# Chapter 113
After Shi Luo went offline, the livestream footage from that night was predictably edited into several versions. One video titled "Experience Dating Yu the Scumbag" was reposted by NSN's Wawa using his official account, and then liked and shared by several pro players. Within less than a day, the reposts exceeded ten thousand. The closet that Yu Sui and Shi Luo shared had become practically transparent, and Shi Luo's alt account was unsurprisingly dragged through the fan circles once again.
This wave, Shi Luo actually handled it fine. It wasn't because his skin had grown thicker, but because Free's brutal training started the very next day. Every session began at 11 AM sharp, running until 6 PM, with an hour break in the middle for food while reviewing footage, then continuing until 11 PM. After that, depending on the day's training, they'd review for another one to two hours. By the time Shi Luo collapsed onto his bed in the early morning, he was unconscious the moment his head hit the pillow. He simply didn't have time to check the internet, so not knowing how the fans were scrutinizing his alt account was actually fine. Not going online could block the fans' teasing, but it couldn't block the gossip from within the scene.
Every team they scrimmed against, wherever Yu Sui or Shi Luo had friends, inevitably made jokes about their situation—both openly and behind the scenes. It had become a daily ritual and stress-relief project for everyone.
Other than NSN, the other domestic teams were supposed to be on break, so coming to scrim was essentially doing Free a pure favor. They were simply trying to help their fellow region prepare for Worlds. Since these people were sacrificing their own vacation time to help Free, all out of goodwill, Shi Luo couldn't say much. When teased, he'd pretend not to hear. If things got too out of hand, Yu Sui would smooth things over and end the topic. Of course, Yu Scumbag's stance wasn't all that firm either—taking advantage of no outsiders or livestreams, most of the time he'd join in teasing Shi Luo himself.
Other players didn't livestream during scrims, but they did stream afterward. When talking about Free or mentioning Yu Sui and Shi Luo, the players would all wear knowing smiles, describing things quite ambiguously. One day, during Angel Sword's livestream, someone asked if they scrimmed Free every day. Angel Sword confirmed they did, then when pressed about Yu Sui and Shi Luo, Angel Sword laughed for a while before saying, "Can't share too many specifics, but... overall, it seems Yu God is in much better shape than when he first returned to China. He's more talkative, more relaxed. That should be related to Evil."
Fans wanted details—didn't Yu Sui take especially good care of Shi Luo during scrims? Angel Sword chuckled. "How could that be? During scrims, it's no different from normal teammates. When Evil makes mistakes, Yu Sui still points them out. After every match, we do a voice call together. Our side tells Free about their issues, then we listen to them discuss. There was one round where Shi Luo misjudged a situation, and I heard Yu God on the voice channel going at Evil—for at least ten minutes straight."
Fans felt bad for Shi Luo, thinking Yu Sui was being a bit too harsh. Angel Sword added leisurely, "Why do I say 'at least'? Because after those ten minutes, Yu Sui realized the voice was still connected and turned it off... so we couldn't hear anymore."
"There's nothing particularly harsh about it—just normal, pointing out where he went wrong. If it were me, my coach would've already cursed me out." Angel Sword smiled. "Yu Sui was just talking to him in his usual tone, but he still muted anyway... probably to protect the team boss's pride. We all get it."
Fans rushed to type that they understood, then urged Angel Sword to share more details.
Less than a week into the brutal training, all the practice teams had spread various love stories about Yu Sui and Shi Luo. It didn't matter that Free's entire roster had gone offline and wasn't streaming—their beautiful legend still circulated online anyway.
A week later, Free's commercial signing came through. After consulting with Yu Sui, Zhou Huo decided not to wait for the league team and instead had the club fly to Germany first to set up camp. The entire team didn't even have a substitute—they couldn't afford for any player to have issues from jet lag or水土不服.
Free's departure was swift and relatively low-key, but the fans somehow found out about their itinerary. On the day they flew to Frankfurt, fans came to see them off at the airport—quite a lot of them, guys and girls alike. The fans rarely got to see the players in casual clothes, and as they watched Free's crew in streetwear, they couldn't help but whisper excitedly. Zhou Huo personally went over to thank the fans, politely declined all gifts, and made small talk. He incidentally learned that some of the fans had actually flown in from other cities just to cheer for the players, and a few were die-hard fans who hadn't missed a single one of Yu Sui's games.
"辛苦了辛苦了。" Zhou Huo had never seen this kind of scene at NSN. Deeply moved, he told the out-of-town fans to stay safe. "The players are with the team manager getting checked in. If there's time, I'll have them come over to say hello. Thank you all so much. We'll definitely fight hard at Worlds."
While greeting the fans, Zhou Huo glanced back at the players in the distance. Seeing that Shi Luo had already gotten his ticket, he waved and called him over.
"Give me your stuff first." Zhou Huo took Shi Luo's passport and boarding pass, then patted his shoulder and addressed the fans. "Let me give you Evil. I'll go handle check-in too."
Shi Luo had a notorious reputation as a flame-thrower on the server. He wasn't like Puppy, who loved chatting and joking with fans. Suddenly thrust into the fan crowd in person, the group surrounding the 1.8-meter-tall Shi Luo all felt a bit awkward speaking up. They faltered, worried that Shi Luo would be impatient.
Shi Luo had been unexpectedly dumped into the fan crowd by Zhou Huo. After a moment of confusion, he pulled down his mask.
The few fans closest to Shi Luo instinctively stepped back, falling silent.
Shi Luo lowered his mask but said nothing.
A small fan tentatively asked, "Evil... why did you take off your mask?"
Shi Luo said, "Isn't that what you wanted? To see me?"
The fans and Shi Luo stared at each other. The fans couldn't help but smile. A male fan tentatively asked if he could get an autograph. Shi Luo nodded. "Give me a pen."
The fans instantly relaxed, all pulling out their lightsticks and prepared notebooks to hand to Shi Luo. Shi Luo accepted them all, signing each one.
While Shi Luo was signing, the same male fan from before couldn't contain his excitement. "Evil, do you remember that one time I ran into you on the ranked ladder at the start of the season? I grinded for days to reach the top 500 of the server, just so I could match with you. Then every night I'd time your queue and queue at the same time, waiting and watching, for half a month until I finally got matched with you—but unfortunately, you were on the enemy team. Sigh... But it was still great. You killed me like five times. Super cool."
The male fan laughed sheepishly. "Later your ranking got too high and I couldn't climb anymore, so I never ran into you again."
Shi Luo glanced up at the guy, finished signing, and handed it back. "Next season when the ranking resets, let's play together again."
The male fan's eyes lit up. He eagerly agreed and took back his notebook.
A girl glanced at Free's other players in the distance and smiled. "You were never really close with your teammates, always seemed like an outsider... We were all worried about you. But lately it seems like that worry was unnecessary. Fight hard at Worlds."
Shi Luo handed back the lightstick and said quietly, "...Relax."
Another fan also passed their lightstick to Shi Luo, speaking rapidly. "Whatever you do, please don't be nervous in the competition. It's only our team's first year anyway—lose a game and you break even, win a game and you profit big. Don't put pressure on yourselves. If you win, we'll be here to welcome you back. If you lose, we won't come so you won't have to feel awkward seeing us..."
Shi Luo smiled slightly. The fan spoke earnestly. "We're not like those championship-hunting fans who just mindless bash—sure we want you to win, but if you lose, don't be afraid. Stay safe."
Shi Luo signed his ID and returned it. "Thanks."
A short female fan handed her lightstick to Shi Luo, nervous. "Evil, I've liked you for a long time. I've been following your matches since you were at NSN. I've watched so many offline events. Fight hard at Worlds."
Shi Luo nodded. "Thank you."
The girl glanced quietly at Free's other players in the distance, then softly asked, "You're... getting along well with your teammates now, right?"
Shi Luo thought the girl was teasing him about Yu Sui. His ears reddened slightly. Just as he was about to pretend he didn't hear clearly, the girl quietly added, "As longtime fans, we've always been worried that the other three players on this team came from the same original roster, and you might have trouble fitting in. But... it's been almost a year now, and it seems like things are okay?"
Shi Luo paused, then carefully signed his ID. "Relax."
The girl breathed a sigh of relief, smiling shyly. "Because of you, everyone's started to really like the other three players too. Fight hard at Worlds."
As they talked, Chen Huo and Puppy were brought over by Zhou Huo. The three signed together for the fans. Chen Huo talked the most, chattering endlessly. When fans asked if Yu Sui would come over, Zhou Huo broke out in a light sweat, helplessly saying, "The team manager bought the tickets wrong—got economy class for two of the accompanying staff. Over ten hours... it's gonna kill them. Whisper is handling it... Either upgrading them to business or switching their flight. If Whisper's too busy to come over, it'll have to be next time. Thanks for coming, everyone. Evil, sign a few more."
Shi Luo nodded and老老实实地 signed one after another. A fan worked up the courage to ask if Shi Luo would sign Yu Sui's ID too. Shi Luo's eyebrow twitched slightly, but he signed it anyway.
The fans were genuinely wonderful.
They cheered for the players with all their hearts, hoping their favorite players would win but also accepting it when their favorite players lost. They worried about their favorite players getting flamed for losing, worried about the players' mental stress. They knew this year's Worlds had many strong teams, so everyone just said "fight hard"—no one mentioned championships.
Shi Luo was used to trading insults with trolls all day. Being suddenly surrounded by a group of fans offering pure blessings—particularly some of the longtime fans—embarrassed him, but deep down, he was touched.
So Shi Luo signed each autograph very carefully. Not just scribbling blindly with his eyes closed, but also avoiding the players' faces on the lightsticks, trying to sign in the blank spaces.
This was the first time Shi Luo had ever signed so obediently and so carefully—so carefully that he didn't notice Yu Sui approaching behind him.
Yu Sui naturally draped his arm over Shi Luo's shoulder. "Time to go through security."
Shi Luo was currently signing Evil on the left side of a lightstick and Whisper on the right, following a fan's detailed instructions.
Shi Luo stiffened. He held out the signing pen to Yu Sui. "...You sign it yourself."
Yu Sui took the pen and was immediately surrounded by fans, completely walled in. After signing rapidly for a while, he only stopped when Zhou Huo urged them along. Then he walked with everyone toward security.
The fans refused to leave, still clicking away taking photos. The flashes made Shi Luo a bit self-conscious about walking. That scumbag Yu Sui, of course, didn't avoid being obvious about it—not ahead, not behind, but walking right at Shi Luo's side.
When Yu Sui turned his head to talk to Shi Luo, Shi Luo could feel Yu Sui's breath against his ear, and he could also hear the fans behind them making a ruckus.
Shi Luo gritted his teeth. "...Are you doing this on purpose?"
Yu Sui admitted quite readily, "Of course it's on purpose."
Before Shi Luo could say more, Yu Sui continued, "I checked out the hotel. Zhou Huo picked it—it's decent... all king rooms, one per person."
Shi Luo paused. "What a waste..."
Shi Luo knew which hotel Zhou Huo booked in Germany. Expensive as hell. Shi Luo had thought Zhou Huo had at least some humanity and wouldn't be too extravagant—figuring he'd book standard rooms with two people per room. That way, Shi Luo and Yu Sui could share a room under a proper excuse.
If they weren't in the same room, they'd have to part ways after each day's training or matches. Worlds was such a long event—days and days where neither of them could be together...
"I'll get an extra key card for my room." At the security checkpoint, Yu Sui's voice was very soft. "Call me 'big brother'... and I'll give you one."
"You can swipe into my room anytime and come fool around."
Yu Sui nodded politely to the security officer and raised his arms for the scan.
Shi Luo: "..."
Shi Luo gritted his teeth, waiting behind Yu Sui in line, wrestling with himself for half a minute—
...He still really wanted a key card to Yu Scumbag's room.