Chapter 41
Yu Sui heard the door open and opened his eyes.
The hallway was less than two meters wide. The two stood face to face. Shi Luo swallowed. "You…"
Yu Sui rubbed his brow. "Sorry, too tired. Here."
Yu Sui stood up properly and pulled the key card from his pants pocket. "Your room key is in the bedside cabinet. The base's cleaning lady comes at five every afternoon. If you want to lock the door, remember to unlock it when she arrives. The base's driver isn't available twenty-four hours. Zhou Huo will send you his number later. You can call directly when you need a car. If there's an emergency and you can't reach the driver, you can find other base staff. They all have driver's licenses, including…"
Yu Sui paused and handed the key card to Shi Luo. "Including me."
Shi Luo's lips twitched slightly. He thought, My boss as my driver? Is that appropriate?
Shi Luo took the key card and murmured, "How come… you didn't knock?"
Yu Sui looked at Shi Luo. "…Was afraid you were still asleep."
Shi Luo pressed his lips together, thinking to himself, This person is at it again.
No wonder so many girls get scammed by scumbags. Damn it… even if he really were a scumbag, people wouldn't be able to resist him. Let alone the fact that he's someone who doesn't realize he's a heartbreaker while his actual nature is completely pure.
"Just knock next time." Shi Luo said quietly. "Anything else?"
Yu Sui put on his jacket. "A lot. Come downstairs—there are papers you need to sign yourself."
Only then did Shi Luo remember about the transfer documents and signing with the new team. He followed Yu Sui downstairs.
Everyone else was already in the first-floor lounge. They were all reviewing their contracts. When the two arrived, Zhou Huo quickly handed Shi Luo his stack.
Shi Luo took the documents and sat down. "Where's the pen?"
"No rush." Yu Sui sat down. He didn't need to sign anything, so he was the most relaxed one here. Yu Sui said to everyone, "Look over your contracts yourselves. I'll have legal counsel come by in a moment. Ask them anything you don't understand."
Shi Luo frowned, about to say they didn't need to trouble themselves, when Puppy beside him drawled, "Evil, don't be picky. Look at it carefully. You're the most at risk in this whole room."
Shi Luo looked at Puppy in confusion. "What do you mean?"
Puppy glanced at Yu Sui beside him, wanting to speak but hesitating, not daring to jinx it. "Nothing, I was just talking nonsense."
Shi Luo knit his brows. He really didn't understand.
Chen Huo beside them couldn't hold back a laugh. "Right, really… by all appearances, Shi Luo is the most dangerous."
Yu Sui took out his phone to message legal counsel, his lips moving silently in what was clearly a curse, then explained. "When Ji Yanhan joined Blade Club, Blade Club screwed him over, then he left and founded FS Club. Three years later, he screwed me over. Now I've founded Free. The trolls think we're all cursed, passing down toxicity like a family tradition. Following this pattern…"
Yu Sui looked at Shi Luo. "It's your turn next."
Old Qiao and Puppy couldn't help but laugh.
Zhou Huo looked at Shi Luo with a headache. "You know what your fans think? They think the team's feng shui has been bad from the start. They all sent private messages to our official account, warning us not to screw you over. If you really end up leaving to found your own new team, damn, the drama would be peak entertainment."
Shi Luo: "…"
Chen Huo nodded and helpfully reminded him, "Whether it's by seniority, age, or timeline, you're next, so make sure to read the contract carefully. Don't let the nightmare happen again. Make sure we end this curse with you."
Shi Luo scanned the contract. "I only signed for one season. What could possibly happen?"
"One season at a time signing is麻烦的. My original suggestion was to sign two seasons directly, but the boss disagreed." Zhou Huo said helplessly. "Can't help it, go with what the boss says." He continued, "Then look at the streaming contract. The streaming contracts are all the same except for the signing fee—thirty hours per month." Let me clarify, the different signing fees aren't something I decided. They're all prices the streaming platform offered. They're basically fair, and the tips revenue share is the same for everyone. Look over them yourselves. Let me know if you have any objections."
It was just a one-season contract, and the terms were extremely favorable to the players. This was the most lenient and generous contract Shi Luo had ever signed. He had no objections. He skimmed through it and picked up the pen to sign.
Zhou Huo looked at the others. "Anyone else? Any objections?"
Chen Huo raised his hand while still reading the contract. "Question—how is streaming time calculated? Only time spent streaming games, or all streaming?"
"It's not game-channel time. It's your own time."
Zhou Huo knew exactly what Chen Huo was asking before he even finished speaking. He sighed and gave Chen Huo a look. "You're one of those players who waits until the end of the month and still owes twenty-nine hours. I get it. If you don't stream games, stream yourself eating takeout. As long as you're the one streaming."
Chen Huo grinned. "That works."
"But I'm begging everyone, please don't all cram it into the end of the month. I know you're all rich enough not to care about the streaming fees and aren't afraid of getting fined for insufficient hours. The streaming platform won't dare give you trouble, but they'll complain to me. Please." Zhou Huo asked again, "Anyone else?"
Puppy looked up eagerly. "Manager, I'm not the type who only does homework when school's about to start. Can I start streaming with my phone now? I think fans would love watching our team sign contracts."
"No!" Zhou Huo said without hesitation. "Setting aside that I haven't washed my hair in a day, we haven't finished the official business yet."
Puppy shrugged. "Fine, the fans of two certain people in the team will just have to wait."
Chen Huo was curious. "Which two? Me and Yu Sui?"
"Get a reality check on your popularity." Puppy ruffled Chen Huo's hair like patting a dog, sighing. "Haven't noticed? Your popularity has already dropped to third. Still way better than me, so does that make you feel better?"
Chen Huo glared at Shi Luo.
"So my popularity's already lower than Shi Luo's? I'm a proper overseas-returned player! I lost to him?"
Shi Luo had a headache. Who the hell asked to compete with Chen Huo over popularity?
"Speaking of streaming, I should remind everyone about some sensitive topics… maybe just be a little careful." Zhou Huo thought about it. "For example, details from two years ago. The official statement has been released. There's not much people still daring to flame about it online. We don't need to create drama ourselves. Keep streaming casual, got it? Yu Sui? You probably don't want others bringing it up, right?"
"Me?" Yu Sui raised his eyes. He dismantled the topic without hesitation. "I definitely won't bring it up myself, but if others want to, fine. I don't care."
Shi Luo coldly added, "I won't make any promises, and I won't control others either. People can say whatever they want. Best if they drag Ji Yanhan through the mud once a day."
Zhou Huo felt his head throb. "Are you all this stubborn? Then… does that mean you can say anything?"
Yu Sui wasn't worried himself, and didn't want to restrict his teammates too much. "Do as you like. I don't care."
"Fair enough." Zhou Huo looked around the conference room and sighed. "You're all veterans who've been standing at the forefront of public backlash, taking heavy hits day after day. What is there left to fear? Fine, then no internal team restrictions. Just follow league regulations, and don't do anything that'll cross the red lines. You're all experienced players. You know the league rules better than I do."
"You all know exactly how to walk the line and attack better than anyone." Zhou Huo looked at Shi Luo, coughed, and spoke with implication. "But still try to骂人 less. Ten thousand yuan per骂一次. Wouldn't that money be better spent on something else?"
Shi Luo was criticized without being named. He quietly lowered his head and signed without arguing.
He had nothing to argue about. Counting all the neighboring leagues, he was the player with the most penalties for flaming regular players in chat. He signed multiple penalty forms every month. What was there to defend?
"Let me think if there's anything else…" Zhou Huo racked his brain, then slapped the table. "Right! The base staff is basically all set, except we're still short one psychological counselor. I haven't had time for interviews yet, so the counselor won't be上岗 for at least another month. And then…"
Chen Huo looked up. "Psychological counselor? Why hire a psychological counselor?"
"Not hire one?" Zhou Huo stared at everyone blankly. "Didn't FS have a psychological counselor?"
Old Qiao shook his head. "No."
Zhou Huo looked at Yu Sui in surprise. "What about Sword of Valor in Europe? No psychological counselor either?"
"There was." Yu Sui said. "But I never went to him. He tried several times to talk to me and offer help, but I never accepted. So I'm not really sure what they actually do."
Zhou Huo's face was full of shock. He turned to Shi Luo. "What about IAC? IAC had a psychological counselor. I know they did."
Shi Luo was still signing his name, not looking up. "They did."
Everyone looked at Shi Luo together.
Shi Luo含糊道. "It was useless. At least for me."
Chen Huo was curious. "What would they even say to you? What's the process? Do they hypnotize you? Is hypnotism fun?"
Shi Luo gave Chen Huo a deadpan stare. Chen Huo knew better than to mess with him and quickly shut up, but his curiosity wouldn't fade.
Puppy and Old Qiao were also curious.
Shi Luo hadn't wanted to bring this up, but he was the only one in the room who actually had experience with sports psychology. He had no choice but to bite back his irritation. "When I first joined IAC, I didn't like to talk. Zhao Feng thought I was mute at first. When he realized I wasn't, he decided I needed psychological therapy."
Puppy slapped his thigh. "When I first went to Europe, people suspected I was mute too! Damn it Ji Yanhan, keep going."
Shi Luo didn't want to recall it. "Every day after practice matches, that idiot Zhao Feng would forcibly戒网瘾 me and make me spend an hour talking to that counselor. I just didn't want to talk. I kept saying the same things over and over, like a broken record. This went on for about a month…"
Chen Huo shook his head repeatedly, sighing. "Damn it Ji Yanhan, what sins. Then what happened?"
Shi Luo said coldly. "When he saw I was going from self-isolated to aggressive, Zhao Feng was worried about violent incidents at the base, so he stopped making me see the counselor."
"See?" Old Qiao commented. "Completely useless. Damn it Ji Yanhan."
"…" Zhou Huo was speechless. He couldn't help but吐槽道. "It's only useless for you guys! This position is important!"
Several people stared at Zhou Huo blankly, all wearing expressions of refusal. Dealing with a team full of bad apples wasn't easy. Zhou Huo had no choice but to compromise. "Fine, I guess it's my fate to deal with you lot. It's fine though. You've all got iron nerves. Saves us the expense."
"Alright, that's the gist of it." Zhou Huo collected the signed contracts one by one. "According to protocol, I still need to say a few closing words. Thank you, Whisper, for trusting me and letting me be part of this. Though this place is more your home, I'll反客为主 and say it anyway—welcome everyone."
"The past few years… you've all worked hard." Zhou Huo looked around at everyone, his expression serious. "None of us had it easy, so let's not dwell on all that. Let me大 on behalf of your fans."
Zhou Huo finished collecting all the contracts. He looked at everyone seriously. "Two years of hardships. Thank you all, you gods, for holding on until now. Thank you for letting this story have a new beginning."
"The contracts are signed, and the new season is about to begin. Please go lightly and give it your all."
"Hey, my tear ducts have been sensitive lately. Don't say stuff like that." Chen Huo waved his hand. "Contracts are all signed. Anything else?"
"Official business is done. Just one work arrangement announcement." Zhou Huo took out his phone and opened the notes app. "Since we've signed the contracts with the streaming platform, we need to start streaming gradually. We're正好 at the beginning of the month, so let's start this month."
"The four of you signed with the same platform. The platform staff was worried that if you all streamed your first time on the same day, their servers wouldn't handle it, and it would be a waste of traffic. So they only gave opinions on the first-day streaming times—one at a time, then you can do whatever after that." Zhou Huo read from his notes. "The order is random. Day one: Yu Sui. Day two: Puppy. Day three: Shi Luo. Day four: Chen Huo."
Zhou Huo looked at Yu Sui. "You go first. No problem, right?"
It wasn't his first time streaming. Yu Sui didn't care. "Fine."
Zhou Huo nodded. While sending a message to the streaming platform's coordinator, he said in a measured tone. "If any of you feel solo streaming is boring, you can duo queue with teammates. That's your own business. Whether to find someone, who to find—we won't regulate it."
Zhou Huo glanced at Yu Sui. "Find whoever you want."
Shi Luo's fingertips twitched. He forced himself not to look at Yu Sui and stood up to leave the conference room with everyone else.