The air suddenly went quiet, and Yu Nuo lost all ability to speak.
He stood there, his expression mild, his gaze unchanged, as if he didn’t care about what just happened.
The young man had a slender figure and an extremely handsome face. A beam of light happened to fall on his shoulder, right on the golden team logo.
Gathering her thoughts, Yu Nuo found her voice again, “I’m sorry, I’m a bit nearsighted.”
Noticing something wasn’t right, the post-match host asked with concern: “Is everything okay?”
Several TG team members were still watching the scene with amusement.
Yu Nuo quickly handed out the gift, saying: “This is for you.”
Someone finally finished laughing and grinned: “Why are you just standing there? Not taking the girl’s gift? Acting like a big shot?”
“……”
Yu Nuo’s eyelashes trembled.
It became even more awkward.
He gave them a casual glance without responding, took the item with a lazy attitude, and said thanks.
“No- no need to thank me.”
She wanted to explain further, but too much time had passed already. Yu Nuo’s head was steaming, and she awkwardly apologized again before quickly fleeing the scene.
Fu Yidong was waiting for her below the stage, also amused and somewhat incredulous, “Yu Nuo, how could you be so absentminded?”
Yu Nuo’s face was still red.
She was shy and easily blushed when nervous.
Yu Nuo felt choked up, “You suddenly asked me to go on stage without telling me who it was, and I didn’t know what Conquer looked like.”
Fu Yidong found it quite interesting and chuckled, pushing her forward, “No, I was cheering for him for so long before the match started, who knew you wouldn’t even glance at the stage?”
“……”
Yu Nuo hadn’t recovered yet, feeling frustrated: “That was so embarrassing.”
“There’s nothing embarrassing about it.” Fu Yidong consoled her, “It’s not a big deal.”
Her phone rang just then, Yu Nuo checked the caller ID and composed herself before answering.
Yu Ge: “Where are you?”
Yu Nuo responded briefly, “I was doing something, I’ll come find you right away.”
“What were you doing just now?”
The backstage rest area had a live broadcast, so Yu Ge probably saw her going on stage to give the gift. From his tone, she could imagine his expression, definitely frowning with extreme impatience.
Yu Nuo explained what had just happened.
After the call ended, Fu Yidong opened a bottle of water, took a sip, “Was that your brother?”
Yu Nuo made a sound of agreement, “They’re going to eat soon, want to come with me?”
“No thanks, you go ahead, I have something else to do later.”
Some staff members in the backstage knew Yu Nuo and came over to greet her.
When she reached OG’s rest room door, there was a circle of people inside, with the coach raging. She didn’t go in, instead standing in the hallway waiting for a while.
Not knowing what to do.
Yu Nuo took out her earphones, using her thumb to open the playlist, and started looking for songs to listen to. After replying to a few messages, she opened Weibo.
Her alternate account followed several esports bloggers, and they were all discussing how OG had lost to TG again.
Yu Ge had been a professional player for over three years, experiencing both wins and losses, valleys and peaks. In this circle, people praise you when you play well and practically want to dig up your ancestors’ graves when you play poorly – it’s all normal, so she rarely paid attention to these things, afraid it would affect her mood.
As expected, in just over half an hour, OG’s official Weibo had over ten thousand comments, filled with waves of criticism.
Hardcore Fan A: [You’ve really done it OG, living up to expectations.]
Hardcore Fan B: [This is blueberry, this is strawberry, meeting you OG was my misfortune.]
Hardcore Fan C: [What the hell kind of game was that, getting completely destroyed in the second game was bad enough, but in the third game you had such a big advantage and still got turned around?? Can you show us some decent games? It’s almost playoffs and the whole team is still having episodes and putting on a show?]
Someone in the comments sarcastically mocked:
[If OG had half the output during matches that their fans have, would they have been crushed by TG twice in a row?]
Yu Nuo clicked on a certain gaming Weibo and refreshed it, finding a post from half an hour ago:
“This new AD player called Conquer is really impressive. I have a feeling he’ll definitely have a bright future.”
They also posted several photos from the scene, including a GIF that showed just a few seconds as the camera panned by. Conquer took off his black headphones and threw them on the table, with a smile at the corner of his mouth that was both arrogant and playful.
One of the top comments:
[OG fans, hold off on the criticism for now (covering head), am I the only one who wants to know if he has a girlfriend…? That bad boy smile of his… really reminds me of the handsome troublemaker I had a crush on in high school.]
Second top comment:
[To be fair, while everyone’s criticizing, he’s still confident, operating without any fear. Fortunes can change. Remember this: don’t underestimate the young.]
Yu Nuo clicked through the nine-grid photos, starting from the first image.
She paused at the GIF, then swiped left, and a black and white photo appeared.
Yu Nuo hesitated.
This was taken at the stadium’s back exit after the opening match several months ago.
In the photo, Fish1 was surrounded by fans, holding flowers and gifts, with security guards working hard to maintain order, and photographers with their long lenses.
In contrast, Conquer was at the other end, carrying his mouse and keyboard alone, a solitary figure at the end of the corridor. No one paid any attention to him.
Below the black and white photo were two lines:
“At nineteen, I stood there like a nobody.”
“At that time, I swore with tears that I would make everyone see me.”
…
…
Though it was just a meme, Yu Nuo found herself lost in thought staring at these words.
Suddenly someone patted her shoulder. Yu Nuo looked up to see OG’s team manager.
“Xiao Nuo, what are you doing here? Why don’t you go in?”
Yu Nuo locked her phone screen, “I saw they were busy inside.”
The OG manager had a phone tucked between his ear and shoulder as he pushed the door open, “Come in.”
The brief meeting inside had finished, the atmosphere was somewhat depressed, and several team members were packing up their keyboards and mice. When Yu Nuo walked in, Will saw her first, “Sister, you’re here.”
Yu Nuo greeted him.
While others were chatting casually, Yu Ge was leaning back in his chair with his eyes closed, resting. He was always a man of few words, and no one disturbed him.
The team’s data analyst was reviewing today’s match with the coach, and Will and the jungler were also joining the conversation. Occasional phrases drifted to Yu Nuo’s ears.
“During our dragon fight, Conquer was hiding in the bush to ambush, and he really did one-shot me, this guy is just damn tricky.”
Little C interjected: “Don’t blame others, you’re just bad.”
Will turned around to roughhouse with Little C, “Damn, why are you so mouthy?”
Actually, the win or loss in today’s match didn’t have much impact on OG’s future. Their points were high, closely following TG in second place overall, and they would undoubtedly make it to the playoffs. It’s just that the previous flame war had been so fierce that now the situation had become very awkward.
It was one thing for the Galaxy Battleship to stumble once against such a small team, but now it happened a second time.
Now even the fans had nothing to say.
To sum up OG’s situation in the words of those spectating passersby, it was a century-level face slap, with maximum entertainment value:
—The harshest words from fans led to the most painful beating for their team.
After each match, the club members would traditionally go for a meal together, at a nearby hotpot restaurant. After packing up their things, they left through the venue’s back door where the team bus was already waiting.
As they walked through the passage, it suddenly became noisy up ahead.
As soon as Yu Ge and several others appeared, they were surrounded by enthusiastic fans.
A group of girls excitedly rushed forward, offering both comfort and encouragement. Yu Ge stopped, accepting paper and pens from fans, thanking them while lowering his head to sign autographs.
Yu Nuo’s school advisor happened to call just then, and as she focused on listening to instructions from the other end, her pace slowed, falling behind the main group.
After hanging up, she accidentally bumped into someone.
Yu Nuo was about to apologize when the other person greeted her first, “Oh, aren’t you that young lady from just now? What are you doing here?”
Yu Nuo looked up, somewhat confused, “Ah……”
Killer was a bit puzzled: “Are you… waiting for Conquer?”
Yu Nuo thought her eyes were playing tricks on her. There were five or six people in front of her, all from TG.
She fell silent, her gaze wandering.
How did she run into them again…..
Everyone was looking at her. Yu Nuo felt guilty and didn’t know how to answer, pausing before saying, “Well, I, I actually….”
Another person smiled knowingly: “You really are a fan? We thought you were staff earlier since you didn’t even recognize him.”
“……”
These words left Yu Nuo at a loss.
The earlier series of misunderstandings couldn’t be explained in just a few words. She could only reluctantly admit: “Yes, I’m a fan.”
“Here for an autograph?”
They had just started their professional careers amid storms of controversy, and now suddenly having a “dedicated waiting” fan felt novel and surprising to them.
Seeing their expectant looks, Yu Nuo remained silent for a moment before finally nodding.
Compared to Killer’s warmth, the person beside him was more quiet.
Chen Yuzheng wore a baseball cap pulled low, watching the replay of the recent match on his phone. Someone bumped his arm, and he finally took off one earphone, turning his head.
Killer gestured with his chin toward Yu Nuo standing nearby, his face full of mischievous smiles: “Look, the girl wants your autograph.”
He lifted his eyelashes, casting a casual glance in Yu Nuo’s direction.
Meeting those deep eyes, her heart skipped a beat.
Fortunately, Yu Nuo had a habit of carrying pens with her. She quickly took off her backpack, pulled out a pen, and handed it over.
Chen Yuzheng took the pen but didn’t move.
A chubby guy urged: “Hurry up.”
Yu Nuo asked nervously: “…Is it not convenient?”
Chen Yuzheng said leisurely: “Where do you want me to sign?”
“……”
Yu Nuo froze for a moment, realizing:
—She hadn’t given him any paper!!!!
Yu Nuo’s face was full of embarrassment as she felt her pockets and searched through her bag again.
It was frustrating, she couldn’t even find a piece of paper.
Yu Nuo felt sheepish, not daring to look up.
Suddenly a thought flashed through her mind.
In a moment of impulse, she blurted out: “Can you… sign my clothes?”
Several guys stared at Yu Nuo’s knit sweater, lost in thought.
She pulled up a section of the hem of her inner shirt, a sky-blue cotton garment, “Here.”
Chen Yuzheng was silent for a few seconds before removing the pen cap.
…
…
Meanwhile, Yu Ge finished dealing with the fans and turned around to see Yu Nuo standing with TG’s people.
His eyebrows instinctively furrowed as he called out her full name, “Yu Nuo.”
The TG members instantly went quiet, paused, and turned their heads in unison. They looked with surprise at the person who had spoken.
Every LPL professional player knew Yu Ge.
—An ADC who came directly from OG’s training squad, won both spring and summer championships during his peak, even took that year’s MSI2, and had now become the team’s core player.
In these two years of mixed domestic ADC talent, Yu Ge had become one of the professional benchmarks after Zhou Dang’s retirement, with a massive fan base. However, his usually proud temperament meant few people would bother trying to get close to him.
“What are you doing there?”
Yu Ge’s handsome face was cold as he spoke to Yu Nuo while looking at Chen Yuzheng.
As their eyes met, Chen Yuzheng’s rebellious spirit rose, pulling at the corner of his mouth with a smile full of provocation in his eyes.
Seeing Yu Nuo still standing in place, Yu Ge became somewhat impatient, his gaze jumping to her, “Come here.”
The TG members’ eyes moved back and forth between Yu Ge and Yu Nuo several times, not yet understanding what was happening.
At this moment, all Yu Nuo could think about were the various “new and old grudges” between TG and OG. She put her bag back on her shoulders, trying to maintain composure, and said goodbye in a very small voice: “Well… I’ll go first.”
…
…
Killer watched Yu Nuo’s small running figure disappear, couldn’t help but be surprised, opened his mouth to ask: “What’s going on, does this girl know Fish?”
A few seconds later, Chen Yuzheng put his earphones back on, “What’s it got to do with me?”
Little Ying punched his shoulder, “Hey, what’s with the attitude? Not even caring about a female fan?”
Chen Yuzheng maintained his lazy demeanor, let out a laughing snort, and didn’t respond.
It was about time for the drive, and the assistant was squatting nearby chatting with others, waiting for the driver to arrive.
There were too many fans for the security guards to handle, and as one group left, another arrived.
Nearby, several young girls held up their phones to take pictures in this direction, excitedly whispering among themselves. After a while, they carefully called out:
“Fish God, good luck in the playoffs! It’s okay that you lost the match, adjust well, and take care of yourself!”
“We will always support you!”
Yu Ge remained unaffected, not bothering to speak, just politely nodding to them.
Yu Nuo had just called out “Brother.”
Yu Ge glanced at her.
“……”
She swallowed the second half of what she was going to say.
“Wait.”
Yu Ge suddenly stopped walking.
Yu Nuo was confused, “What’s wrong?”
Yu Ge slightly lowered his eyes, his brows tightly knitted.
Yu Nuo slowly followed his line of sight and looked down.
On the blue cotton undershirt with white clouds, on the right side, lay an abrupt [Conquer] across it.
Yu Ge’s face was almost expressionless, his tone cold enough to form ice: “What is this nonsense?”
- Fish, written in English, probably because Yu from Yu Ge is homophonic with the chinese character for fish. ↩︎
- The Mid-Season Invitational (MSI) is an annual League of Legends international tournament hosted by Riot Games in the middle of years, since 2015. It is the second most important international League of Legends tournament aside from the World Championship. ↩︎
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