As a Captain, You Must Be Cold

Shi Du was said to be in the base for two weeks of trial training, but he was basically treated like an official player. He doesn’t have to share a bathroom with the other trainers because his room had its own bathroom and he didn’t have to live in a quadruple room like the others.

“Why doesn’t my brother look like a capitalist young master at all? He even borrowed my shower gel, which only costs thirty yuan a bottle,” Cheese wondered.

Xian Qi responded, “That’s because you don’t know how to read his value. You can check how much his suitcase is worth.”

Cheese was not convinced: “I can’t read it, but you can?”

“Of course,” Qi Xian said with a smile, “I used to be rich too.”

Shi Du just took a shower and was still drying his hair when Lu Youshan called him to the training room. The training room in the old base used to be like an Internet cafe, and the training room in the new base… It was still like an Internet cafe, but the difference was just between ten dollars an hour Internet cafe and fifty dollars an hour Internet cafe.

The training room was the most common place for professional players, where they could enter anytime and feel comfortable. For example, Cheese Seat had a pink chassis, a blue gaming chair, and two rabbit ears on the earphones. He even thought it was a female streamer seat.

Yu Zhaohan’s seat was placed next to Cheese with a distinctive/cold gray-white tone and an integrated interlocking screen interface. Each player’s positions were far away, so they wouldn’t  affect the other players when they played the game.

Old Tan rubbed his hands and asked, “It shouldn’t be much worse than IPL, right?”

Shi Du smiled: “It’s good. Where should I sit?”

Lu Youshan said, “Usually, double-C sit together.”

Shi Du said “understood,” and put the keyboard and mouse he brought with him next to the distinctive/coldness.

Old Tan scheduled a training game for them to play against Hangzhou DSD that evening. The five domestic teams get along well, and Old Tan is a socialite in the E-sports community who is known as a “brother” to everyone.

DSD manager: [You guys really kidnapped Timeless. I heard that Brother Feng was already pissed, and the members immediately transferred to ICU and were going through the formalities.]

Brother Feng is the manager of IPL.

OLD Tan: [Hahahahahahaha]

DSD Manager: [So you R.H really want to form a male model team? ]

Old Tan stood outside the training room and looked at the four people sitting in a row.

The mushroom-headed Cheese is cute and lovable when he is smiling with dimples and tiger teeth; Qi Xian’s burgundy hair is a bit long, with a small tug at the end of his hair, and his arched eyebrows and eyes are very popular with girls; In addition to having top-notch professional player appearances, Yu Zhaohan and Shi Du are also qualified to work in the entertainment industry.

DSD manager: [But Timeless is not cheap, your new boss is so willing? ]

Old Tan: [Yeah, envy it]

DSD manager: [Fuck, I really want to hit you]

Old Tan: [Come to Shanghai to fight, I’ll wait for you]

DSD manager: [It’s unnecessary to spend that airfare, I’ll wait for the next event to fight you.]

This year’s “Destination” event will take place in Hangzhou the following month. The organizers invited five domestic teams to play a friendly match. Despite the fact that it is a friendly game, the winner could also receive a million yuan prize.

Shi Du was given a new number by Old Tan, and the information that he came to R.H. for trial training has not yet been made public. However, the professional players are aware that Timeless is now in R.H because who else would be the other player in the fourth row with the other three R.H.

Lu Youshan was in the observation room, and he watched from the double-c perspective. He had a crazy record in his hand, his eyes flashed with a frenzy, and Old Tan always felt that he was about to transform.

In addition to Old Tan and Lu Youshan in the viewing room, there were also several players who came to R.H for trial training. Old Tan approached Splendid and sat down next to him after noticing that Splendid’s face wasn’t looking very good.

Old Tan asked, “Are you okay?”

Splendid forced a smile.

Old Tan was aware that Splendid must be having a difficult time. Lu Youshan will likely let Splendid to be a starter in the game if Timeless didn’t arrive, but when Timeless came, the likelihood of this happening was essentially nonexistent.

The two sat in silence for a while, then Old Tan said, “I heard that you are a fan of Shine, do you want me…”

“Are you here to let me go?”

Old Tan hurriedly said, “No, no, I didn’t say anything. The trial training isn’t over yet.”

“And training for what.” Splendid looked at Timeless’s real-time data and laughed at himself, “With him around, there could never be someone else’s turn.”

“We’re not just looking for one short/gun starter. A single big club can have up to eight members, and Coach Lu intends to form a second team as well as a junior team.” Old  Tan felt a sense of guilt. Splendid is a popular streamer with millions of followers. He is as popular as Cheese and Qi Xian. Allowing him to play as a substitute does not seems to be very fair.

Splendid gazed at the sniper crouching in the shadows and beautifully handling a gun on the screen- this was Shine’s hero, a female assassin from Italy known as Black Swan.

Black swans have received rigorous training in the black/hand/party since childhood. The black/hand/party converted her into an emotionless killing machine in order to effectively carry out the task. She has a delicate body and a beautiful appearance, which has drawn a large number of individuals to become her unconditional subjects. She is surrounded by charming men, with all kinds of romantic feelings, yet in the next moment, she wouldn’t hesitate to aim at their heads.

Ding-

In the game, Yu Zhaohan exploded the DSD long/gun’s head for the third time.

Splendid clenched his fists and let out a vague word from his mouth.

DSD is a well-established and strong team in the Eastern Division. Two BO5[1] games, the first of which R.H lost 1:3, the second of which Lu Youshan modified his tactics and overwhelmed the DSD coach in the map selection, and in the second game R.H directly swept DSD 3:0.

As soon as the training game was over, the hot-blooded Cheese’s old problem was back, and he was looking for someone to hug him everywhere. This time he found Lu Youshan who had just pushed in the door: “Coach is so warm, I like it so much!”

Yu Zhaohan looked at the hug between Cheese and Lu Youshan for a while, then suddenly turned to Shi Du.

Shi Du, who was packing his headphones:?

Yu Zhaohan withdrew his gaze and drank water silently.

Shi Du felt like he had missed something big. Did he see it wrong? Why did he feel that there seemed to be a little… expectation in Yu Zhaohan’s eyes?

No one was sleepy after three hours of playing two training matches. Qi Xian suggested going out for a late-night snack, which everyone agreed on.

Previously, only Yu Zhaohan owned a car, and Yu Zhaohan had to act as a driver for every group activity. The boss has now allocated them a car and a dedicated driver to dispatch 24 hours a day. They didn’t want to bother the driver late at night, so Old Tan ended up driving the car.

There were not many shops still open in the early morning, and the group finally found a hot pot restaurant.  The hot pot restaurant just has one table of customers, and they will not encounter any fans, allowing them to relax.

Qi Xian made a small mistake during the training match and was caught and scolded by Lu Youshan. Yu Zhaohan was bored listening to Cheese and Shi Du talk about trivial matters such as what they typically do.

“By the way, little brother, can you give me that little rabbit you brought? Or I can buy it with money.”

Yu Zhaohan’s hand holding the chopsticks tightened suddenly.

Shi Du asked: “Do you like it?”

“I like it to death.” Cheese said with a smile, “Our little boss knows that I like rabbits, and he especially gave me a rabbit pillow.”

Yu Zhaohan was about to squeeze the chopsticks in his hand.

The good Xu Lanzhi [2], Yu Zhaohan had no idea there was such a dirty heart beneath his nice skin. Even though there were 10,000 bunnies in his room, he still wanted to take Shi Du’s bunny present.

Yu Zhaohan considered Cheese to be a good brother, but now even if Cheese is dying, he will not save him.

Shi Du said, “Then you’d better buy it yourself.”

Yu Zhaohan loosened his hand and picked up a shrimp as if nothing had happened.

Cheese: “Huh? Do you like rabbits too?”

Shi Du: “No, but I like to cuddle things to sleep. I only have this rabbit to hold right now.”

Cheese laughed at him: “You, a 187-tall boy, have such a hobby!”

Shi Du raised his eyebrows: “Can’t I? You are a big boy who also likes rabbits.”

Cheese said confidently: “But I’m only 175.”

Yu Zhaohan corrected: “170.”

“Everyone.” Old Tan tapped the bowl with chopsticks to draw everyone’s attention “I propose that we gave a toast for Timeless. First, I’d like to thank him for his significant contribution, and then I’d like to welcome him to R.H for trial training!”

Cheese grimaced: “Old Tan, you really like doing this routine.”

Old Tan: “What do you know, it’s called compassion.”

So everyone stood up and toasted their beverages instead of wine. Qi Xian laughed, “By the way, we still owe our brother a little beauty.”

Shi Du asked curiously, “What little beauty?”

Cheese: “You said it yourself, you don’t like our captain’s face, you prefer a cute little beauty.”

Shi Du was speechless for a while, then laughed: “I just said it casually, you really believe it?”

Cheese: “Then you don’t like little beauties?”

“…I like it, I guess.”

Qi Xian asked: “Why do you only like little beauties, aren’t big beauties also good?”

Shi Du said casually: “No, I may not be able to have it.”

Cheese almost choked on his drink: “Brother, do you have some misunderstanding about your own appearance?”

Shi Du smiled: “The main thing is that big beauties are generally independent, and I like clingy people.”

Yu Zhaohan let out a sneer. Shi Du looked over while smiling, and said, “Shine seems to want to make an important speech about this.”

Yes, that’s right! How could he miss a great opportunity to pretend to be cool?

Yu Zhaohan sipped his tea and began his speech: “Everyone should be an independent individual, whether in friendship, love, or family. Self-reliance can lead to personal growth. It is pointless to cling to someone all the time.”

Shi Du shrugged and said nonchalantly: “I understand all the reasoning, but I just like clingy people.”

Yu Zhaohan resisted not touching his ears: “…whatever you want.”

Yu Zhaohan went to the bathroom and wanted to pay the bill, but he met Old Tan who had the same idea. Old Tan told him: “Timeless has already paid the bill.”

Yu Zhaohan was quite upset: “We are all adults, how could we let a minor pay for it?”

“I also think so, no matter how wealthy Timeless’ family is, he is still the youngest in the club, and we ought to look after him more.” Old Tan said, “I’ll transfer his money through WeChat.”

Yu Zhaohan suddenly asked, “You have his WeChat?”

“This is not a bluff.”

Yu Zhaohan: “I don’t have his WeChat.”

Old Tan was baffled: “Then you add it.”

Yu Zhaohan fell into silence. He and Old Tan have known each other for a long time and have shared many hardships. Perhaps he could talk to Old Tan.

“Yeah. Old Lu regards him as a treasure now. He is welcome to stay as long as he wishes.”

Yu Zhaohan nodded: “That is to say, I’m likely to be his captain in the future.”

Old Tan didn’t understand: “So what?”

“Timeless is superficially free and easy to get along with, yet he is more arrogant than everyone else,” Yu Zhaohan observed. His face alone is insufficient to make Shi Du recognize and obey him as a captain.

Most people in the “Destination” E-sports circle were polite to him, whether they were Yu Zhaohan’s team members or not, and even appreciated him, proving that his rule of pretending is effective. But he wasn’t sure if it was his imagination or not, he always had the impression that Shi Du could see through everything—he dared to call him “brother,” asked him if he wanted a hug, and even gave him a bunny holding a carrot.

The two powerful weapons for his success in pretending to be coercive were appearance and technique. But Shi Du liked the little beauty and didn’t like his face; technically, the two played in different positions, each with their own strengths, and there was little to no comparison.

To summarize, this little brother is not easy to deceive at all.

Yu Zhaohan suddenly realized that when he complained about Shi Du in his heart, he had already removed the word “stinky” from “stinky brother”.

After hearing Yu Zhaohan say so much, Old Tan was still confused: “Then what?”

Yu Zhaohan’s wave of analysis has made him a little irritable, and he became increasingly unsure about winning over the little brother. He looked tiredly at Old Tan and said, “Stupid.”

Old Tan said “hey”, and his dignity as a human forced him to open his mouth and curse back. But Yu Zhaohan was in front of him with a slim figure with a tiny scowl between his brows and eyes that appeared to embrace the icy star frost.

Old Tan cooled down and swallowed his response. He’s not a human being; he’s a face-obsessed dog, and a face-obsessed dog couldn’t feel upset when a beauty called him stupid.

Yu Zhaohan wore a tired expression and remained silent.

“Then I’ll ask him to add you?”

“No.” Yu Zhaohan said indifferently, “Just create a group chat.” 

References↑1BO5 is an abbreviation for best of 5, a match style in which a player must win three out of five games to win. It is commonly used in video games or sports matches.↑2Xu Lanzhi is Cheese’s real name.