Prelude — 2

Prelude: Chapter 2

Luckily, everyone in the room was playing CS with their headphones on, except that trouble making boy.[1] No one else noticed that the great Dt had exposed himself in front of a girl, completely exposed.

Ai Qing, the other victim of the prank, sat on the bed pretending nothing had happened.

She silently kept repeating to herself, he’s only 15, 15……

Dt walked out of the bathroom when Slide came in with armful of McDonald’s. Slide put the nighttime snacks on the table and knocked on it to grab everyone’s attention. “This is Gou Gou, the second girl on our Chinese team. She could have been the black horse of our DotA team. Unfortunately, Dt had bluntly eliminated her at the Chinese Regionals.”

Ai Qing dejectedly cast a brief look at Slide. Did you have to introduce me like this?

The boy who pulled the bath towel looked at Ai Qing surprisingly. “You are Gou Gou? That famous girl who always plays disablers?”[2]

Slide tapped on the table with his index finger. “Not just disablers, she was quite famous a few years ago in CS, too. Her specialty is getting head shots through walls. Most players are out without realizing what had happened.”

“Didn't CS get cancelled this year?”

“I’m here for the Need For Speed finals,” Ai Qing reluctantly repeated it again, “since I have nothing better to do.”

“Is racing fun?” The boy seemed really interested, asking while scratching his head, ”You can call me Mian Bao (麵包，Bread). I’m the substitute on Dt’s team. Sorry about what just happened.”

After the brief introduction, everyone gathered around the table and picked out their meals. Slide, being the one who already knew Ai Qing, introduced each one to her. She, not good at memorizing names, hastily nodded to everyone. The only one that she made an effort to remember was her roommate, a girl with short hair.

This young girl didn’t seem to talk much. She was also a substitute on Dt’s team.

Of all the competitive video games, only DotA is a 5 against 5 game. All the rest are played individually. Only the DotA teams need substitutes. Just like during a soccer match, the substitutes usually sit out the whole game on the cold bench.

But even the cold bench of the championship team is not for any ordinary gamer to sit on.

Ai Qing casually asked while looking over their computer screens, “Why don’t you guys turn on the light?”

“Broken.” Dt picked up a cup of coke and put in the straw.

“Oh.” Ai Qing looked at him, shirtless, wearing only a pair of jeans. She couldn’t help but recall that X-rated episode.

“My name is Wu Bai (吴白). Wu is the family name. Bai means white.” He said abruptly.

Everyone was in shock.

Even his own teammates didn’t know his real name, Wu Bai, until tonight.

“Ai Qing.” Ai Qing, who had just bitten into a hamburger, was so startled that she gave out her real name instinctively.

He nodded, walked back to the corner and put the headphones back on.

Today was a day off. Tomorrow is all ceremonies: first, the closing ceremony of the Singapore regional, then followed by the opening ceremony of the Asian Tournament. The official final rounds will start the day after tomorrow, Slide explained. “We don’t often get a chance to come here. So we all agreed that after the three-day final competitions, we’ll tour around a bit.”

Ai Qing, with hamburger in her mouth, said unclearly, “ I want to go see that world’s number one ferris wheel.”[3]

“Ah?” Slide shot a glance at Ai Qing. “That’s one of the 10 most popular proposing places in the world……”

“Uh, huh. Better stop right there. Wait till you’re an adult, then we can talk about this.”

“We won’t have our official game until three days later,” said the short hair girl with the straw in between her teeth, giggling, “let’s play some friendly skirmishes?” Slide couldn’t help chuckling, “That’s a great idea.”

Ai Qing was suffering from a slight headache from her lengthy flight. “I’m just here for the race, I don’t think I really need any skirmishing.”

“Training partner. Can’t get any better training partner than this!” Slide patted her back, said craftily, “Look at this roomful of top notch players, it’s a chance of the lifetime! Don’t be fool by their playfulness, they’re all eager to play some games all along.”

Ai Qing sipped a mouthful of coke. She could see everyone in the room was obviously excited at the suggestion and had no choice but to compromise.

An area on the table was quickly cleared out. The members of the Chinese Regional championship team, right beside a bunch of McDonald’s boxes, started to pick which map to play on.

Ai Qing took out her computer, and her own mouse, keyboard, and headphones.

She quickly glanced over at Wu Bai, who also had his headphones on, across from her. His keyboard was missing some troublesome keys.[4] Truly a professional gamer.

She still remembered that scene from the final game when she lost to him that day.

She was late entering the arena. About 5 meters from her, he placed his feet on the desk and leaning backwards, rocking the chair back and forth. It seemed that this was his way to relieve stress from the competition. With his cap casting a shadow on his bowed head, she could only make out the part of his face below his nose. It was outlined by one gentle and smooth line, without any harshness.

It was that battle that marked Dt’s rise to fame.

Ai Qing looked at his left hand on the keyboard; clean and neat fingers without anything special about them.

To keep the friendly skirmish friendly, everyone agreed to play CS which was not a game being hosted at this year’s championship. After they loaded up the map, everyone started to adjust the volume of their headphones and get warmed up.

Their calm and undisturbed pupils reflected the lights of the computer screens, without any interference.

Outside of the gaming arenas, they were all just students.

But at this resort, on a foreign soil, they were the top video gaming competitors representing China.