# Chapter 44
Shi Luo stared at the familiar internet slang, the corner of his mouth quirking upward, his throat suddenly feeling tight.
When they first met, Yu Sui had inexplicably believed he was part of the "Love & Death" family. To find common ground, every day their chats were filled with leetspeak and internet slang.
Back then, Shi Luo had thought this was some unhinged minor going through a nonconformist phase, and he'd been ready to keep his distance. But somehow, he just couldn't bring himself to walk away. Then the little nonconformist revealed his true identity and became the league's top healer. And Shi Luo, for reasons he still couldn't explain, had been dragged out of that black internet café and into this industry.
*First seeing Yang Guo, a lifetime wasted*—what would they call his situation? *First seeing Love & Death, a lifetime wasted?*
Shi Luo was about to reply when the "Loving Family" WeChat group suddenly buzzed to life.
**[Puppy]:** [Hand raised to report—during training, a certain entry fragger went outside to smoke for almost half an hour.]
**[Puppy]:** [At the same time, a certain healer was gaming while texting on his phone, multitasking. Very improper.]
**[Whisper]:** [『呚特孠嬤哋湁疟？悡呧麼歡喜打小举报？]
**[Coach Old Qiao]:** [???]
**[Manager Zhou]:** [???]
**[Whisper]:** [...Forgot to switch back.]
**[Handsome Chen Huo]:** [Shocked, what's happening?!]
**[Handsome Chen Huo]:** [Yu Sui, you're playing Love & Death behind our backs again!]
**[Whisper]:** [Shut up.]
**[Evil]:** [I'm coming back now.]
**[Manager Zhou]:** [It's fine, it's fine, we're not that strict.]
**[Manager Zhou]:** [Seriously, Yu Sui's stream today was great, keep it up!]
**[Handsome Chen Huo]:** [Tch.]
**[Handsome Chen Huo]:** [Does anyone care about me? I'm a championship-winning entry fragger, and for my brother's sake, I was Wa Wa's practice partner all night!]
**[Puppy]:** [#HandsomeChenHuoNeedsHugs#]
**[Evil]:** [...]
**[Manager Zhou]:** [Don't be petty. Let's play a bit longer, then go get late-night snacks. My treat, sound good?]
**[Coach Old Qiao]:** [Sounds good.]
**[Puppy]:** [Sounds good.]
**[Handsome Chen Huo]:** [Sounds good.]
**[Evil]:** [Sounds good.]
**[Whisper]:** [Sounds good.]
Shi Luo washed his face with cold water, then returned to the training room to queue for solo games. After midnight, Zhou Huo cheerfully called everyone to shut down and head out.
For some inexplicable reason, they didn't go for hot pot again, instead choosing a private restaurant known for its solid local cuisine.
"I've got good news, and bad news."
After everyone had ordered, Zhou Huo said: "Good news first—the regular season schedule is out. I'll send it to the group in a bit, and you'll be able to see it on the official site in a couple days. I've already checked it out, and the bracket is pretty favorable for us. It's basically an easy-to-hard progression, with most of the weaker teams in the first half of the regular season. Teams like Saint and NSN won't show up until the latter half."
"Even though we've been teammates before, it's been a few years since we played together, and Evil switched to entry fragger. We need to sync up, so this schedule gives us time to warm up gradually." Old Qiao explained. "Playoffs are secure—that I'm not worried about. Whether we can make it to finals depends on all of you."
"Old Qiao's being too modest. I think we can definitely compete for the domestic finals spot. That's not what I'm worried about. Here's the bad news." Zhou Huo took a sip of tea, looking around at everyone. "Just got word—Holy Sword bought America's Secret and Korea's Curse."
"What the hell?" Chen Huo stared in disbelief. "They bought *two* teams?!"
Zhou Huo nodded. "Last year's number one seed from the US, Secret. Last year's number two seed from Korea, Curse. Both bought together."
Puppy sighed. "The former team is so loaded... I thought buying all three FS players in one go was their limit. This is even more extreme—buying two entire teams. They're building a galacticos again?"
"This isn't building a ship, it's breeding fighting pits!" Old Qiao gasped. "Three teams mashed into one, rotating constantly through the regular season. The best ones start, the decent ones sit as subs, the underperformers get listed for transfer. After months of rotation, what's left is the ultimate elite roster."
Puppy's face crumpled at the unhappy memory, hands covering his cheeks. "I was one of those listed players back then. F**k, I'd been a starter in the domestic league for years, never even watched the water fountain, then got sold off to a foreign team... Ultimate humiliation."
Chen Huo chimed in coolly. "I went from sub to listed. Not much better than you."
Zhou Huo clicked his tongue. "Truly loaded, and truly effective. Anyone who survives that hell mode is both skilled and mentally tough—like last season's fighting pit champion."
Everyone looked at Yu Sui, who sipped his tea in silence. "Thanks, but I don't exactly take that as a compliment."
"Yeah, look how it's turned our Yu God." Chen Huo said bitterly, gesturing at Yu Sui's hair. "Holy Sword is genuinely cursed. This is ruthless."
Old Qiao turned to Yu Sui. "You don't seem surprised at all?"
"Not surprised." Yu Sui set down his teacup. "A month before I came back, Holy Sword's management threatened me."
Shi Luo looked up. "What did they say?"
Yu Sui put down his teacup and said slowly: "The translation would be... 'Whisper, why are you so determined to leave? Even if you go back, we won't let you win the World Championship. Stay, and you're still a world champion. Why are you making things hard for yourself?'"
The room went quiet.
This was the first time Chen Huo was hearing about this. He asked carefully, "The manager told you that? What did you say back?"
Yu Sui's expression was unreadable. "Guan nin ge si te."
Shi Luo thought about the scene for a moment, then couldn't hold it in—a snort of laughter escaped.
Yu Sui smiled. "Wrong accent. I only know a few phrases of Shanghainese."
"Why'd you insult him like that?" Chen Huo laughed, then clutched his chest in frustration. "Look what they did out of spite—bought two whole teams just to come at you!"
"They would've bought whatever I said. That's just how this club operates." Old Qiao said coldly. "When they were trying to buy FS, I did some digging. Since this club was founded four years ago, they've never developed a single player from scratch. They don't care about nationality—whoever's good, they buy. But once they have them, they don't treasure them. No matter how many years a player gives them, no matter how many trophies they win, if their mechanics slip even a little, they won't even give them a bench warmer position—just sell them off."
Old Qiao shook his head. "Heartless. But it does produce results."
"Yeah, looking at their approach..." Zhou Huo sighed. "Feels like they've got this year's World Championship locked up. They've absorbed players from three teams, supporting a four-man roster. How could they not be strong?"
The group fell silent. Yu Sui's expression remained as indifferent as ever.
Zhou Huo tried to sound optimistic. "But this is our first year as a team anyway. No need to think that far ahead—just sharing some gossip. It's not necessarily our problem."
Zhou Huo smiled. "Whether we even make it to Worlds is uncertain. If we don't qualify, we won't even see them. Let's focus on the present—think about our domestic league first."
"NSN picked up last season's MVP sniper ROD this year. They still have a bit of a healer gap, but overall strength has gone up significantly." The food arrived. Old Qiao picked up his chopsticks. "Saint, don't even mention them—last season's domestic champions. And Wild Bull, can't underestimate them either. Their owner's got the same temperament as Holy Sword's boss, also buying whoever's good, and they reorganized this season. Their strength has improved a lot too. Man, the more I look at it..."
"Don't." Chen Huo made a pained face. "If you keep going, our team should just disband. Enough praising other teams!"
Old Qiao couldn't help laughing. "Alright, alright, enough."
Everyone focused on eating. After the meal, Zhou Huo paid the bill, and they got back in the vehicle to return to base.
On the way back, Zhou Huo said: "Three days from now, Monday, our first regular season match. Um... guess who? An old friend of yours."
Everyone was drowsy from the food, half-asleep. They murmured vague "mm-hm" responses, too tired to guess. Finally Old Qiao lifted his eyelid. "Who?"
Zhou Huo grinned. "Wild Bull."
Shi Luo opened his eyes, then closed them again.
"Baozaoshu's been doing well these past years. I hear he's already team captain." Chen Huo drawled. "Haven't seen him in forever. Monday, let's teach him how to behave."
"Remember, take it to the regular season battlefield. Don't go wandering into Wild Bull's lounge causing trouble!" Zhou Huo warned. "Baozaoshu's gotten pretty level-headed now. Don't stir things up. Puppy, if they try any backhanded tricks, tell me."
Puppy, who was addicted to snitching, was very interested. "Got it!"
Shi Luo smirked. He was way more level-headed than Baozaoshu now.
"Nothing else then." Zhou Huo finished arranging work, happily browsing Weibo. "Today's stream was great. Our official blog edited a highlight reel—you should go check it out."
Chen Huo and Puppy showed little interest. Shi Luo, sitting alone in the back row, raised an eyebrow slightly and picked up his phone.
The Free official blog was clearly out to cause trouble. The video title was very direct: *Whisper's Playboy Coaching Session*.
Shi Luo muted the video before tapping play. The video opened with a highlight—Yu Sui and Wa Wa's conversation right at the start.
Though he'd glanced at it briefly in Yu Sui's stream before, he hadn't paid close attention. Shi Luo glanced at everyone, confirmed no one was looking, then dragged the progress bar to replay the Yu Sui and Wa Wa segment several times.
Shi Luo coughed guiltily and closed Weibo.
Nothing worth watching anyway.
Shi Luo's phone buzzed. Gu Qian had sent him several messages, all images.
Gu Qian wasn't one for chatting and rarely contacted Shi Luo. Shi Luo tapped to look—it was several screenshots of chat records.
After seeing whose chat records they were, Shi Luo swallowed hard.
**[GU]:** [Wa Wa's always been like this. He's close with several entry fraggers he plays with well, often queues together. If he can't get a hold of one, it's fine.]
**[GU]:** [He's a bit scared of me, basically doesn't play with me, doesn't even like playing with our entry fragger Xiran. Xiran's got a sharp tongue, likes to jab at him.]
**[GU]:** [No big deal. If he can't get Evil, he'll find someone else. Nobody makes a big deal out of it.]
**[Whisper]:** [As long as it's nothing serious, it's fine.]
**[GU]:** [I do have something I want to ask you though.]
**[Whisper]:** [?]
**[GU]:** [Your support healer play is pretty sick. Can't compare to Angel Sword, obviously, but I could tell you don't play it much. Still pretty awesome.]
**[GU]:** [Is this a hidden trump card you're keeping?]
**[Whisper]:** [...Sort of.]
**[GU]:** [Sort of?]
**[GU]:** [You're not planning to catch us off guard in the regular season, are you?]
**[Whisper]:** [...]
**[Whisper]:** [No. My healer play isn't good enough. I won't use it in official matches.]
**[GU]:** [Can I trust that?]
**[Whisper]:** [Normally when I talk strategy with you, don't trust a word. But what I'm saying today is definitely true.]
**[GU]:** [I'm still on the fence. If you won't play healer in official matches, why are you even practicing?]
**[Whisper]:** [I'm not practicing.]
**[GU]:** [Link]
**[GU]:** [If not for matches, why play healer?]
**[Whisper]:** [To please a kid.]
**[GU]:** [...]
**[GU]:** [Want me to screenshot this for Evil?]
**[Whisper]:** [Absolutely terrified. Please, definitely don't not-screenshot.]
**[Whisper]:** [Shi Luo, we're arriving. Time to get off.]
Shi Luo's face flushed red at the last message. Even though Yu Sui was just talking to him over one person away, he felt like he'd been caught spying. Heart pounding, he glanced up involuntarily.
They'd arrived at base. The vehicle stopped.
Yu Sui, sitting in the very front, put on his team jacket. His expression unchanged, he said: "Stop looking at your phones. Time to get off."