When they returned to TG’s rest room, the atmosphere was heavy. Chen Yuzheng’s face was cold. The team leader turned and patted him, sighing: “You played really well in the later games. You did your best today.”
Ultraman had also lost his usual energy, sitting in his chair with his elbows on his knees, covering his face. In a rest room of more than ten people, no one spoke a word.
Despite their low spirits, they still needed to attend the post-match interview. TG’s members were led to the interview room by staff, taking their seats one by one.
Gun Gaming eSports asked Killer first, “As a new team, you made it to the finals but unfortunately lost to OG. Do you have anything to say?”
“It’s fine.” Killer forced a smile, picking up the microphone, trying to appear relaxed: “We have few fans, so there aren’t many people who’ll be sad. Everyone wins.”
The second question was for Ultraman, and it was rather sharp: “Do you pay attention to online comments? Do they affect your mindset?”
“Yes, we know everything they say online.” Ultraman’s expression was heavy. After a pause, he continued, “Many people didn’t believe in us. We fought until today just because we didn’t want to be looked down upon.”
After speaking, his eyes turned red, and he lowered his head to hide his emotions. Other team members turned to look at him. The interview room fell silent for a moment.
It was Chen Yuzheng’s turn.
Another media person stood up: “In the first two games, you were at a disadvantage in lane against Fish. Did you feel pressured against him?”
He replied: “Wasn’t fully awake.”
“……”
“……”
This answer caught the interviewer off guard. After stumbling, they continued, “Then how did you adjust your condition in the later games?”
Chen Yuzheng replied casually: “No adjustment.”
After speaking, he seemed to remember something and added absent-mindedly, “Oh, I had some juice.”
—
After the match, they walked out through the back passage.
It was almost eleven, but a small group of fans was still waiting. When they saw TG’s members approaching, the fans didn’t crowd around, just watching them from a distance.
Just before they got in the car, someone shouted: “Chen Yuzheng!”
He turned around.
A fan raised a megaphone and shouted: “Chen Yuzheng, don’t be discouraged! We’re all waiting for the day you win the championship. Hold your head high, you have nothing to be ashamed of!!!!”
“And Killer, Van, Ultraman, Thomas, all of you keep fighting!! We want to see you in the finals again in the summer season!”
Though everyone’s mood was low, they still waved to the fans.
On the way back, some people wore headphones to sleep, Ultraman pressed his forehead against the window watching the night scenery, quietly, almost no one spoke.
Back at the hotel, Yu Nuo returned to her room and curled up on the sofa to chat with Xiang Jiajia. After a long day, both were too tired to move.
“Ah…” Xiang Jiajia sighed deeply, scrolling through today’s photos on her phone, “This is so depressing…”
Yu Nuo comforted her, “It’s okay, there will be more chances.”
She had experienced many low points alongside Yu Ge. No one could always have smooth sailing in professional competition. What’s past is past, all they could do was look forward. TG was still young, there were many possibilities in the future.
—
Even at midnight, TG and OG’s finals still had several trending topics.
Surprisingly, there weren’t many arguments this time, with many people sincerely congratulating A Wen on finally achieving his dream.
OG fans finally shook off their previous losses to TG, straightening their backs and happily organizing giveaways in their super topics. As for TG, the strongest supporting role in history, they were taken down by OG’s teleport strategy in the fifth game. This even earned them sympathy from many people.
TG’s official Weibo gained over a hundred thousand followers in a few hours, with comments full of career fans:
[Hey? When are you going to open Weibo accounts for your team members?]
[They played well tonight, thought it would be a 3:0 for OG, but they managed to take two games back, this mom fan is satisfied]
[T-baby don’t be so passive, take advantage of the high popularity, post more photos of your AD to gain fans. Show some spirit! Do you know how to buy marketing? Do you know how to buy articles? I’ve even thought of the title for you! The rise of a genius AD, starting from second place—]
—
Yu Nuo was charging her phone when someone knocked on the door.
Xiang Jiajia opened it and peeked out – it was Killer, “Late night snacks, want to come?”
Small Ying and others were also there.
Yu Nuo rarely saw them out of their team uniforms.
It felt fresh, so she looked a bit longer.
Chen Yuzheng was wearing a white T-shirt, probably just out of the shower, his hair still slightly damp.
There were many outdoor food stalls nearby, they randomly chose one.
Several people sat around the table, Yu Nuo had Xiang Jiajia on her left, with an empty seat on her right. She was a bit hungry too, playing with her chopsticks while seriously studying the menu on the table.
After a while, someone sat down beside her.
Several people shared two menus.
Yu Nuo finished looking and was about to pass it to Xiang Jiajia, but she was chatting with Small Ying. Yu Nuo turned her head and passed the menu to the person on her right, “You order.”
Just then, Ultraman had also finished and passed his menu to Chen Yuzheng at the same time: “What do you want?”
Just as Yu Nuo was about to withdraw her hand, Chen Yuzheng pulled the menu from her hands.
Ultraman, left hanging: “……?”
He choked a bit, trying to save face, “Chen Yuzheng, I gave you one too, didn’t you see?”
Chen Yuzheng flipped through the menu, nonchalantly: “She gave it first.”
“Are you questioning a pro player’s hand speed?” Ultraman wouldn’t back down, arguing reasonably, “Everyone saw it, I clearly gave it first.”
“Right?” Ultraman asked Killer, “Wasn’t I first?”
Killer couldn’t watch anymore: “Alright, stop embarrassing yourself.”
“Exactly.” Van gave up on him, “Stop talking, Man-man, I’m getting secondhand embarrassment.”
Everyone laughed.
They were seemingly talking about Ultraman, but actually teasing Chen Yuzheng.
Chen Yuzheng kept browsing the menu, ignoring them completely. Let them talk.
Yu Nuo felt a bit awkward though.
Fortunately, this topic quickly passed.
The restaurant owner put glasses on the table, with water next to Yu Nuo. She naturally poured water for everyone.
Killer: “Yu Nuo, I noticed you really like taking care of people. I’m feeling embarrassed.”
“Hm?” Yu Nuo looked up at him, “It’s fine, I’m so much older than you all, it’s natural to take care.”
“How do you look older than us?” Killer clicked his tongue, “When I first met you, I thought you were a rebellious high school student, you had pink hair then, right? Pretty stylish.”
“Well…” Yu Nuo pondered.
Chen Yuzheng, who hadn’t said much, suddenly asked, “How old are you?”
“I’m 22, almost 23 if counting the traditional way.” Yu Nuo thought for a moment, “About three or four years older than you.”
Chen Yuzheng had a slight displeasure: “Three years counts as much older?”
This question made Yu Nuo pause, answering seriously: “My cousin is also 19, and he’s still a kid in my eyes.”
Chen Yuzheng corrected: “I’m 20 by traditional counting.”
As soon as he said this, Van burst out laughing, mercilessly exposing: “You just had your birthday last week.”
Ultraman sighed, patted Chen Yuzheng’s shoulder, emphasizing each word: “Hear that, Chen Yuzheng, you’re still a kid.”
The late-night snacks and alcohol came quickly. The guys had beer first, then called for white liquor. After several rounds, except for Small Ying and Yu Nuo who couldn’t drink, everyone else was pretty much done.
Ultraman lay on the table mumbling unclearly: “Damn it, I’ll definitely win a championship one day, make those who looked down on us eat their words.”
Killer joined in shouting: “Well said! Championship!!!”
The young men’s wishes scattered in the night wind.
—
Thankfully the hotel wasn’t far, they supported each other back to the hotel lobby. Everyone collapsed on the sofas, refusing to move.
Only Small Ying, the lone guy, exhaustedly took them back to their rooms one by one.
Yu Nuo and Xiang Jiajia stayed to watch over them.
Killer suddenly retched and stumbled out the door.
Xiang Jiajia was startled, worried something might happen, and quickly followed him.
Chen Yuzheng sat on the sofa, hunched over with his head in his hands, looking affected too, his face pale.
He had thrown up once before, so Yu Nuo was worried, “Do you want some water?”
Chen Yuzheng responded slowly, shaking his head.
“Today…” his voice was hoarse, suddenly speaking, then stopping.
Yu Nuo made an acknowledging sound, waiting for him to continue.
“Thanks for the juice.”
Yu Nuo: “It’s nothing.”
Chen Yuzheng stared at her, his drunk eyes glazed with a layer of moisture, “Disappointed?”
“What?” Yu Nuo didn’t understand.
“I lost.”
Yu Nuo paused, answering carefully: “I’m not disappointed.”
“Happy for your brother?”
His sudden mention of Yu Ge caught Yu Nuo off guard.
Chen Yuzheng looked into her eyes, continuing: “I drank your juice but couldn’t beat your brother.”
Yu Nuo didn’t know if he was talking nonsense from being drunk, or what, so she could only half-comfort, half-respond: “You were already amazing, though I don’t understand much, but you all performed very well today.” She wracked her brain for descriptive words, “Like, um… it was spectacular, passionate.”
After a moment of silence, Chen Yuzheng said: “Why do you sound so formal?”
Yu Nuo: “……”
After speaking, Chen Yuzheng turned his head back.
Her phone vibrated, Yu Nuo received a message.
From Small Ying: [Sorry to trouble you, please help look after Chen Yuzheng, someone threw up on me, I’ll clean up and come down.]
At one in the morning, the official League of Legends LPL photographer posted a series of match photos.
There were shots of A Wen crying, OG members raising their trophy, and TG members’ dejected backs. Yu Nuo came across this Weibo post and scrolled through the photos one by one.
The eighth was Chen Yuzheng. She paused.
After the fifth game ended, before he left the stage, his head was lowered, eyes downcast, showing only a profile.
The lighting and angle were perfect, the background blurred, Chen Yuzheng and the trophy on stage were left and right, just centimeters apart. The “Conquer” on his shoulder gleamed under the lights, creating a meaningful scene.
Yu Nuo had an indescribable feeling.
She looked at it several more times and secretly saved the photo.
After finishing this post, it automatically jumped to the next. It was a video, and as soon as it started playing, an energetic voice rang out:
Today, Little X will dig into those face-slapping statements by Conquer——
At this late hour, the hotel lobby was very quiet, so this sentence was particularly jarring.
Yu Nuo was stunned.
In her panic, she tried to turn off her phone but accidentally hit the volume button instead. After hastily exiting, she looked up to find the subject of the video looking at her.
“I… that.” Yu Nuo moved her eyes away from the phone, stammering, trying to explain the misunderstanding, “That…”
Chen Yuzheng tilted his head, his gaze lingering on her face, expression lazy, slowly saying: “Secretly searching about me?”
Yu Nuo didn’t know whether to laugh or cry, turning off her phone, “No, I just accidentally clicked on it.”
“You just saved my photo,” Chen Yuzheng said.
Yu Nuo: “……”
If there was a hole in the ground right now, she’d gladly jump in.
Yu Nuo’s heart raced, fast and heavy, instinctively denying, “That wasn’t you.”
“Conquer isn’t me?”
A long and awkward silence followed, even the air seemed to freeze for a few seconds.
Yu Nuo’s face must have been red, but she tried to maintain composure: “Chen Yuzheng, are you drunk?”
“Yeah.” Chen Yuzheng repeated, “You saved my photo, I saw it.”
Yu Nuo watched as he leaned forward, getting closer to her, and she couldn’t help but scoot away a bit.
“So?” Chen Yuzheng moved close to her face, stopping, “Am I handsome?”
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