Chapter 12

[SUEE: Progress report! Duo queued with Wind God all evening. We basically won everything, and this baby is back to Challenger Master 250 LP! Tomorrow I’m aiming for 400, and maybe in a few days I’ll hit Challenger. Just thinking about it makes me super happy.]

After sending the WeChat message to Xia Qiqi, Su Yi gathered her clothes and went to shower. When she came out, she found Xia Qiqi had sent back an explosive reply: [Principal Qi: I already checked the OB (spectator) system and looked up your match history. Wind God has reclaimed his throne as Chinese server’s number one Challenger. He’s crushed Qi Shen in second place by at least 100 LP. As for you… fans on the forums and Tieba are all speculating about who the support duo queueing with him is. Everyone’s saying they’re incredibly good.]

“…”

Su Yi stared at her phone screen, falling into deep thought.

Right—how could she forget about the “match history lookup,” that complete invasion of privacy? Han Lingfeng had always solo queued, occasionally partying up with SNM teammates. Given his undisputed status as the LPL’s most popular player, fans checking his match history was nothing new.

But how would people explain Wind God suddenly pulling some random player into duo queue on bot lane? Was it because she’d played Rengar a few days ago and camped him to death?

Their pairing must look like the definition of “love-hate relationship” to outsiders.

While Su Yi zoned out, Xia Qiqi sent another message in quick succession—

[Principal Qi: Baby, after your contributions of cooking noodles and boiling dumplings, you’ve finally attracted some real attention. Looks like the starting lineup isn’t far off. The forums and Tieba are full of praise for you.]

Su Yi pursed her lips, then typed: [SUEE: The moment they find out this support is a girl, they won’t think so highly anymore.]

[Principal Qi: Be optimistic! I remember the North American region had a female player compete before, right?]

[SUEE: China and North America have completely different cultures.]

[Principal Qi: I don’t care about any of that. I only care about one thing… Did you get Wind God’s autograph for me yet?]

[SUEE: …]

[SUEE: You know what, I love how you can discuss serious matters while simultaneously derailing the entire conversation.]

Xia Qiqi had to wake up early the next day to work on a report, and Su Yi was tired after a busy day. After some idle chatter, the two said goodnight and went to sleep.

The tryout between SNM and CNZ was scheduled for three in the afternoon, but Su Yi still woke up very early. She wanted to warm up her hands before the match to avoid feeling rusty.

As she stepped out of her room, she bumped into Han Lingfeng, who was passing by from the room next door.

Su Yi: “………… Wind God.”

Han Lingfeng stopped at her doorway, looking down at her. “Mm. Morning.”

Pale golden sunlight slanted across his frame, as if gilding him in gold. The man before her wore a loose hoodie emblazoned with the SNM logo and a pair of athletic shorts. His tousled hair was slightly messy, and that handsome face was looking straight at her.

After three seconds of eye contact with Han Lingfeng, Su Yi immediately turned her head away, cheeks slightly flushed. “Morning.”

Han Lingfeng didn’t respond. He stared at her for a moment, then slowly reached out and gave her head a gentle pat.

Su Yi: “…………”

*Holy crap? An unexpected head pat?!*

While Su Yi was still processing what Han Lingfeng was doing, she clearly heard him say, “Your hair… was sticking up.”

Su Yi: “Mm…”

She was overthinking it. Someone like Han Lingfeng wouldn’t randomly pat a girl’s head for no reason.

Han Lingfeng’s trailing words carried a hint of amusement, his voice tinged with laziness. Su Yi immediately raised her hand to smooth down her hair, then explained to Han Lingfeng, “I just forgot to clip it back.”

Han Lingfeng: “Mm.”

After a moment, Su Yi added, “I don’t normally look like this.”

Hearing her words, Han Lingfeng paused briefly. Su Yi herself also froze—her addition seemed completely pointless. Besides… why would Wind God care whether she normally looked like this?

Only the two of them were awake in the entire base. After breakfast, Han Lingfeng and Su Yi each sat down at their computers, ready to continue duo queue practice.

Just as she put on her headphones, Su Yi heard Han Lingfeng beside her say, “Last night, fans spectated my ranked games.”

“Hm?”

“A lot of people are speculating whether the person duo queueing with me is the next starting support.” As Han Lingfeng spoke, he pointed at a forum post on his screen.

Su Yi leaned over toward Han Lingfeng’s screen. Without meaning to, her head brushed against his chest. The motion made the typically composed man freeze slightly.

“Let me see. ‘Yesterday, on the Chinese server OB system, I watched my Wind God husband duo queue with a random player on bot lane. They steamrolled through everything, and Wind God reclaimed his number one spot.’ Oh, Wind God, you’re back at number one—congratulations!” Su Yi finished reading the passage and turned to smile at Han Lingfeng.

He stared at her radiant smile for a moment before responding, “Mm. The gap wasn’t large to begin with.”

Su Yi turned back to keep reading. “This poster’s funny—actually speculating I might be the next starting support.”

Han Lingfeng: “Not impossible.”

Su Yi straightened up in her seat. “I’ve been thinking. There’s already the academy team’s substitute ahead of me, plus I’m a girl. If I actually became a starter, wouldn’t SNM face a lot of pressure…”

Han Lingfeng cut her off. “That’s not something you need to worry about. The official rules don’t prohibit women from competing.”

“But the moment I think about this afternoon’s tryout match, I get nervous.”

“…” Han Lingfeng didn’t speak, just curled his lips into a smile.

Su Yi blinked. “What are you smiling at?” *You know your smile is lethally charming, right…*

Han Lingfeng closed the webpage and clicked on the League of Legends Chinese server icon. “There’s nothing to be nervous about. You performed really well during our duo queue yesterday. Why are you losing confidence now?”

Su Yi opened the game too. “CNZ is a top-tier team. I-I-I’m just a newcomer…”

“There’s no such thing as newcomer or veteran,” Han Lingfeng said. “If you play well, you’re professional.”

“Mm…” After hearing his words, Su Yi felt slightly more at ease.

After all, she had never played in a party with professional players before. Regular solo queue didn’t count. This tryout was against a nationally renowned top-tier team whose strength could be said to rival SNM’s.

And CNZ’s captain, jungler Qi Shen, was reportedly one of the country’s foremost esports players.

No wonder their mid-laner Lightning always harbored an inexplicable fear of Qi Shen.

“Queue up. Let’s continue.” Han Lingfeng invited Su Yi to the party in-game.

“Okay.”

…

[Thread Title: Congratulations to SNM’s Wind God for reclaiming Chinese server’s number one Challenger! ~(≧▽≦)/~]

Floor 1: OP

[Content: Yesterday, a fan spectated my Wind God husband’s ranked match on the Chinese server OB system and discovered some explosive news! Our Wind God, who has solo queued for a hundred years, actually duo queued with a random player—and it was BOT LANE, no less. Their playstyles and synergy were outstanding.

Even funnier: the support baby managed to steal Wind God’s First Blood EVERY SINGLE GAME 2333333. Absolutely hilarious.

However, this player with the ID ‘E-MAIL’ previously played mid lane and jungle, then suddenly switched to bot lane with Wind God—and played impressively well.

As everyone knows, Xi Gua from the academy team has completely incompatible playstyles with Wind God, and Korean import Xiao C went back home a few days ago. So many people are speculating whether this random player might be SNM’s newly acquired support.

OP’s analysis is complete. Feel free to comment!

Once again, congratulations to Wind God for returning to number one! Yaaay.]

Posted: November 6, 2016, 00:35

…

By this point, it was approximately one-thirty in the afternoon. A young man in a blue-and-black team uniform sat at his computer, reading a discussion thread on a well-known esports forum.

Inside CNZ’s base, several boys lazily descended from the second floor. ADC player Xiao Yao yawned, walked over to the young man, and greeted him out of habit. “Qi Shen, you’re not playing in this afternoon’s tryout, so why are you up so early?”

“…”

When the other party didn’t respond, Xiao Yao waved his hand in front of his face. “Qi Shen? Qi Shen?? Hey hey hey, Liang Qi, what are you spacing out about!”

The boy named Liang Qi pursed his lips, looking aggrieved as he pointed at the screen and complained to his ADC, “Yao Fei, in just one evening and one morning, SNM’s Han Lingfeng has outpaced me by nearly two hundred LP…”

Xiao Yao leaned over to look, then patted his jungler’s back sympathetically. “Cheer up! My body’s on the Korean server but my heart’s on the Chinese server—I’ll cheer you on spiritually.”

Liang Qi waved his hand, indicating he had a headache. “Do you think the support duo queueing with him is a new player they’re bringing in?”

“Definitely. The academy team’s support can’t coordinate with Wind God, and Xiao C went back to Korea. If SNM doesn’t find fresh blood now, they’ll get destroyed next Spring Split without us even lifting a finger,” Xiao Yao analyzed.

Liang Qi stared at the ID ‘E-MAIL’ in the post, frowning and muttering to himself, “I feel like this ID is familiar somehow. Is it my imagination?”

“What do you mean imagination? Our team’s scrimming against SNM this afternoon. The mystery will be solved then. Besides, we have some new players to test out too. You just sit back and observe.”

“Got it.” Liang Qi sat in his chair, staring at that string of characters, sinking into deep thought.

He had a feeling this person was no ordinary player.