CH 6

July 20, 2021 by ryuxenji

Within a grand and luxuriously decorated study, Xiao Zhang stared at the collapsed assassin on the screen and clenched his fists. A dark and sinister light flashed across his eyes, but he very quickly hid it behind a smile.

"I didn't expect I'd run into Ash Wing himself today. I had been wondering why half the fans in this channel disappeared as I was playing."

His voice was deep and magnetic, and the healthy wheat-brown tan of his skin gave him a very masculine air. He leaned back into his chair, his strong arms draped casually along its sides. The sight of him drew a round of screams from the female fans in the channel.

[ Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhh! Licking God Xiao through the screen! Ares, you're the best! ]

[ Ares, please take me from the front! The fans who ran away have no taste. Lured away by a streamer who doesn't dare to say anything out loud or show his face, I really can't understand how they think. ]

[ Abandoning the live-stream of a pro player for the live-stream of a layman god, if he was good-looking it would be fine, but he hasn't ever shown his face like he would die under the light..... I really don't know what to say. ]

[ Who's Ash Wing? Am I just too out of touch? How come I haven't heard of him before? He's more famous than the ace of BattleGod? ]

[ You aren't the only one who hasn't heard of him! Haven't heard of +1! ]

Seeing the barrage of criticisms against Ash Wing on the screen, Xiao Zhang felt much better. His lips curled into a cocky smile, inciting the fans in his channel to flood the screen with messages once more.

"Don't say that. Ash Wing is the godfather of assassins. He's very strong, a God who is ranked number one on the assassin rankings in the 'Throne of Secco' region."

[ Pfft hahaha, how many top players are there even at the 'Throne of Secco'? He should come over to the pro region if he's really capable! What's great about getting a #1 in a small region? ]

[ There aren't that many people playing assassins in the game in total anyway, right? If Ares' team didn't have rules stopping him, his qigong master would definitely pwn him! ]

[ godfather of assassins...... this title sounds as cheesy as 'glory of local products' that i don't even know where to start criticising it. ]

Xiao Zhang's smile deepened. "Calm down, everyone. It's already amazing for a layman player to be at such a level. I personally respect Ash Wing very much. I wonder how old he is this year... if he's still young enough to join a pro team, I truly hope that I'll be able to meet him in an official match someday."

He deliberately emphasized the terms "layman player", "old", and "pro team", and sure enough, the comments section picked up on the cues and ran with it.

[ God Xiao you think too much. How many layman players actually manage to go pro? Ash Wing has been streaming for so many years already, so he must be at least 25 or 26. Really don't understand why Captain Zhang is still so eager to recruit him... ]

[ Setting Ash Wing's personal skill aside, the character class of assassin just isn't suitable for the pro circles though? The dominant class in this version is still the qigong master. Assassins are useless now. ]

[ It's too late even if Ash Wing goes pro now. God Xiao joined BattleGod at 16 and won an individual award at 18. Ash Wing must be at least 20 right now, right? He just no match for God Xiao! ]

Xiao Zhang smiled and said nothing. Suddenly, a chatbox popped up at the bottom of his screen.

[ Stranger ][ Ash Wing ]: You're very good.

In the wake of Xiao Zhang's deliberately leading comments, Ash Wing's message became completely skewed in the fans' perspective.

[ What's wrong with this dude? Coming to taunt after a fluke win? Doesn't he know that Ares' main isn't an assassin? Doesn't he understand what just for fun means? Damn! I'm so mad! ]

Xiao Zhang politely replied: [ Any suggestions for improvement? ]

The other was silent for a long while. Just as the fans in the channel thought that he would not say a peep, Xiao Zhang suddenly received a long paragraph in return.

[ Stranger ][ Ash Wing ]: Your reflexes are very good, but your play-style is a bit aggressive. Assassins are weaker than qigong masters, so you need to be a bit more cautious when playing them. I'm very happy to see a pro player like you playing assassin. Welcome to the assassin camp.

Xiao Zhang's expression turned dark instantly, and his hands on his keyboard trembled with rage.

He was the ace player of a strong pro team — not only did his own team members treat him with great politeness, even the captains of other pro teams were courteous and respectful towards him. Having his shortcomings pointed out so blatantly on a live-stream, Xiao Zhang felt that he had lost all face.

[ wtf, does this man really take himself to be the leader of assassins? What welcome to the assassin camp??? he's truly shameless! ]

[ A common player has the nerve to criticise a pro? Does he know his place? Disgusting. God Xiao, let's not stoop to his level! ]

[ I've never seen such a shameless person! ]

Xiao Zhang suppressed the fury raging within him to reply — [ Ok, ok. *gives flowers* ] — and then immediately quit the game.

The fans in the live-stream channel were all puzzled and threw question marks at him. Xiao Zhang's tone was light, "With the godfather of assassins around, I better not fool around before an expert. It's getting late anyway, and I have training tomorrow. I'll end today's live-stream here."

Comments started popping up begging Ares to stay, and Xiao Zhang smiled helplessly. "I can't be streaming for you all every day. I still need to train and don't have that much time. If you all still want to see more assassin plays, go watch Ash Wing's channel for now. And I hope everyone continues to support BattleGod in the pro leagues next year."

The fans responded with a shower of flowers and rockets, all of them cheering for BattleGod to win, promising that they would continue to support the team next year.

Xiao Zhang ended the live-stream, and the smile on his face vanished instantly. His dark eyes stared blankly at the screen before him.

The door behind him swung open, and a pretty girl in silk short pajamas made her way into the room on quiet feet. Xiao Zhang turned to look at her, and she couldn't help but shiver at the lingering ice in his eyes.

The girl gathered her courage and settled onto Xiao Zhang's lap, looping her arms around his neck. "Done streaming?"

"Smart and considerate, you, keeping quiet."

The girl raised her head and her eyes were brimming with admiration. "God Xiao, I really adore you with all my heart. I would never dream of showing up in front of your fans and causing trouble for you."

This man had great looks and a great body, along with a voice so lovely and deep that one could become pregnant just listening to it. Not only was he young and accomplished, he also came from a solid family background. Tall, rich, and handsome, what's not to like?

Seeing the earnest and undisguised adoration in the girl's eyes, the dark clouds in Xiao Zhang's heart were dispelled. He lifted the girl in his arms in a bridal carry and headed towards the bedroom.

Who cares about Ash Wing?

At best, he was just a streamer with a little more popularity than usual. He could never hope to compare with Xiao Zhang himself!

As Xiao Zhang went offline, Shen Huai was sincerely praising him in his own live-stream.

—— Ares is truly a player with top-notch battle awareness. If he had known about my play-style in advance, it wouldn't have been so easy.

Ash Wing had a great reputation among pro teams. Many of the currently remaining pro teams on the circuit had offered Shen Huai olive branches in the past, but Shen Huai had still been mired in the entertainment industry back then and so had been unable to accept no matter how much he wanted to.

This wasn't the first time he had had a private match-up against a pro player either. For example, with WG's captain, Zhang Jia-Yan, or with Maple Moon's captain, Song Xue-Yang, as he got along pretty well with them in private. However, this was the first time he had gone up against Xiao Zhang.

Speak of the devil... the familiar <Pretty Easy to Name a Smurf> just sent another message.

[ Friend ][ Pretty Easy to Name a Smurf ]: Beep-beep!

Thinking that this might be about his request yesterday for Song Xue-Yang to help him find an account, and since his stream had already covered most of what he planned for today, Shen Huai typed:

—— Today's live-stream ends for now. The time for the next live-stream is to be decided.

[ F*ck! It's over again! Just one match! Even though this match is equal to 10 matches in weight, you still can't play around with our feelings like this! Come back! Don't go! ]

[ This time, the stream is not just 3.5 minutes anymore, but God Wing, one day we're going to stop being fans if you keep being so capricious! Hmph hmph hmph! I'll show you! ... God Wing please stay! I haven't learned it yet! ]

[ God Wing, don't go~ I'll give you rockets! ]

Despite their pleas, Shen Huai still exited the live-stream channel. The indignant crowd of the channel instantly set their sights on this <Pretty Easy to Name a Smurf>. Stealing God Ash Wing away two times in a row — utterly unforgivable!

Some members of the crowd sneakily ran off to the 'Throne of Secco' region to create smurf accounts. After facing rejection countless times with the notice "this ID has already been taken", they were filled with even more resentment against <Pretty Easy to Name a Smurf>!

Those who were already playing in the 'Throne of Secco' region quickly logged into the game to look up the ID <Pretty Easy to Name a Smurf>, only to find that it was a max-levelled mage whose battle log was filled with recent records of 2v2 Arena matches partnering with <Ash Wing>!

Envy made them lose their minds! They too wanted to 2v2 with God Wing! They too wanted to fight alongside God Wing! 'Many hands collecting firewood feed high flames' — they would carry forth this spirit, and through collective effort, they would expose the true identity of this <Pretty Easy to Name a Smurf>!

Meanwhile, Shen Huai was asking Song Xue-Yang about the matter of the alternate account. [ Found a suitable one? ]

[ Yep, go check out the assassin ID <MuWanGe> at the 'Sailway City' region segment of the trading hub. ]

Very few people play assassin, so there weren't many accounts for sale at the trading platform. Shen Huai soon found the ID.

It was a female assassin account, maxed level with maxed skill points and a full set of equipment. What surprised Shen Huai most was that she sported a gold weapon from the latest competitive season.

"City of Despair" would release equipment upgrades every competitive season. New equipment could be obtained by upgrading old equipment, or from boss-drops or by trading with other players. However, the new competitive season had barely started, and upgrading old equipment would require several months' worth of effort and investment. Thus, it was obvious that this weapon was a boss-drop.

Having this weapon would save Shen Huai a lot of time, and, even better, the attributes of the character's equipment was aligned with his preferences of specializing in movement speed and attack speed. It was like this account had been tailor-made for him.

Shen Huai was very satisfied with the account. He did not visit the trading hub very often, so he did not know much about account trading. He did not notice anything strange about this account, merely marvelling at how well Song Xue-Yang understood him.

[ Thank you, I'm very satisfied. ]

[ You're welcome~ ]

This unusual tone of voice creeped Shen Huai out, and he couldn't help asking: [ Captain Song, what's wrong with you...... ]

[ I am Zhou Ning (＾＿＾), Captain has something to do at home and gone back. His flight is tonight. ]

[ Thank you, Vice-Captain Zhou. ]

[ Welcome, welcome~ God Wing, when you're at the pro region, you can come join Maple Moon's guild (≧ω≦)/ ]

Before the computer, Zhou Ning was holding a cup of warm milk as he watched Song Xue-Yang blatantly impersonating him right in front of him. "Do you have some misconception of me? Do I normally speak like that?"

Song Xue-Yang quipped, "Isn't this all so Ash Wing can have a taste of the vice-captain's care and concern?"

Zhou Ning threw a half-hearted glare at him, "We don't even know whether Ash Wing is a boy or a girl, or what they look like."

"If their looks don't pass standards, the boss most likely won't agree. Then wouldn't all this be a waste of your time and effort?"

Song Xue-Yang: "......"

He was hit profoundly by the pain of a lone soldier battling on his own!