Chapter 2: Setting Two

Setting Two: There’s always a group of cannon fodder who like to make things difficult for the protagonist.

The maglev car pulled over nimbly and stopped in front of an apartment building.

The moment Shan Ziwei pushed open the door, he was nearly buried in an armful of roses. The flower-giver, seemingly afraid of being rejected on the spot, shoved the bouquet into Shan Ziwei’s arms without even looking at who he was.

“Ye’er, I’ve missed you so much—who… who are you?!”

When Li Feng saw that the person getting out of the car wasn’t the Ye Ye he’d been expecting, but some pale-faced pretty boy he’d never seen before, his voice shot up involuntarily.

Shan Ziwei clutched the rose bouquet and stepped out of the car. The young man across from him, dressed head to toe in designer labels, was clearly a wealthy scion. From his words just now, it seemed he had a close relationship with Ye Ye. Realizing he’d been handed the flowers by mistake, Shan Ziwei scratched his head and greeted him awkwardly: “Hello, Ye Ye is—”

“Ye Ye?”

For some reason, the young scion got even angrier.

“How dare you call her by that name! What’s your relationship with her?!”

Shan Ziwei suddenly remembered that Ye Ye had been adopted by the Li family and was now called Li Ye. His habit of using her old name, given the particular homophonic nuance of Ye Ye’s original name, sounded to others like he was shamelessly showing off their closeness.

Ye Ye got out from the other side of the maglev car. Seeing Li Feng, she couldn’t help frowning. She walked gracefully over to Shan Ziwei and suddenly hooked her arm around his.

What the f*ck!!!

In that instant, flames ignited in the hearts of both males present—one a raging fire of anger, the other a surging blaze of lust. Shan Ziwei felt as if he’d been struck over the head; every muscle in his body went rigid. His heart pounded violently, thrumming through his entire body and mind with the clamor of desire. Through the deafening beat of his heart, Ye Ye’s voice came through as if from a century away, muffled and indistinct.

“He’s my boyfriend. Fanzi, let me introduce you—this is my ‘cousin,’ Li Feng.”

Ye Ye could feel Shan Ziwei trembling slightly. Worried he might shake her off, she tightened her grip on his arm.

Thus, both Li Feng and Shan Ziwei received a fatal blow—one to the heart, the other to the body. Shan Ziwei lowered his hand, letting the rose bouquet cover his growing arousal, and met Li Feng’s jealousy-blazing eyes with his own bloodshot ones. Jealous of what?! Have you ever considered the feelings of someone with this condition?!

Seeing that the severely mysophobic Ye Ye was actually clinging to a man—and that man was breathing heavily like he wanted to pick a fight (very big misunderstanding)—Li Feng, who had never had a good temper to begin with, exploded.

“What the hell does he think he is! Li Ye, stop fobbing me off with stray cats and dogs! You’re a member of the Li family—you’re destined to be my woman!” Li Feng raised his chin, his expression radiating absolute certainty. “Quit playing hard to get, Li Ye. Just come back with me and get married. That’s Grandfather’s wish too.”

Ye Ye’s face instantly turned cold. Shan Ziwei could deeply feel just how awful her mood was—because she tightened her grip even further.

—Please, just give a guy with this condition a break! I’m about to turn into a beast, do you even know that?!

“Heh… Grandfather’s wish? I didn’t know that.” Ye Ye’s lips curled into a cold smirk. “All I heard was that once you lose to me in the ‘Renewal Tournament,’ you have to get the hell out of my sight forever.”

“Hahaha—Ye’er, you’re adorable.” Li Feng laughed heartily, pointing dismissively at the apartment building. “You really think this ragtag little team you’ve put together can beat me in the Renewal Tournament? Grandfather only said that to make you accept your fate and follow me.”

“Heh… we’ll see who comes out on top.”

Ye Ye let out a cold laugh, pulled the stiff Shan Ziwei along, and headed into the apartment building, clearly done with Li Feng. Even after Shan Ziwei entered the building, he could still hear Li Feng’s distant shout.

“Li Ye! After the Renewal Tournament ends, I’ll prepare a grand wedding for you—one that will let the whole world know: you are my woman!”

The automatic door cut off Li Feng’s voice and gaze. Ye Ye released Shan Ziwei’s arm, pulled out a pair of handkerchiefs, and handed one to him with an apologetic smile. “Sorry, I used you as a shield. That must have made you uncomfortable.”

Shan Ziwei gazed solemnly at the handkerchief Ye Ye offered. A thousand words condensed into one: “…Where’s the restroom?”

(Anything below the neck cannot be described.)

After quietly taking care of things in the restroom, Shan Ziwei washed his hands, his sorrow flowing like water from the tap.

Anyone could have guessed the gist of what had just happened. Ye Ye was an exceptional girl—striking in appearance, outstanding in ability. Her only flaw was her mysophobia. But even that only added an untouchable, aloof beauty to her allure. Naturally, a goddess like her attracted countless suitors—like that “cousin” from just now.

Shan Ziwei pulled his hood over his head, a dark cloud of depression swirling above him.

Truth be told, in a situation like that where a girl was seeking protection, as a man he should have stiffened his spine, turned to that wastrel, and roared with overwhelming dominance: Screw you, she’s my woman, don’t even think about it.

But reality was, Shan Ziwei’s spine “stiffened” all right, and his “dominance” leaked—and in the face of that antagonistic cannon fodder, he didn’t even dare open his mouth, for fear that if he did, strange moans would slip out.

Pathetic.

After leaving the restroom, Shan Ziwei found Ye Ye, who gave him a tour of the apartment. It was a serviced apartment. According to Ye Ye, she had leased it specifically for the Xiaoye Studio. It came with a high-end workspace, separate living quarters, and a fully equipped kitchen and dining area.

“I’ll keep a room for Fanzi. You’re welcome to stay here anytime.”

“Thank you.”

Shan Ziwei was incredibly grateful to Ye Ye—not only for solving his employment problem but also for allowing him to live apart from the rest of the studio, only needing to show up for important meetings.

I totally understand, the girl said with a smile. I can’t stand sharing a bathroom with others either.

Faced with Ye Ye’s kindness, Shan Ziwei was moved beyond words. He desperately wanted to do something for her. His mind immediately went back to Li Feng; it seemed Ye Ye was in some trouble.

“What was that about just now… with Li Feng?”

“Oh, that. Just an annoying fly.” Ye Ye furrowed her delicate brows at the question. “Ever since I came to the Li family, he’s been pestering me nonstop. I was so fed up I asked Grandfather to arbitrate—in four months, there’s a big ‘Renewal Tournament.’ If I beat him in the tournament, he’s banned from ever showing his face in front of me again. If I lose, I have to marry him.”

Shan Ziwei was stunned. Seeing his undisguised shock, Ye Ye stuck out her tongue sheepishly. When no outsiders were around, the girl always had a charmingly innocent side.

“So to make him go away, I put together this studio.” Ye Ye clenched her fist and waved it with childlike determination. “I won’t lose to him.”

What if…

Before Shan Ziwei could even ask the question, Ye Ye tapped open the studio door. Instantly, everyone inside turned their attention to them. Shan Ziwei instinctively straightened his posture. There were four people in the room—three men and one woman. Aside from the girl, who was wearing headphones and sleeping, the men all stood up to greet Ye Ye.

Ye Ye nodded in acknowledgment, swept her gaze across the room, and spotted the person she was looking for by the window.

“Zhao Qing, come here for a moment.”

A man of about thirty-five with a sparse beard straightened up and walked over to Ye Ye and Shan Ziwei.

“Boss.”

“Fanzi, this is Zhao Qing, the current manager of my studio.” Ye Ye introduced him to Shan Ziwei. “He’s very experienced—I’ve entrusted him with running the studio for me.” She turned to Zhao Qing. “Zhao Qing, this is Shan Ziwei, our new employee. He’s really good at online games.”

Zhao Qing looked Shan Ziwei up and down. He had been standing by the window the whole time, so he’d witnessed everything that happened outside the apartment. At his age, he had more things to consider. Li Ye wasn’t a great employer in herself—it was the Li family behind her that Zhao Qing really wanted to ingratiate himself with. So when Li Feng approached him, Zhao Qing didn’t hesitate much before agreeing: he would help Li Feng keep tabs on Li Ye and make sure she lost the Renewal Tournament in a way that seemed “convincing.”

This hoodie-wearing kid seemed to have something going on with Li Ye. Zhao Qing curled his lips into an ambiguous smile and extended his hand to deliver a subtle, quiet intimidation—sorry, kid, you picked a fight with the wrong person.

“Hello…”

Zhao Qing’s pleasantries got stuck in his throat. In response to his handshake, the hoodie-clad youth across from him stumbled back several big steps like a girl about to be sexually harassed, almost as if he were about to throw his hands up over his chest and scream for help.

“No, no, no—” Shan Ziwei hurriedly dodged Zhao Qing’s extended hand. “I have mysophobia—I don’t shake hands!”

—Are you kidding? I just ran to the restroom once; I’m not going again!

Zhao Qing’s face darkened instantly. Leaving aside the frustration of winding up for a big move only to have your opponent shrivel up first, what really got him was the sheer “startled beauty” expression on Shan Ziwei’s face. Zhao Qing had never in his life understood the phrase “startled beauty” more viscerally than at this moment—it really was that kind of “oh no, a pervert is after me” look, holy crap!

“Yes, Fanzi has mysophobia, just like me.” Ye Ye’s interjection cut off Zhao Qing’s urge to curse. The girl, completely oblivious, smiled innocently. “So he won’t be living here. You can all keep in touch online… ah, sorry.”

Ye Ye raised her hand. The black ring on her left wrist lit up with patterns, blinking to indicate an incoming communication.

“I need to take this call. You two can chat and get to know each other in the meantime~”

And with that, the buffer-zone Ye Ye drifted away, leaving the anger-level-increasing Zhao Qing and Shan Ziwei (distance > 3) in silent confrontation. Zhao Qing’s eye twitched. With Ye Ye gone, he didn’t have to keep up a fake smile anymore.

“What online games have you played before?”

Zhao Qing’s tone was a bit rough, giving Shan Ziwei the feeling of dealing with a gangster. Shan Ziwei had a hunch that Zhao Qing didn’t like him—probably because he’d just embarrassed him. In an attempt to salvage their precarious working relationship, Shan Ziwei pulled down his hood and put on a placating smile.

“WoW, LoL, SC, CS… I’ve played all those.”

With every game name Shan Ziwei listed, Zhao Qing’s frown deepened, until his face turned as black as a pot bottom.

“Are you f*cking kidding me? I’m not testing you on classic gaming history!” Zhao Qing’s smile was anything but genuine. “Please name the online games you’ve played from the last decade—not those antiques from hundreds of years ago!”

“…Sorry, he’s also an antique from hundreds of years ago. (:3」∠)

An unsolvable silence spread between them. Zhao Qing took a deep breath, reminding himself constantly that this was the best chance to get intel on his opponent, barely managing to suppress the little flame of anger in his chest.

“Fine. Just tell me directly—what type are you good at?”

Shan Ziwei immediately snapped to attention like a good student being quizzed by the teacher: “I’m good at MM.” (MM: Massively Multiplayer online role-playing games, where a player controls a character within a sufficiently large fictional world, e.g., World of Warcraft.)

Zhao Qing clicked his tongue in a way that made it unclear whether he was satisfied or not.

“What role are you best at? Tank/DPS/Healer/Controller?” (T: colloquially “meat shield,” the role that tanks monsters in online games.)

“MT.”

Zhao Qing’s first thought: No wonder he pulls aggro so damn well!

“MT!”

A shout echoed through the studio. At some point, the chubby guy who had been eavesdropping nearby waved his arms excitedly and exclaimed, “Awesome, Boss—we’re exactly short of an MT!”

“Damn it.” Zhao Qing wished he could kick the fat guy away; thanks to him, everyone else in the studio was now paying attention. “You think just any stray cat or dog can be an MT!?”

The fat guy’s hands froze mid-air. He scratched his head. “Yeah, I guess.”

MT is the primary damage-soaker in MM. He occupies a very special position in the entire team. In a team, there can be many tanks, but only one MT. Thus, the MT is the backbone of the team—his skill level, awareness, equipment, and so on all have a major impact on the group. Shan Ziwei wasn’t bragging when he said he was good at MT. If the 21st-century online gaming player rankings still existed, his in-game name would definitely have appeared in the top ten.

The fat guy’s dejection lasted only a moment before he excitedly asked Shan Ziwei: “What’s your in-game name?”

As the team core, an MT who has been active for a while would have some reputation online. It didn’t matter if Shan Ziwei wasn’t famous—in fact, they might even prefer a less well-known MT. The famous ones had already been snapped up by the big studios and had formed fixed playstyles. Their team was too new; they needed time to adjust and gel.

“Ghost. I usually use the name Ghost.”

“Ghost? Never heard of it…”

The fat guy’s disappointment was written all over his face. Shan Ziwei was equally melancholy: Back when I was making a name for myself, you were all still base pairs…