CH 31

February 04, 2023 by ryuxenji

When the team manager saw who Shen Huai had selected, his heart dropped. He couldn't help but turn towards Song Xue-Yang, only to see the other still smiling brightly, as if he had foreseen this outcome.

The girl who had been named did not react outwardly in any way. Instead, another girl behind her seemed very excited, her eyes filled with envy and joy.

That girl was a player of a different game, otherwise she probably wouldn't have been so happy. The other trainees in the room who weren't selected couldn't summon up any bit of happiness at all. They all hung their heads, looking very depressed.

Shen Huai did not feel sorry for them. No matter what circles one ran in, the strongest would survive. He had already done his best by giving everyone in the room a level playing field.

"What's your name?" He asked the girl.

The newcomers in the training camp gaped at him but Shen Huai acted like he did not notice. He had heard too many salacious rumours and endured too many derisive side glances that he had become immune to attention from others — he was only unsure why they were looking at him that way.

The chosen girl was young, looking about seventeen or eighteen years old, which was around Hai Xing's age. She seemed rather scrawny and was dressed in black casual clothes as dark as her eyes, looking like an elf who had emerged from the night.

The girl looked up, and a flicker of familiarity struck Shen Huai at the sight of her face. "My name is Zhou Jing."

Shen Huai nodded, and then he pinned her with another look as he realised something.

Zhou Jing could guess what he was thinking. "Zhou Ning is my big brother."

It was Shen Huai's turn to be taken by surprise. On closer inspection, the girl's features really did resemble Zhou Ning's, but where Zhou Ning's features were softened by his gentle and agreeable nature, the girl's expression was cold and aloof, eyes lightly-hooded, giving her a sense of inscrutable mystery.

Shen Huai didn't say anything to that, only turning to look at Song Xue-Yang. "Zhou Jing."

Song Xue-Yang ambled over leisurely. "Zhou Jing, go take the team entrance test on the 6th Floor. After passing, go find Kun to sign the contract."

All newcomers to the team signed standard contracts, unlike Shen Huai's contract which had to be customised, so the signing was just a matter of putting pen to paper.

Zhou Jing left, trailing after the team manager.

Song Xue-Yang's gaze swept over the remaining trainees. "Those who want to stay can change character classes or switch to a different game. Those who want to leave, HR will take you through the procedures."

The mood in the room became even more solemn. The trainees had trained hard for a year or even longer, all for just a few minutes in the selection battles, a watershed moment in their young lives.

Shen Huai observed them. Some had sat down to think, while others had begun silently packing up. He suddenly recalled that Song Xue-Yang had also started in the training camp. What was his expression back when he experienced this ruthless selection process?

The image of a grinning youth surfaced in his mind, standing confidently under everyone's envious gazes, like a full moon atop a mountain peak looking down on a field of flowers.

Shen Huai smiled slightly. That's right... Song Xue-Yang was so strong — he would never show any signs of defeat or even anticipation. All adversity would merely be challenges before him and never regarded as cruel.

"Penny for your thoughts?" asked Song Xue-Yang as they were on their way back to the training room after leaving the camp.

"I'm wondering whether you already knew I would choose Zhou Jing."

Initially, Shen Huai thought Song Xue-Yang had asked him to conduct the selection on a whim, out of his trust in him. However, on second thought, when had this man ever ever done anything on a whim? He always had a reason for his decisions.

Song Xue-Yang did not admit it. "We aren't conjoined twins, you know. How could I have guessed what your decision would be?"

Shen Huai did not argue with him, but stared intently at Song Xue-Yang. There was a smile hidden in Song Xue-Yang's gaze, as if taking amusement in the unspoken secret between the both of them.

Song Xue-Yang affectionately slung an arm around Shen Huai's shoulder, merging their shadows under the setting sun.

"All right, I did have some idea."

Shen Huai raised a brow. "Just some?"

Song Xue-Yang broke into a smile which reached his eyes, radiant in the golden glow of the evening sun. Shen Huai could not help but be affected.

The moment Shen Huai learned that Zhou Jing was Zhou Ning's younger sister, he had figured everything out.

Zhou Jing's abilities were indeed outstanding among her peers in the training camp, but she was a girl and Zhou Ning's sister to boot. If Song Xue-Yang had personally selected her, it would be very easy for others to claim that gender bias or nepotism was at play, rumours which could easily turn very ugly with a female target involved.

However, the situation would be completely different if Shen Huai was the one who made the selection. Not only had he just joined the team — and so had no interests or involvement with anyone on the team — he also had no clue who any of the trainees were. Most importantly, his status and family background made him difficult to bribe, so his selection would certainly be just and convincing.

Of course, Song Xue-Yang could have just ignored all of that and just chosen who he wanted anyway — no one would have dared say anything about him with his current status within the esports circuit — but Zhou Jing would have been left in a position where she would have needed to prove her strength over a long period of time, to cleanse her reputation through the competition. This would have undoubtedly been tremendous pressure for a debuting newcomer.

With one simple decision, Song Xue-Yang had avoided this potential chain of tragedies. Moreover, this arrangement also let Shen Huai do his new teammate, Zhou Ning, a favour.

Shen Huai was filled with gratitude and admiration. He sincerely felt that his decision to join Maple Moon couldn't be more right; Song Xue-Yang was the strongest backing of the team.

The two of them returned to the training room and announced that the final team member had been decided. Hai Xing asked, "Who is it?"

Song Xue-Yang glanced at him. "Someone you know."

"Duh, I know all of them." But as soon as he said that, Hai Xing realised something was off. Hai Xing himself had spent a year in the training camp, and most of the rookies who had been in the camp at the same time as him were still around. Song Xue-Yang knew this, so for him to specially emphasize this point...

A terrible suspicion came over him and he turned to look at Zhou Ning who was sitting beside him.

It can't be...

As if confirming his suspicion, Song Xue-Yang tapped him lightly on the head. "You two are the same age, so you have to take care of the young lady, ok?"

"I take care of her?" Hai Xing gestured wildly. "She's a bully! And she's a year older than me! How are we the same age?!"

Song Xue-Yang nodded. "Since she's older than you, you should respect your elders."

An elder just because she's a year older?! Then the whole team were his elders! He was the one who joined the team first a year earlier, so shouldn't she be the one respecting her senior?

But he just knew that if he said anything like that, Song Xue-Yang would definitely shoot back with "Then you should take care of your junior"... In short, it was impossible to get one up over Song Xue-Yang.

Song Xue-Yang looked at Zhou Ning. "I'll let you set things up for Zhou Jing. I've requested a single dorm for her. In future, when we go out to compete, if there's anything she needs to do with food or lodgings that she's too shy to bring up, remember to let me know."

Zhou Ning appeared as mild and agreeable as ever, but there was a tremor in his voice when he spoke. "Thank you. Xiao-Jing is a very sweet girl. She doesn't have any special requirements."

Hai Xing was rather sullen. "I want a single dorm too."

Zhou Ning looked glum. "Is it that bad sharing a dormitory with me?"

Hai Xing immediately switched over to damage control. He felt a chill run down his spine at seeing Zhou Ning's sad eyes. "No, not at all! I was just talking nonsense! It's great sharing a dorm with you! Way better than with that Fan Jing-Ming!"

Fan Jing-Ming felt unfairly victimised. "Xing-xing, it's so unfair for you to say that! I'm a sunshine boy with a great personality! Do you know how many people want to share a dorm with me only for me to turn them down?"

Hai Xing replied airily, "Fine, I just dislike people who need to attach a sofa to the end of their bed to sleep, ok?"

"If you want to praise me like that, I've got nothing else to say," Fan Jing-Ming preened.

"All right, Xiao-Ming, your dormmate will be here too tomorrow."

They all turned to look at Song Xue-Yang. "Shi Yi's flying in tomorrow morning, so all the regular members of Maple Moon will be gathered tomorrow."

********

It was already noon by the time Shi Yi arrived at the club. He was wearing a white shirt and looked very thin. His file indicated that he was 19 years old this year, but he looked even more like a minor than the 17-year-old Hai Xing. His slender shoulders seemed incapable of supporting his own clothes, and the expression on his face was timid. His fingers were white from clenching at his backpack.

Song Xue-Yang stepped up to greet him. "There's no need for introductions, right? You should already be familiar with everyone here."

Shi Yi quickly bowed and gripped Song Xue-Yang's hand. "Hello, Captain Song. I'll be in your care after this."

Song Xue-Yang could feel the sweat in the other's palms. He affectionately slung an arm around Shi Yi's shoulders. "As expected of a player raised by Captain Guan, so proper. Hai Xing, you should really learn from him."

Hai Xing was busy fighting a team battle. Without even looking back, he retorted, "If the top is crooked, those below will of course be crooked too. You should learn from Captain Guan first yourself."

Shi Yi was shocked. No one would have dared speak to the captain this way back in Primo Wolf, but Song Xue-Yang didn't seem bothered at all.

Song Xue-Yang gave the suggestion some serious thought. "Okay, then I'll take a leaf from Captain Guan's book. Anyone who doesn't finish their tasks today will have to train for an additional two hours."

Fan Jing-Ming quickly grabbed him. "Stop, stop, stop. I never asked you to learn from Captain Guan. Xing-xing can do extra training on his own."

Resigned, Zhou Ning removed his headphones and shot a glare at Song Xue-Yang. Shi Yi found that this classical beauty was just as beautiful even when he was glaring. "Couldn't you have learned some other sides of him? Like letting us off for a 3-day holiday for New Year?"

The group then launched into an extended critique of Song Xue-Yang's behaviour of withholding holidays. Shi Yi could see that although their words seemed sharp and pointed, their tones and manners were friendly and intimate. They were all obviously on good terms with each other.

A harmonious scene like this would almost never occur in Primo Wolf. Everyone on the team was mostly in awe of Guan He, so they did not dare to even crack a joke around him, much less chat or fool around in the training room.

Just as Shi Yi's nerves settled, Song Xue-Yang pointed to the seat by the door and said, "This one is also a teammate. He probably needs no introduction?"

Shi Yi turned to look as directed, and his eyes almost popped out of his sockets.

Indeed, there was no need for introducions. Shi Yi had been receiving a heap of push notifications about this person every day recently. Problem was, he would never have expected to see this person here in a million years!

Shi Yi watched the other's fingers fly over his keyboard. The patter of the keys overlapped perfectly with his memory of someone, and his shock grew.

Shen Huai removed his headphones after he finished his arena match, and smiled at Shi Yi in greeting. "Hello."

"Hello." Shi Yi licked his lips nervously. He couldn't help asking, "Are you Ash Wing?"

The room fell silent instantly. Shen Huai gave the rather thin boy a considering look. "How did you know?"

Even Guan He didn't know he was Ash Wing — this wasn't something anyone could just guess on a whim.

Shi Yi was thrilled. Before he came, Guan He had only told him that Maple Moon's line-up was very strong this year, saying nothing of Ash Wing's joining Maple Moon. Shi Yi had watched Ash Wing's live-stream before, so he was well aware how strong the other was as a player.

"I-I watched Ash Wing's last live-stream. The tapping rhythm of the keyboard sounds exactly like yours!"

Shen Huai clearly didn't expect this to be the reason. He knew there were people who could accurately figure out a phone number from the sound of the key tones, but he had never heard of anyone being able to identify a person by the sound of how they use their keyboard.

Song Xue-Yang's eyes narrowed. He quickly thought of another possibility, "You can identify a player by the sound and rhythm of their keyboard, then can you also predict a skill in advance by sound?"

"Yes," Shi Yi nodded, still feeling the rush of being in the same team as Ash Wing. "I can recognise all the skills in the game from the first sound."

In the game, when skills were unleashed, they were accompanied by spellcasting effects and sound effects. The sound effects would play as soon as the skill was activated, while there might be a delay for the spellcasting effects to appear throughout the process of the skill hitting its target. Therefore, skill prediction did not only involve predicting the enemy's movements and positioning, but also had to account for factors such as the trajectory and casting lag of the player's own skill.

If Shi Yi could accurately identify an opponent's skill by sound, that meant that he could adjust his positioning even before the spellcasting effects of a skill played!

No wonder Guan He still held such high hopes for Shi Yi even though Shi Yi kept making mistakes on the field, going as far as to risk discovery by his club's management to give Shi Yi another chance to stand on the field. Shi Yi's talent for gaming was truly off the charts.

Song Xue-Yang and Shen Huai shared a look of mutual understanding.

Shen Huai thought back to his PK match with Shi Yi. He had cast a Soul Steal while completely invisible, but Shi Yi had managed to swiftly evade it. Shi Yi must have reacted instantly to the sound effect of the skill to do so.

They were all amazed at Shi Yi's ability. Hai Xing circled him, asking him how he did it. This was the first time Shi Yi was flocked by so many people asking him to share his knowledge; he was flustered but also a little happy.

He had always dreamed of being in an environment where everyone could get along irrespective of their status or experience. Unfortunately, the esports circle placed strength and achievements on a high pedestal — an insignificant nobody like him didn't even have the right to discuss gaming with the big shots.

Shen Huai glanced at Song Xue-Yang, who had somehow made his way to Shen Huai's side. "Congratulations. You've netted another great player."

Song Xue-Yang chuckled. "An official match will be the true test whether he's truly a great player."

Shi Yi knew Song Xue-Yang was referring to Shi Yi's psychological issue. He looked at the youth who was smiling bashfully in the crowd, and thought of the harsh and terrible curses directed at the boy. He said softly, "He won't let you down."

Song Xue-Yang smiled but said nothing. He clapped his hands and called out, "It so happens to be Christmas day today, so I've booked a restaurant. Let's all go out for a good meal and celebrate."

The group replied in unison, "Okay!"