Ch4 - Old Friend

Because of Zheng Xiaokui’s loud voice, Li Zhongchen was on the verge of becoming deaf. On the other end was Qiao Yi who could not be more embarrassed than he was now.

When the camera angle shot directly at them, Qiao Yan did not expect it. his expression tensed, and it was not until he took deep breath was he able to maintain his usual official disposition. 

But all that was seen at a glance were only his delicate facial features. No one knew of the embarrassment hidden under his skin.

After all, as commander of MW, he led the team to the top of the national server and into the European competition district. In the eyes of others, he was always seen as calm and steadfast.

However, those who hated him had other opinions.

Just like in this moment, the whispers he overheard because he was so close to the audience. Qiao Yi did not know whether to cry or laugh about it— 

“Such a hypocrite, what a waste of that actor’s face. If it was anyone else with that face, could I not continue to simp? Anyways, if it’s him, I’ll just be disgusted.”

“Me too! I can’t scold him when I look at that face of his. After all, it’s really…not ugly, but it bothers me so much!”

“Hey, you little sisters, can you say something more realistic? In the eyes of us fanboys, Xiao Qiao is already considered an ideal type for straight men, but he’s only not ugly in your eyes?”

“Pei pei pei, he’s just seated in front, keep your voice down.”

Qiao Yi did not have to waste time thinking too much about it. People like that who were docile before others but spoke crassly behind others’ back could only be one of those Echo fans that dominated the internet.

The brain-dead fans of his ex-boyfriend were really the most annoying creatures in the world, he thought to himself.

“All the Apex players in the arena have indeed doubled in their enthusiasm! As for the presence of God Qiao, I, Ju, am also very surprised! Who knows why God Qiao would choose to observe this match with super rookie Sugi, who had a supernova performance during their promotion matches earlier today. Is there anything special about the match this afternoon?”

Everyone ridiculed Sister Ju’s official tone: What were you surprised about? The melon eating sister that everyone on the internet refers to is you. If you changed a new style of broadcasting, people would not scold you as badly. 

The staff handed microphone over, and Qiao Yi took it: “Not really.”

After he finished speaking, he smiled politely, and the brown mole on the corner of his eye became prominent.

The location became overcome in an uproar, mixed with all kinds of comments. There were no other reasons for it. Aside from the potential meaning within those words, only the buff that came with that good looking face was left.

Li Zhongchen had nothing left to say. He had witnessed and heard the entire situation, which was accompanied by Zheng Xiaokui’s incessant chatter coming from the earphones: “Wu wu wu, Master, what should I do? I didn’t think that my first official match would be played in front of God Qiao. I, I, I’m so nervous, I don’t deserve to say things like wanting Xiao Qiao Gege to be my Master.” 

Li Zhongchen was speechless. He thought to himself, was claiming to be Echo’s disciple such an embarrassment? How am I inferior to Qiao Yi.

The pre-competition talk segment continued, and the audiences’ thoughts continued to run wild.

From Li Zhongchen’s perspective, even with the obstacle of the crowd, he could still see Qiao Yi turning his head and whispering into Sugi’s ear from a distance. When Qiao Yi’s gaze shifted, the other’s eyes coincidentally met with his own.

They were a few meters apart. Li Zhongchen clearly sensed that Qiao Yi was momentarily stunned, before he hurriedly looked away. 

Li Zhongchen leaned against the back of the gaming chair and folded his arms. He stared at Qiao Yi, who was seated in the distance, eyes as deep as the sea, and did not shy away from it.
He thought to himself, weren’t you sneaking glances at me earlier? Why don’t you dare do it now?

We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.

At this time, Sister Ju spoke: “It seems that God Qiao’s special game observation was for the sake of allowing the newcomers in the team adapt to the rhythm of the game faster. As everyone knows, Sugi, as the passerby king of the live broadcast platform, just signed into MW last month. He is indeed a promising new star.”

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Hearing that, everyone started to curse JuJu for being able to lay down hidden traps. It was a pity that this sister was not an entertainment news anchor. Everyone could see clearly what calculations that were being made.

Perhaps if the camera had switched frames then, it would have cut over to Echo’s face to take advantage of the opportunity of the cause and effect.

——After all, how did that scandal of Echo and Joe come about that year? It was all the work of this sister.

Sugi: “I mentioned it, that’s why we are seated here in the audience seats to observe the match like this. It is also Brother Qiao’s first time, it could be considered a special experience for him.” 

…Brother Qiao? Li Zhongchen snorted coldly. That sure was fresh. Even Qiao Yi’s former teammates in MW only called him Qiao or Joe.

The mic was handed back to him, and Qiao Yi left no room for wild thoughts, ending hastily: “Observing matches is actually very common. I wish both teams will be able to get good results.”
But JuJu did not let it go: “Does God Qiao have anything special you would like to say to anyone? For example, old friends?”

The fangirls in the audience started scolding loudly.

Qiao Yan did not shy away: “I do.” 

Li Zhongchen’s hand that had been holding the gaming mouse froze instantly. His eyes lowered, and he even felt a sense of absurdity.

Now that they were at this point, he did not know if he and Qiao Yi could still have a calm conversation. When they parted ways, no one looked back, nor did they bother each other for a year and a half.

——So what was there even to be said now.

JuJu: “I wonder if God Qiao could reveal the content? There are many fans of the both of you present today.” 

Qiao Yan smiled: “…I’ll save it for the finals.”

Sister Ju withdrew her selfishness and did not make things difficult for him anymore.

The pre-competition talk segment was over. The match preparations were complete, and Li Zhongchen collected himself. Before the match began, he gave his last instructions to the newcomers: “Just play as you normally do in practice. Don’t finally explained the newcomers before the start of the game: “Just play as usual, stay calm. Your Brother E will be off mic in a moment.”

“Yes!” 

“We understand, Coach!”

The children responded to him, and Li Zhongchen said again: “Zheng Xiaokui.”

“Huh?”

“If you don’t play well, I will have you pack up your luggage and gift you a recommendation letter of 800 characters. Even MW may not want to accept you.” 

“Master! I, Zheng Xiaokui, am a member of SVG! And even in death, I will still be a ghost of SVG.” Zheng Xiaokui was loyal and faithful. “I would never do anything to betray the team!”

“Pfft!” The other kids laughed.

“You better be.” Li Zhongchen laughed exasperatedly.

In the audience seats, there seemed to be a fluctuation in Qiao Yi’s icy features. 

His eyes deliberately swept over Li Zhongchen in the OB position, only to see the corners of the other party’s lips hooked upwards. His heroic face was full of amusement, as though he had just finished speaking with someone.

Qiao Yi suddenly remembered that in this newcomer match, Li Zhongchen was bringing a girl.

Moving his gaze once again to the contestants’ zone, there really was a little sister with twin ponytails. She looked sweet and cute. Compared to his own cold appearance, the difference was like heaven and earth. He could not help but cast down his eyes.

Su Ruiqi was still basking in heated atmosphere from earlier on. He looked apologetic and did not notice the expression in Qiao Yi’s eyes. “I’m sorry Brother Qiao, I should not have asked you to watch this match with me. Knowing the bad blood between you and Echo, and yet I…” 

Qiao Yi consoled him. “It’s nothing, didn’t you say you admired him a lot? I should have expected that Sister Ju would do something like this.”

Su Ruiqi: “Did this happen frequently in the past?”

Qiao Yi seemed to have remembered something, his nose feeling sour. “Not really, only occasionally, I suppose.”

——The game was loading and the match was about to start. 

Because they were up against the baldies…ah no, it’s with 2T, so this time, the SVG rookie team chose to use a team combination of double assault + support.

Apex was a special game. The healer could also be used to attack, and it all depended on how you wanted to show off. Teams consisted of three people, and the choice of heroes determined the team’s tactical play.

There were a total of 16 locations on the map Canyon of the Kings. The distribution of materials were random, but the high-level drops were mostly distributed along the edges. If you wanted to develop quickly, you could not avoid landing and exchanging fire people immediately.

But if there was a healer, Lifeline, in the team, you could be a little bit more aggressive. 

Each hero had three abilities that came with them. Among them, Lifeline’s ultimate was to summon air drops.

Therefore teams with healers were not only rich in resources, they could also achieve victory in a steady manner. This was also a common playstyle for 2T and most teams. It was not only steady, but one could grasp the rhythm more easily. The landing location was also more difficult to guess.

After all, Apex Legends was not like the typical battle royale. Experienced players could completely guess the location of most enemies and rush out to take their heads in one fell swoop.

As such, a more aggressive style of play came into existence—— 

The team had two offensive type players for a double output formation. They jumped into an area that was dangerous but rich in resources and got into position, looting guns once they had landed and opening fire. The rhythm was fast and wild.

That was how the old members of SVG played. Li Zhongchen’s best legend was Bloodhound, nicknamed Brother Dog. No matter if he was surrounded by smog or obstructed by buildings, Brother Dog’s ability of perceiving and tracking enemies was similar to thermal imaging. With the help of red profile contours, he was able to accurately find the enemies’ position. One shot, one kill.

There were many players who could play Brother Dog well, but those who could do that in addition to having strong foundations in marksmanship as he did were few and far between. Even if they trained hard, it may not be possible for them to achieve it. Hence within SVG’s rookie team, on top of training Zheng Xiaokui, Li Zhongchen would occasionally take the time to train the other kids who played Brother Dog.

In any case, this match’s double assaulters, Brother Dog and Smoke Sister, were a perfect match. You set up the smoke wall, I track down the enemies. It was difficult for them not to win, even if they wanted to. 

As for the other character played, the support Brother Shield, was Yao Tong’s signature legend. His image was honest and sincere, and was a character that was both offensive and defensive.
With his unique protective shields, at the very least, both teammates in the offensive role truly experienced what “don’t forget me when you are rich” meant, and were still able to coordinate with Brother Shield’s ultimate move, defensive bombardment, increasing their damage.

At the beginning of the match, Brother Dog who was player one took command. They directly flew towards the swamps that had a complicated layout, but was richest in drops. Once they had landed, they picked up guns and attachments, and enemies that came to face them were beaten by the three players of the SVG rookies team.

Li Zhongchen stared with bated breath, silently repeating to himself that 11 people had died.

The voice of player 1 came from the headset: “Player 3, Triple Take.” 

Player 3 was Zheng Xiaokui. Player 1 wanted to exchange his triple-barrel sniper rifle with the highest critical hit damage with her. The purpose was clear. It was for her, who played snipers best to climb the three-story stilt houses to seek out enemies.

The one near the wetlands, two running towards the swamp.

All were killed by Zheng Xiaokui.

After the surrounding area was cleared, they headed to meet the fight in the west. Brother Dog took the lead and charged forward while the team moved towards the safe area, killing every enemy in their way. It wasn’t until the third time the safe zone refreshed near The Pit that the team’s meat shield died once it was too late to resurrect him. 

In the final circle, the remaining players that survived were 0 with only two professional teams that were still alive.

They were destined to fight 2T in The Pit, where the terrain was complicated and the bunker strangely shaped. Fortunately, Brother Dog has a keen sense of smell, only hearing player 1 speak: “They should all be in the hole.”

As soon as he said that, 2T had already started attacking. With the addition of the violent healer that had been neglected until now, they did a wild sweep using a fully automatic VK47.

Discovered by the other party, their coordinated assault did not succeed. Zheng Xiaokui made a tactical retreat and released a smoke wall. The smoke sister, Bangalore, hid behind the bunker and changed her position and fired her gun as bullets flew towards her. 

Brother Dog also took advantage of the smoke and did a wild sweep, keenly aware of the enemy’s location.

It was a nerve-wrecking moment. In the end, they took down the remaining surviving players in 2T. The word ‘WIN’ appeared on the screens of SVG’s rookie team. They had won their first match with high points and exceptional tactics.

“Yeah!”

“SVG won!!!” 

Cheers resounded throughout the hall with the momentum of an avalanche. Li Zhongchen also took off his headphones and let out a sigh of relief.

Zheng Xiaokui jumped up in joy, ran to his side, and shook his arm: “Master, we won!!!”

The corner of Li Zhongchen’s mouth lifted: “Not bad.”

“It was all because Master taught me well!” Zheng Xiaokui was probably too excited. The gratitude she had towards Li Zhongchen these last few days overwhelmed everything, causing her to lose all reason as she hugged Li Zhongchen. “Thank you, Master!! I didn’t embarrass myself in front of God Qiao! ” 

“…” Li Zhongchen took a deep, cool breath. His immediate reaction was not to push the little girl away, but to raise his gaze and look in Qiao Yi’s way.

As expected, Qiao Yi was also looking at his direction, his expression unreadable.

In an instant, Li Zhongchen pursed the corners of his lips, his aggressive appearance tinged with inexplicable mockery. It turned out that they were secretly at a stalemate. He thought he had been defeated to the point that he had lost his shield and abandoned his armor, but now, he had gotten back a match point. So this was the satisfying feeling of being riddled with wounds——

Qiao Yi, why did you come back again? Standing in front of me, aren’t you afraid that something will happen between us again?