, noticed that Xie Xu still needed three more wins to return to the Grandmaster rank.
Just how long had Xie Xu been on a losing streak?
He recalled Xie Xu’s previous performance. There hadn’t been much direct shot-calling, but just through his game sense and pings, Xie Xu had created a significant advantage for their team. Moreover, Xie Xu had pushed The Cat to its limits, constantly harassing the enemy and baiting out their abilities, only to be finished off by Jiang Shi in a counterattack.
With The Cat played like that, how could they lose?
But Xie Xu had lost, and lost badly, even dropping an entire division.
Realizing something, Jiang Shi looked at Xie Xu and bit his lip. “Captain, I think I know why you lost earlier.”
Xie Xu’s hand paused on the mouse. After a moment, he responded, “Hmm?”
Jiang Shi angrily exclaimed, “Just how bad were your teammates to drag you down like this?”
