Chapter 68
The few people in the training room froze for a moment, then immediately started hooting and teasing. The fans in Shi Luo's livestream hadn't seen Shi Luo's medic account in years, and they went wild flooding the comments.
【I'm crying, I always thought Shi Bro would never log into this medic account ever again in his life.】
【啊啊啊啊啊啊啊啊Evil you idiot, why are you being so gentlemanly? Nobody asked for same-class combat, just use your Assault account! You can't beat Yu Scum with a medic!】
【Don't bother trying to talk him out of it, it's useless. Shi Bro always does this whenever he faces Whisper……】
【T-T, never thought I'd live to see these two accounts appear on screen together.】
【Just came from Weibo, got hit with a surprise, what's the situation now? What does "rotation battle" mean?】
【First-time viewers, please hit that follow button, first-time viewers, please hit that follow button……】
【They're playing 1v1 with a bet. Just heard their coach say the bet is: whoever wins makes the loser do something.】
【Current situation: Shi God just beat Puppy, winning dinner for the whole team. The rotation battle winner defends the擂. Shi God chose Whisper as his next opponent.】
【I have strong grounds to suspect Shi Bro is holding back, and I already have evidence.】
【Alright, I hereby announce that Whisper can start thinking about what to make Shi Bro do.】
Puppy, who had just lost to Shi Luo, was extremely indignant and said bitterly, "Playing against me you pull out finals-level mechanics, I wasn't expecting you to treat Yu Sui the same, but you could've at least used your main account. You bring a medic just to throw?"
Chen Huo had been watching the chaos the whole time, clicking his tongue as he commented, "Coach, this guy doesn't even want to win."
Yu Sui also froze for a moment. He pushed back from his desk and glanced at Shi Luo sideways, then smiled. "Use your Assault account, it's fine. Let me try."
"No." Shi Luo refused flatly. "I'll play medic."
Yu Sui didn't press the ready button. His long fingers hovered over the keyboard. After a moment of thought, Yu Sui said, "Then you go first. If you win, what do you want?"
Shi Luo's eyes flickered. He was wearing large over-ear headphones, so no one could see his ears, but Yu Sui could clearly see the faint redness creeping up Shi Luo's neck.
Yu Sui had already guessed what Shi Luo's bet would be. He watched Shi Luo quickly grab his phone, unlock it, and rapidly tap out a few words. The next second, Yu Sui's phone buzzed.
Yu Sui picked up his phone and took a look.
Chen Huo complained, "What are you two little dogs whispering about? What's the bet?! Why are you having a private conversation?"
Yu Sui glanced at the WeChat message Shi Luo sent him, set the phone back on the desk, his expression unchanged. "It's money-related. You really want to ask? Keep going and all our livestream accounts will get suspended."
The streaming platform had cracked down hard these past years, with strict controls over content. If Shi Luo and Yu Sui were really gambling money—even if it was just a private game within their team—if they openly announced it, they'd be suspended for at least a month. Chen Huo didn't want to pay the streaming company's penalty fee, so he quickly said, "Okay okay don't say more, I won't ask anymore. You two, fight."
Zhou Huo stood there watching the show happily. NSN was strictly managed, never allowing players to horse around. Zhou Huo's experience was limited, and this was the first time he'd seen anyone play like this. He'd grown up in internet cafes, so he was a bit excited. Upon hearing this, he slightly sobered up and said, "Just don't say it out loud directly. You two settled it privately, that's fine. Evil already said his? What about you, Yu Sui? If you win, what do you want Shi Luo to do?"
Yu Sui tapped lightly on his phone screen and said crisply, "Same bet as Shi God. Just reverse it and do it to me."
Behind the two monitors, Shi Luo's fingers relaxed. The two of them exchanged glances through the displays. Yu Sui's eyes were smiling as he confirmed once more, "This bet…… are you sure you still want to use medic?"
Old Qiao was most sensitive to money. Hearing Yu Sui's tone, he felt like these two had wagered quite a sum. He couldn't help but say, "Don't go too far, know when to stop."
The redness on Shi Luo's neck had already spread beneath his thin T-shirt collar. Shi Luo adjusted his mouse cable, his face still cool as ever, not a single unnecessary word. "Hit start."
Yu Sui chuckled. "Thanks in advance."
Yu Sui clicked to start the game. During the countdown, Yu Sui picked up his phone and looked at the WeChat message Shi Luo had sent him earlier.
【Evil】: [If I lose, serve me something good.]
【Evil】: [Base is inconvenient…… other ways work too.]
【Evil】: [Service had better be good.]
Yu Sui quickly replied: [Service had better be good, please remember.]
On his end, Shi Luo glanced at the WeChat and coughed.
As the countdown ended, Yu Sui's smile faded. He immediately put up his shield and topped off his health, then swiftly moved toward Shi Luo's base.
Zhou Huo stood behind Old Qiao's computer, watching intently. He whispered, "Why do I feel like these two medics fighting is even more dangerous and thrilling than before……"
"Ordinary medics are boring to watch. But these two are different. If we're talking about good combat, this round will be better than the last one." Old Qiao whispered back. "Last round, Puppy was a sniper with ranged capabilities. The early game was basically him shooting at a moving target, nothing interesting. This round will be good. As long as they get into close combat, it'll be exciting…… Yu Sui's starting."
With no ranged weapons, Yu Sui had nothing to fear from getting sniped. After topping off all his buffs at the start, he charged directly toward Shi Luo.
Shi Luo had also put up his shield and buffed his status. He knew his own map control wasn't as good as Yu Sui's, so he didn't advance recklessly. Instead, he chose the bush cover point he was most familiar with, hiding behind a thick tree, waiting to catch Yu Sui off-guard.
Yu Sui spotted Shi Luo sneaking into the bush from a distance and knew exactly what he was thinking. This was something Yu Sui had taught him himself—every move, every action, he knew too well.
In a normal match, if an enemy medic hid in a bush, regardless of whether they had a dagger, Yu Sui would never hesitate to follow them in. To date, no medic had ever survived alone against Yu Sui, even with early cover advantages.
Today, however, Yu Sui played extremely cautiously. Yu Sui didn't directly enter the bush. Instead, he stood at the elevated dense forest area at the edge of the bush with his long dagger, choosing to slowly determine Shi Luo's position inside the bush before preparing for a precise assassination.
Yu Sui played it perfectly, leaving Shi Luo no chance for a comeback.
"How much money did these two bet? They're being so careful." Chen Huo watched the monitors nervously, muttering. "Yu Sui's playing a bit too seriously, isn't he?"
"When is he not serious?" Puppy leaned back in his gaming chair, squinting at the two circling each other. "Sometimes I suspect Yu Sui is literally a machine…… No mistakes when his mindset is good, no mistakes when his mindset is bad. Spring, summer, fall, winter, no matter the situation, he's a heartless machine."
Chen Huo pouted. "The match against FS that time, I messed up several times, and Captain Yu didn't make a single mistake the whole time. His kills were so precise."
In the game, Yu Sui gently moved his mouse scroll wheel.
Every player's hotkey settings were different and related to their role. For example, Puppy's mouse scroll wheel was the scope zoom adjustment key—sliding the middle scroll wheel would enlarge or reduce the scope range.
Chen Huo and Shi Luo's mouse scroll wheel hotkeys were shoot keys. Mouse sliding was faster than pressing buttons, allowing them to squeeze out maximum shots during tight cooldowns.
Among everyone, Yu Sui's mouse scroll wheel hotkey was the most unique—he set it as a sound hotkey.
Scroll up to amplify sound, scroll down to reduce sound.
This was related to Yu Sui's usual playstyle. He often had to act as bait to draw out the enemy frontline players, actively getting close. When doing so, Yu Sui needed to predict enemy positions. At those times, if both sides were holding position, neither would be easily detected.
At moments like these, Yu Sui's volume hotkey was crucial.
Yu Sui pushed the mouse scroll wheel nearly all the way up, then waited silently.
The FOG game had an excellent simulated sound system. As long as a player made any movement—even just the friction of fabric—it would definitely make a sound. As long as Yu Sui's hearing was sharp enough, he could catch it.
Yu Sui pushed the scroll wheel all the way to the bottom. Moments later, as expected, he heard the barely perceptible sound of a medic's equipment brushing against vegetation in the bush.
That sound lasted only an instant, but Yu Sui almost simultaneously pinpointed Shi Luo's position. To prevent his ears from getting blasted, he gently slid the mouse scroll wheel to reduce the volume. At the same moment, Yu Sui charged directly toward where Shi Luo was, slashing his dagger through the bush covering Shi Luo's position. The blade fell, and before anyone could even see Shi Luo clearly through the dense foliage, blood had already splattered.
Chen Huo sighed beside him, "That sound-location tracking is insane."
Before Chen Huo even finished speaking, a blinding flash of light came from inside the bush. Shi Luo had taken Yu Sui's hit but also swung back with a blade.
Shi Luo's positioning was extremely tricky. Chen Huo unconsciously leaned closer to the monitor.
Shi Luo's counterattack was fast, but Yu Sui still dodged.
Yu Sui blocked with his arm, then quickly retreated. He perfectly avoided the vital areas, only getting a scratch on his arm.
Compared to the wound Yu Sui had sliced across Shi Luo's left shoulder to left chest, Yu Sui's left arm scratch was practically negligible.
In less than two seconds of exchange, both of their basic shields shattered simultaneously. Shi Luo had lost 60% health, Yu Sui had lost 10%.
"Shi Luo is done for." Chen Huo shook his head. "Not just because of the shield. That first dagger strike took his life. There's no time to re-shield below. He can only tank it now."
In the game, Shi Luo really didn't have time to re-shield anymore. Well, that wasn't quite right—he actually had no time for anything. Yu Sui was pressing too close. If Shi Luo tried to turn and run, exposing his back to Yu Sui, that would be certain death. There was no escape. He could only fight head-on.
From Yu Sui's perspective, Shi Luo, covered in blood from the waist up, charged at him again like a madman. The photon shield was shattered. Yu Sui used his injured left arm as a block, sacrificing another 10% health as the cost, and drove his dagger into Shi Luo's left abdomen.
Shi Luo's health instantly bottomed out, leaving him at 5%.
Yu Sui still had 80%.
Although Shi Luo immediately tried to create distance by rolling backward, the health gap was too large. There was no hope.
Yu Sui just needed to land one more hit on Shi Luo, and this match would be over.
In the game, Shi Luo still refused to give up. He rolled behind a massive tree. Yu Sui didn't give him a moment to breathe, charging over immediately.
Yu Sui rounded the thick trunk, closing in on Shi Luo. Not a single unnecessary movement, no vulnerability exposed, no space given for Shi Luo to block. The entire sequence was script-level execution, preparing to end Shi Luo with one final strike.
Old Qiao, spectating from Yu Sui's perspective, was explaining to Zhou Huo, "After watching Yu Sui play dagger combat, you learn how to handle close-quarters melee in extreme situations. This is textbook level. Even if you had a computer do it, it would be the same steps, directly—hmph?!"
In the game, Yu Sui rounded the tree trunk, preparing to finish off Shi Luo.
Unexpectedly, behind the tree trunk, Shi Luo still hadn't given up. He was hiding behind the tree, leaning against the trunk, using every possible second to inject himself with a health syringe.
Given Yu Sui's execution speed, Shi Luo absolutely didn't have enough time to successfully complete this injection.
But Shi Luo was instinctively trying to save himself.
Two years ago, when Yu Sui was in a practice match, the medic he'd faced had been the same way.
Even when killed without any chance to fight back, still dodging left and right, desperately wrapping bandages and injecting health potions, refusing to die no matter what. When health was low, hiding everywhere; but the moment health was slightly restored, charging forward again with a dagger like a madman.
Until Yu Sui had killed him to the point where he couldn't even crawl anymore, still half-kneeling at the respawn point, wrapping bandages on himself.
On the rooftop today, Shi Luo had said to Yu Sui, "With your temperament, you could even massacre FS. There's a high chance you won't go easy on me."
In the game, Yu Sui noticed Shi Luo had cancelled his casting. He must have realized he couldn't finish the injection in time. Giving up on continuing to inject, he grabbed his dagger to make a desperate stand. The two were pressed extremely close together. At that critical moment, Yu Sui looked at Shi Luo and sheathed his long dagger back into his belt.
Shi Luo's dagger stabbed forward, hitting Yu Sui right in the chest.
Game over. Everyone except Yu Sui was stunned.
Chen Huo's jaw dropped, staring in disbelief. "Captain Yu, what are you doing?"
Yu Sui took off his headphones, his expression calm. "Outplayed. What's the problem?"
Puppy stared at the computer screen. "If this were an official tournament…… I could already report you for unsportsmanlike play."
Zhou Huo was stunned, poking Old Qiao. "What were you just saying? This is textbook-level assassin medic? Hah……"
Zhou Huo glanced at Shi Luo, muttering quietly, "I think it's textbook-level flirting, more like."
Old Qiao snapped back to reality, following up. "Yu Sui, you…… what happened to script-level execution? What happened to computer-level reflexes?! What were you just doing?"
The giveaway was a bit too obvious. Yu Sui didn't bother making excuses. He exited the map and said candidly, "The execution is computer-level, but the person isn't. I'm not actually a computer."
Puppy clicked his tongue. "I always thought you'd transcended worldly concerns long ago and couldn't be affected by emotions anymore. I was wrong."
Yu Sui glanced at Shi Luo, expression unreadable. "I never said I couldn't be affected. You all insisted I was cold-hearted. I'm a perfectly warm-blooded animal, after all. I have feelings too."
Puppy turned to look at the only person who had ever made Yu Sui show emotions in a game. Just as he was about to tease them some more, his phone rang—the takeout had arrived.
The relieved Chen Huo, who hadn't been called on, jumped up. "Great, let's eat. Perfect, I don't have to play anymore. I don't want to lose a single cent. Let's go, let's go."
"Alright then, time for late-night snacks. No more games." Zhou Huo urged everyone downstairs. "Eat, then sleep."
After an almost tasteless late-night meal, Shi Luo went upstairs, distracted.
Choosing to play medic for a 1v1 against Yu Sui, Shi Luo had actually been prepared to lose.
If Shi Luo were truly suited for playing medic, he wouldn't have changed classes in the first place.
Wanting to use that account had two reasons: first, he still wanted to see how much gap there was between his medic skills and Yu Sui's. Second, to finally let go. They were together now. Shi Luo didn't think there was any lingering grudge from the past that couldn't be resolved.
But never in a million years did he expect Yu Sui to suddenly hold back at the last moment.
When he drove the long dagger into Yu Sui's game character's chest, Shi Luo instantly released the mouse.
It was as if he had actually hurt Yu Sui for real.
That image was so vivid that Shi Luo kept thinking about it even during the late-night meal.
Shi Luo rubbed his neck, walking toward his dorm room. As he passed Yu Sui's dorm door, the door opened. A certain medic who couldn't eat late-night snacks due to stomach problems and had only drunk a bowl of porridge grabbed Shi Luo and pulled him into his room.
Yu Sui's room had no lights on. The blackout curtains were drawn tightly. Not a trace of light in the room. Shi Luo was pushed into the corner between the door and the wall.
If he weren't so familiar with Yu Sui's scent, Shi Luo could have reasonably suspected bandits had broken into the base and kidnapped him.
His captor let go after pushing him into the corner. In the pure darkness, no matter how good his vision, it was useless now. Shi Luo could only feel the wall behind him, Yu Sui's light breathing, and the faint scent of laundry detergent on Yu Sui.
If this were in-game, this would be the most terrifying situation—no cover, no vision, no weapons, only able to hear the other person's faint sounds.
Shi Luo had an inkling of what was coming. He stammered, "O-open the…… light……"
"No."
Shi Luo heard Yu Sui's low voice, "I'm afraid if I turn on the light, Little God Shi will be too embarrassed when I repay my debt."
Yu Sui seemed to smile slightly. "I'm kidding. I'm afraid I'll be embarrassed myself."
Shi Luo's ears burned so hot he felt like they were on fire. "T-today, you let me win."
"With you, I don't have that many principles. And I really couldn't bring myself to do it."
In the darkness, Shi Luo heard Yu Sui's quiet voice, "A bet is a bet. I'm here to…… serve Little Shi少爷 something good."
"The base really isn't convenient, and you weren't prepared either. Would just using my hands be okay?"
Before Shi Luo could回过神来, he felt Yu Sui step forward. His long fingers gently lifted the hem of Shi Luo's T-shirt.
Yu Sui's hand moved. Shi Luo's eyes widened in an instant. Just as he was about to cry out, Shi Luo was silenced by Yu Sui's other hand covering his mouth.
"Shhh……"
Yu Sui said softly, "Free Club, ID-Whisper, position Captain, class Medic…… First time on the job. Please take care of me."
Half an hour later, Yu Sui went to the washroom to wash his hands. After washing, he opened his door to check. Confirming the hallway was empty, he turned back to his room. Half a minute later, Shi Luo came out and returned to his own room.