All-Round Mid Laner

The next morning, Ye Shaoyang and his teammates made their way to the airport together.

Their team coordinator had reserved a van in advance to take them to the airport. As always, Ye Shaoyang smiled towards Chi Shuo when they climbed into the van. He took the initiative to sit next to Captain Chi, while Cheng Xing took the seat next to Ye Shaoyang, with the aisle between them.

Cheng Xing, who was sporting a pair of dark bags under his eyes, snuck a glance at Ye Shaoyang. He clearly wanted to say something. Ye Shaoyang noticed his little peeks, and he couldn’t help but say, “Little Xing, if you have something to say, then say it. Don’t hold it in.”

Cheng Xing cautiously asked, “Yang-ge, did you see what was trending last night?”

Ye Shaoyang said, “The thing about congratulating the honorable Lieyang for becoming the MVP of S10?”

Everyone fell silent.

It seemed he already knew.

Out of habit, Cheng Xing had stayed up until three in the morning last night. Before going to bed, he glanced at Weibo and saw that his own Yang-ge had actually been flamed up the trending topics list! Cheng Xing couldn’t swallow his anger. He’d gotten onto an alt account and argued with those anti-fans for a while, and then before he knew it… it was five in the morning.

Since he’d already stayed up so long, he figured he would just skip sleeping and go wash his face before grabbing breakfast. Then he’d had to hurriedly rush to meet up with everyone and catch their ride.

Thus, the youth was wearing those huge dark bags under his eyes, and he looked quite dispirited. Ye Shaoyang couldn’t help but grin as he said, “You didn’t get on an alt account and spend all night arguing with those anti-fans instead of sleeping, did you?”

Chi Shuo also followed Ye Shaoyang’s gaze and took a look at his rookie.

Cheng Xing instantly shrank his neck into his shoulders. “No… nope! As if I have that many alt accounts to spare!”

Coach Lin came over from the front row. He took a seat near them and looked towards Ye Shaoyang as he said, “Shaoyang, don’t take last night’s trending topic to heart. I made a call to the club’s public relations team after seeing that trending topic, and we’ve already had it pulled. When it comes to this kind of thing, it’s obvious at a glance that someone is deliberately trying to drag you down.”

Cheng Xing froze for a second. He curiously lifted his head. “It wouldn’t be BOB, right? They wouldn’t be such sore losers after losing 0-2 to us that they would hire a mob to diss Yang-ge, would they?”

Coach Lin shook his head. “It can’t be BOB. Based on their own skill levels, they were already very aware of the fact that they couldn’t defeat Tianhuan. My guess…”

He swept his gaze towards Chi Shuo, then lowered his voice and ventured, “Yaoguang, right?”

Chi Shuo nodded. “Mm. That’s what I was thinking as well.”

Qu Jiang and Qin Yizhu also pricked up their ears.

“I was thinking it was weird that Xie Weiyu transferred so suddenly,” Qu Jiang said. “How could one of the top three ADCs in the league just leave like that, if there weren’t some reason?”

Qin Yizhu also started to share the gossip he knew. “I’ve seen the new marksman that Yaoguang is fielding this season. Seems pretty average?”

Coach Lin said, “The marksman they played in the preseason games was Xie Weiyu’s substitute from last season. His skills are indeed average. My guess is Yaoguang still has another hidden ace. Yaoguang’s first game of the regular season is scheduled for this Saturday—which is to say, today at four in the afternoon. The real marksman they’re raising up should take the stage today.”

Coach Lin looked at Ye Shaoyang again and explained, “Yaoguang is a somewhat complex team. Their boss doesn’t really understand esports, but the club has a lot of money. They used money to construct a top-tier esports team, by paying huge signing fees to powerful players. There have always been rumors about discord within their ranks.”

Chi Shuo mildly said, “They just became a team in S8. Their foundation isn’t stable enough yet. But because their boss has money, the players they bought are pretty strong. They were the runner-up team in S8, and they took fourth place in S9. This season, they’re probably gunning for the championship title as well.”

Ye Shaoyang stroked his chin while mulling over all that information—it now seemed that Xie Weiyu had definitely left this team because he couldn’t get along with their management. The higher-ups must have decided to simply sell him for a good price, giving up on him entirely and raising up a new god instead.

Some team owners loved esports and would always respect esports players. They would fight for their achievements together, working towards the championship title as a cohesive unit. But there were also many team owners who only looked at a player’s monetary value. Especially bosses like Yaoguang’s boss, with a background in the entertainment industry—these people would naturally gravitate towards using money to hire impressive players, just like they would shell out big bucks to reel in impressive celebrities in the entertainment industry.

Ye Shaoyang gazed out the window. The road to the airport was lined with the palm trees that were typically seen in the south. The deep blue sea and the sky met at a distant point on the horizon, creating a beautiful seaside view that made Ye Shaoyang feel quite a lot more relaxed.

He was so lucky to have come to a team like Tianhuan. Their biggest shareholder was Ming Sheng, Chi Shuo’s master. This was a mid laner who’d once taken the stage at the world championships, and he’d given Ye Shaoyang his respect. Ye Shaoyang had known since a long time ago that the road to the world championships wouldn’t be smooth. In this world, not everyone would be elated by his appearance.

But that didn’t matter.

In the esports world, gods were never born through internet drama and hype.

Players fought their way to godhood, match after match, with their own two hands.

It was already noon by the time Tianhuan’s players got back to their HQ. After everyone had lunch, the coach excused them all for an afternoon of free time. They didn’t have any training scheduled for the day. They could afford to take a day off, because Tianhuan just so happened to be off in the coming week—they wouldn’t have a game. Their next match would be in two weeks, so they had quite a lot of time to spare.

The tournament schedule of the Gods War league wasn’t as packed as the tournament schedules of the LPL and KPL from Ye Shaoyang’s past life. This was because the Gods War league didn’t split up their tournaments between a spring tournament and a summer tournament. So, the regular season in the first half of the year was rather long. It lasted from January to the end of May.

Since Tianhuan had a week off, the players could take the opportunity to relax for a while.

And since they didn’t have training scheduled that day, Ye Shaoyang took the chance to head back to his room for an afternoon nap.

When he woke from his nap, he saw that he’d received a message. Qu Jiang had invited him into a small group chat titled ‘Tianhuan’s Happy Family’. The group consisted of five people: Zhuhuo, Jiangshui, Lieyang, Shuoyue, and Fanxing.

Netizens had already commented on these names, saying they were like fire and water with the sun, moon, and stars between them—the verdict was that they were quite the happy, chuuni family.

Qu Jiang cryptically wrote: [This is a little group I created secretly. What happens here, stays here. If someone is scolded by the coach, they can come complain here~]

Qin Yizhu wrote: [You’re making this sound like an illegal organization.]

Cheng Xing popped up and wrote: [This feels like the sort of group chat where students organize skip days behind the class monitor’s back.]

Ye Shaoyang curiously wrote: [Qu Jiang, you have some other reason for suddenly making this group, don’t you?]

Qu Jiang wrote: [I have a thought. It’s not good to say it in front of our coaches, so I wanted to pull you guys in and have a private chat about it.]

Chi Shuo wrote: [What thought?]

Qu Jiang: [Yaoguang wants to make a god, right? They even hired a bunch of antis to badmouth our Yangyang. If we don’t teach them a tiny lesson, then won’t people think our Tianhuan is very easy to bully?]

Ye Shaoyang really didn’t care about this whole matter of him being flamed onto the trending topics list, but it seemed his teammates were all crying out about the injustice of it all on his behalf. Chi Shuo had outright confronted the person who made the first incendiary post, Little Xing had used a bunch of his own alt accounts to fight trolls, and Qu Jiang had so many ideas that he’d created a private group chat to discuss them.

It seemed Tianhuan’s players had already started to consider Ye Shaoyang family.

They really had been getting along well. Qu Jiang and Qin Yizhu also felt that Tianhuan, as a team, had been changed and liberated since Ye Shaoyang joined. They naturally liked having this sort of powerful teammate.

Cheng Xing was even more obviously happy about their current team—he was one of Ye Shaoyang’s biggest fans, after all.

Ye Shaoyang curiously asked: [What’s your idea?]

Qu Jiang wrote: [Yangyang’s pretty good at the Destiny Goddess, right?]

Ye Shaoyang wrote: [So, you want me to destroy them with the Destiny Goddess?]

Qu Jiang sent a laughing emoji and wrote: [Let them know that this season’s Best Newcomer award is going to our Tianhuan. You know the Destiny Goddess’s voiceline when she unleashes her ult—’This is destiny. Don’t try to resist.’]

Ye Shaoyang: [……]

Critical hit! With a line like that, the enemy would definitely be raging after death.

The Destiny Goddess was also known as a goddess of luck.

When online players chose her, whether or not they could get a kill with her was like a game of chance—just like drawing a lucky fortune. But in Ye Shaoyang’s hands, this extremely difficult-to-play mage could be played perfectly. He could use her to kill off an enemy instantaneously, without warning.

When the Abyssal Lord came to kill you, you could at least see his shadows.

But when the Destiny Goddess targeted you, you practically wouldn’t even be able to pinpoint her location before her dazzling talismans descended from above to claim your life—this kind of long-range burst mage was a glass cannon’s worst nightmare.

Qin Yizhu sent a bunch of thumbs up emojis into the chat. He wrote: [Qu Jiang’s wretched plan is pretty good. The Destiny Goddess’s voiceline is the most infuriating thing! Plus, aren’t they dissing Shaoyang for always taking Captain Chi’s blue buffs? The Destiny Goddess doesn’t have a mana bar. Yangyang can kill them all the same without taking any blue buffs at all.]

Chi Shuo calmly wrote: [We haven’t practiced team comps surrounding the Destiny Goddess yet. But Little Qu’s line of thinking is correct. I’ll bring this up with the coaches tomorrow and have them develop a comp as soon as possible.]

Ye Shaoyang’s heart filled up with warmth. He wrote into the group chat: [Thank you, everyone. I know that I’m only able to take the MVP title because everyone has been giving me resources and letting me get kills. Sending hugs.]

Qin Yizhu sent a blushing, smiling reaction meme. He wrote: [As long as we can win, then it’s all the same no matter who’s named MVP.]

Qu Jiang wrote: [Exactly. Yangyang, ever since you came to Tianhuan, we’ve been much more relaxed in tournament games. You deserve to be the MVP every time. Truth be told, I really think you have a chance at sprinting straight for the MVP of S10 title.]

Qin Yizhu: [I think so too. Although the competition will be fierce, as long as we rack up kills in the regular season and Shaoyang gets more and more MVP titles—he’ll definitely be among the top few candidates for MVP of the Season!]

Cheng Xing wrote: [My Yang-ge is already the best player in my eyes. He’s fully deserving of the MVP title!]

Chi Shuo read all those messages in the group chat with a complex feeling in his heart. He hadn’t imagined Shaoyang would fit into the team so well, so quickly. The esports industry truly was a place where everyone spoke with their own abilities. Ye Shaoyang was able to receive his teammates’ respect because his own skills were good enough; his teammates were willing to let him be their carry.

When he imagined Ye Shaoyang standing on a prize podium and hefting the ‘Most Valuable Player of the Season’ trophy, Chi Shuo felt his chest warming up—the Shaoyang who stood on that stage, in that moment, would be very radiant, wouldn’t he?

Chi Shuo had taken that trophy in S6. Back then, his master had supported him throughout the whole season. When it was necessary, his master had always stepped aside to let him take a kill. The title of MVP wasn’t something that one player could win on their own; the MVP always relied on the support of their teammates. So, in this season, Chi Shuo would do his best to help Ye Shaoyang take the prize that would best prove his worth.

Seeing that it was nearly four in the afternoon, Chi Shuo wrote: [Do you all have time this afternoon?]

Everyone chimed in to ask: [What is it, Captain Chi?]

Chi Shuo: [Come to 301. Let’s watch the game at four together.]

A few minutes later, Old Qin hurried over with a load of peanuts, sunflower seeds, and walnuts. Qu Jiang and Cheng Xing were right behind him.

When so many visitors suddenly appeared, Xiao Bai was elated. The kitty ran over and rubbed up against each and every person while Ye Shaoyang took the initiative to pour drinks for everyone. The five players gathered on the couch in the living room, then turned on the TV to watch the livestream of the game.

Since they were off that day, there was no need for them to go to the training room. Everyone could relax a bit more by watching the game from Chi Shuo and Ye Shaoyang’s dorm room. There was no coach hovering over them, and they even had a cute cat to pet.

This was a Group A game—Yaoguang vs Langzu.

When Yaoguang’s five players took the stage, Ye Shaoyang discovered that the person standing in the marksman’s position was very handsome, with a very refined smile. He was definitely one of the Top 10 of the league, in terms of his looks. It was no wonder Yaoguang’s boss wanted to raise him up.

Qin Yizhu sighed and said, “The new marksman is really a lot more handsome than Xie Weiyu.”

Qu Jiang muttered, “When did esports players start making a living with their faces?”

Ye Shaoyang held Xiao Bai. While stroking the cat’s head, he said, “If you only have a good face and no skills, then you definitely won’t make it. But if you’re handsome and strong in the game? It would be very normal for his club to want to promote him.”

Yaoguang’s new marksman for this season was indeed quite attractive. Now all that remained to be seen was how he played.

The game started very quickly.

Group A games were clearly much more interesting to watch than Group B games. The two teams battled it out in a fierce back-and-forth.

In the first team fight over a minor dragon, Yaoguang’s new marksman ‘YG-Yu’mao’ demonstrated some extremely crafty moves and took a triple kill!

A player who got a triple kill in the early stages of a game could easily take flight. Yaoguang had their support acting as their marksman’s dedicated bodyguard as well. In late-game fights, the marksman could plant himself in the distance and fire away wildly, ultimately wiping out Langzu’s whole team.

Yaoguang won their first game, and the MVP was unsurprisingly YG-Yu’mao.

In the second round, Langzu banned Yu’mao’s Divine Archer right away. But then, Yu’mao simply chose the Godly Sniper.

The Godly Sniper’s Q skill was called ‘Aimed Shot’. It was a skill that could store up to five bullets. In late-game, a well-built Godly Sniper could fire off their Q skill from a great distance and take down a glass cannon with one hit. Of course, if the player couldn’t land that hit, the bullet would awkwardly whiz through nothing but air.

This hero was extremely fragile, but powerful. A player’s success with the Godly Sniper depended a lot on their hit rate.

Those who played well with the Godly Sniper could truly be named ‘sniper gods’, taking down one hero with one shot. But those who didn’t play well would end up shooting at air after all their teammates were killed off. After doing 0% of the damage in a game, they were sure to be insulted to death.

If Yu’mao was bold enough to take out a hero like this in a tournament game, it meant he was definitely very familiar with the Godly Sniper.

And he soon proved that this was true. His hit rate with the Godly Sniper was over 80%. Four of every five bullets he fired off would hit their mark. He was quite terrifying—he could fire off his shots like he was threading a needle, finding the perfect openings to shoot and take a kill!

This kind of long-distance marksman was a huge threat to the glass cannons that fought on a team’s back line. Even the front-line tanks could be downed by him in a couple hits.

In the final team fight, with his teammates’ support, Yu’mao hid out in the woods in the distance. He repeatedly took aim, fired, and hit his target. Because his teammates had already crippled the enemy heroes, he could take a kill with every single shot he landed—and with five shots, he took a pentakill!

The commentator excitedly exclaimed, “My god, a pentakill! The second pentakill of the season has been made!”

“Yaoguang’s new player Yu’mao took one kill with one shot, landing five in a row. These shots are deadly, and not a single one missed! He really can be called a sniper god!”

“This season’s newbies are really something else. First we had Lieyang from Team Tianhuan, whose Abyssal Lord ruled the whole map and took a pentakill. And now we have Yu’mao from Team Yaoguang, taking shot after shot and claiming five lives in a row—for another pentakill!”

“Let us congratulate Team Yaoguang on their 2-0 victory today!”

The screen of the livestream filled up with ‘666’ bullet comments.

If Ye Shaoyang hadn’t gotten that pentakill earlier, Yaoguang’s newbie would undoubtedly have shot up to fame like a new star. Unfortunately, Ye Shaoyang had stolen away some of the spotlight.

Ye Shaoyang crinkled his eyes faintly. “This new player’s skills aren’t bad.”

It wasn’t all that interesting to destroy enemies who were too weak.

But if a marksman was strong enough… Ye Shaoyang would really feel the thrill of getting that kill. ^_^