Chapter 22
[Whisper]: Want some late-night snacks? I'll order for you too?
Shi Luo stared at Yu Sui's WeChat message, and for no good reason, his short fuse flared up. He replied: [Not hungry. Not eating.]
After sending the message, Shi Luo immediately regretted it. Setting everything else aside, he was genuinely hungry—he was starving!
Shi Luo stared at his phone, completely puzzled. He wasn't always this contradictory before. How did he end up with this problem whenever he ran into Yu Sui?
He'd said he wasn't hungry and wouldn't eat, so if he ordered something now and went downstairs to pick up his takeout, everyone would see... that would really make him look like he was throwing a tantrum like a kid. How stupid.
Shi Luo raked his fingers through his short hair and got up irritably, grabbing his bag to rummage through it. There wasn't a single snack inside—just a box of gum. He pulled out the gum and started chewing, his face twisted in misery.
Five minutes later, someone knocked on Shi Luo's door.
Shi Luo blew a bubble with his gum, thinking to himself: here he goes again, this man-whore is starting his routine again.
Shi Luo sighed and老老实实地 stood up to open the door, but he couldn't help letting out a snarky comment, "I already said I wasn't eating. What are you doing..."
Outside the door, Chen Huo stood there with a full-on confused expression.
Shi Luo: "..."
"Excuse me..." Chen Huo dug at his ear, asking with uncertain bewilderment, "Were you... throwing a tantrum at me just now? Have you finally gone mad from failing to climb the server ladder?"
Shi Luo and Chen Huo exchanged a look, and both of their stomachs turned. Now they really weren't hungry.
Chen Huo smoothed down his queasy stomach and勉强 said, "I came up to change clothes. Yu Sui told me to call you—we're going out for late-night snacks together."
Shi Luo bristled, "Got it. Now get lost!"
Chen Huo shrugged and turned to go to his own room.
Shi Luo went back inside, put on his jacket, popped a cool baseball cap on his head, grabbed his phone, and went downstairs.
The five of them went to a private hotpot restaurant nearby.
The restaurant only had eight tables, arranged in small compartments. None of the rooms had doors—just curtains. As they walked inside, they happened to catch the table next to theirs serving food, and wouldn't you know it, they were fellow competitors—the Wild Bull team members.
This was the team Shi Luo had faced in the regular season match right before his college entrance exam.
Yu Sui lifted the curtain and called out a greeting. Wild Bull's captain quickly responded, and the two exchanged some small talk. Shi Luo was so hungry he just wanted to rush in and start cooking the ingredients, but the hallway space was limited. With Yu Sui and Chen Huo standing at the entrance to their compartment, he couldn't squeeze past. Shi Luo stood impatiently behind Yu Sui and glanced inside, only to see someone from Wild Bull glaring at him with obvious displeasure.
He was unhappy because he was hungry. What right did this guy have to be unhappy when he was eating like his mouth was smeared with chili oil?!
Shi Luo glanced around. Besides the guy glaring at him, there was also a short guy whose gaze toward Shi Luo's team carried a hint of hostility.
Were all the Wild Bull team members as wild as their name suggested? All of them with this attitude? Were these people sick or what?
Finally finished with his small talk, Yu Sui led the five of them into the adjacent compartment. Lao Qiao sat down and lowered his voice, "That Bao Zao Shu's face just about turned black."
Yu Sui acted as if he hadn't heard, picked up the menu to order, and urged, "Order whatever you want to eat. Hurry up—I'm dead tired."
Shi Luo grabbed the menu. "Who's Bao Zao Shu? That idiot with chili oil on his lips? Why is he unhappy?"
Yu Sui furrowed his brow. "Order the food."
Puppy was sitting right next to Shi Luo. He leaned slightly toward Shi Luo and murmured, "Before the final match against us, Wild Bull was ranked fifth in the regular season, just one small game behind LAD, who was in fourth place. If they'd won that BO3, they would've jumped straight to fourth place."
"You can check the playoff bracket—there's a huge difference between fourth and fifth place. Fifth place means you have to play an extra match, and naturally, your chances of making it to the finals are much lower. Fifth place... if you get eliminated in the first round, that's it—you're done. But fourth place is different. Fourth place starts from the second round."
"Before that final match, the Wild Bull team was especially happy." Puppy lowered his voice even more. "And when they found out Yu Sui was subbing in for Chen Huo, they were even happier. They thought it was in the bag. As long as they beat us, they'd secure a direct spot in the second round."
Puppy sat back up and picked up the menu, leisurely saying, "But as it turned out... you know the rest. They still ended up fifth. Their comeback failed."
Shi Luo was speechless. "I won fair and square. He's not good enough—what right does he have to be upset?"
Yu Sui shot Shi Luo a warning look. "...Order the food."
"Normal, really. Their official account and whatever idiots on their fan forums were already bragging about it, so now they feel embarrassed." Chen Huo also had a low opinion of Wild Bull's poor sportsmanship. "They thought our team comp was so weird—one substitute healer, one off-role attacker—there was no way we could win. Too bad. We were just messing around, and they still couldn't beat us."
Lao Qiao said quietly, "Don't say it like that. Actually, only Bao Zao Shu and their new substitute have attitudes. The rest of them weren't bothered by it. Just now, that guy wasn't even talking properly? Forget it. Let's eat."
Chen Huo thought about it and understood. "Oh right, Bao Zao Shu is also a rookie. He's also a healer. That day was his first time starting too. He probably wanted to show off in front of Shi Luo, but ended up being outplayed by Shi Luo, and Shi Luo even got the match MVP." He sighed. "I don't understand you healers. Isn't being a cute, gentle support better? Why does his competitive drive have to be stronger than ours attackers?"
Among the five people at the table, two were healers. Yu Sui and Shi Luo both looked up at Chen Huo at the same time. Chen Huo quickly waved his hands. "Sorry, sorry. Ordering, ordering."
The five of them quickly placed their orders. The restaurant's timing was impeccable—the pot had just started boiling when the food was brought in. As they ate and chatted about the playoff arrangements, Lao Qiao took the opportunity to fill Shi Luo in, "The playoffs aren't much different from the regular season. It's just that best-of-three becomes best-of-five. We finished first in regular season standings, so we don't have any matches until the semifinals and finals..."
Yu Sui took a sip of his drink. "Already planning the finals for yourselves?"
Lao Qiao waved him off. "It's obvious. What harm is there in saying it?"
Lao Qiao continued speaking to Shi Luo. "Besides the larger audience and a few more procedural details, it's not much different from the regular season. Just follow what Yu Sui taught you before. Though... you probably won't be playing anyway. Not a big deal."
Yu Sui nodded. "Just make sure you keep the water bottle filled."
Shi Luo pouted. He knew it himself—the team wouldn't risk putting a substitute like him on stage for the semifinals and finals. He took a big gulp of watermelon juice and stood up. "Going to the restroom."
The hallway in this hotpot place was ridiculously winding. Shi Luo wandered around for half a day before finally finding the restroom. He took care of business, then went to wash his hands.
He happened to run into Bao Zao Shu—the same guy who'd been glaring at him earlier.
Shi Luo couldn't be bothered to greet him. He walked up to the sink to wash his hands.
Bao Zao Shu, standing beside him, also looked far from pleased. He washed his hands, then without drying or wiping them, simply shook them—water droplets splashing right across Shi Luo's face.
Shi Luo said coldly, "What are you doing?!"
Bao Zao Shu turned his head to glance at Shi Luo, smirking挑衅ly. "Relax. My hands are clean. That's water, not urine."
Shi Luo immediately pressed two fingers against the faucet outlet. The water pressure built up, and the stream shot directly from Shi Luo's fingertips, spraying Bao Zao Shu right in the face.
Shi Luo said expressionlessly, "Relax. I just barely touched the faucet. I'm pretty sure this is urine, not water."
Bao Zao Shu instantly flew into a rage.
Inside the compartment, Lao Qiao took a bite of crown daisy. "Why is he taking so long?"
A slight smile tugged at Yu Sui's lips. "Young. Takes longer."
Lao Qiao chuckled. "I'm not much older than Shi Luo, but just look at him... he flew back right after the college entrance exam and climbed the ladder all night. What kind of physical stamina is that? What kind of iron will? Someone this addicted to gaming—if he wasn't in our industry, what else could he possibly do?"
Chen Huo snorted dismissively. "Climbed all night, and his ranking is still worse than mine."
Puppy said, "He's already done pretty well. Don't compare him to yourself when you first debuted. Really, that match before his college entrance exam—how calm was he? Who could've guessed it was his first time on stage?"
"Calm my ass!" Chen Huo's face twisted in disgust. "You should ask Yu Sui. He practically told the kid exactly how many steps it was from the backstage lounge to the stage, whether to lead with his left leg or right leg! If I'd had a senior like that guiding me when I started, I could've been even calmer!"
Lao Qiao glanced outside. "I don't know how many steps from the lounge to the stage, but I know how far it is from here to the restroom... It's just a few steps. Why hasn't he come back yet?"
Yu Sui frowned slightly.
Puppy took a bite of bamboo shoot and suddenly thought of something. He said quietly, "Captain, you've taught Shi Luo all those little rule-bending tricks and minutiae. Did you ever tell him about the absolute bottom line—the one thing that could get someone straight-up kicked off the scene?"
Yu Sui stood up. In a few strides, he was out of the compartment, pulling aside the curtain to the adjacent room...
The Wild Bull team members looked at him in confusion.
Bao Zao Shu wasn't there.
Yu Sui didn't say a word. He strode directly toward the restroom, rounding the winding hallway. Before he even reached the restroom, Yu Sui heard the sound of something shattering. His scalp went numb.
The door to the restroom was locked from the outside. Restaurant staff were frantically rushing around. From inside the restroom came a stream of curses. Yu Sui, driven by anxiety, kicked the door open.
Inside the restroom, one of the two large decorative vases had been smashed to pieces. Broken porcelain littered the floor. Shi Luo and Bao Zao Shu were rolling on the ground. Shi Luo's face was ashen, his eyes bloodshot. He had Bao Zao Shu pinned down, gripping his shoulders tightly. With a powerful twist, Shi Luo flipped Bao Zao Shu onto his back. Shi Luo's wrist turned—and Yu Sui saw the blood on Shi Luo's arm.
Yu Sui stared at the blood on Shi Luo's hand. His mind went completely blank. His heart nearly stopped.
Yu Sui lunged forward in two steps, grabbing Shi Luo and yanking him up from the floor. Shi Luo roared, "Don't pull me! I'm going to kill this bastard!"
Yu Sui was half-tempted to shove Shi Luo into his car trunk. "Shut up! Come with me!"
"You ask him what he said?! You ask him!" Shi Luo thrashed around, kicking out a foot to aim another kick at the raging idiot. "You want to come over here?! Do it! Come!"
Bao Zao Shu took the opportunity to scramble to his feet. He wiped the blood from his split lip and started hurling insults. "I'll骂你妈了你个婊子养的！婊子养的！婊子养的！哪个婊子裤子松了把你生出来了，怎么了？！"
Shi Luo's forehead veins bulged. He lunged forward instantly. Yu Sui barely managed to hold him back.
Shi Luo struggled with all his strength, screaming at Yu Sui, "Didn't you hear what he said?!"
"I heard it..." Shi Luo's strength was overwhelming. Yu Sui knew he couldn't hold on much longer. He held Shi Luo with everything he had, suppressing his voice. "If you throw another punch, I will... I will definitely kick you off the team... I mean it."
Shi Luo's strength suddenly faded.
Before Shi Luo could react, Bao Zao Shu, who had completely lost his mind, seized the moment and grabbed the other vase, swinging it to strike.
The restroom was tiny. There was nowhere to dodge. Yu Sui's pupils contracted. Instinctively, he wrapped himself around Shi Luo and turned his back.
Yu Sui held Shi Luo tightly in his embrace. The next second, that vase crashed with a heavy thud directly onto Yu Sui's back.