SITS CH58

Chapter 58: We’re Doomed

Shen Man didn’t follow up on how things developed afterward, though the stalker who had pestered him for years truly vanished.

According to Xu Zhouye, the creep had no choice but to disappear; that hulking giant was far more professional than a mere stalker. The moment the stalker stepped outside, within five hundred meters, he would spot the giant’s silhouette lurking in a corner behind him.

“I will watch you forever… forever… forever…” Putting words into action, the giant took that vow to the absolute extreme.

The Spring Split had now reached its midpoint. UN was the sudden dark horse of the season, sweeping through the entire HCC roster without dropping a single series and practically locking in their playoff spot.

ACE and TKR followed closely behind. Once inner adjusted to the HCC’s tempo, he quickly patched TKR’s bot-lane weakness, leading them on a winning streak.

Meanwhile on ACE, the brightest star this split wasn’t Shen Man, but Xu Zhouye.

In this game, the Jungler dictated the early-game pace, and Xu Zhouye seemed born for the competitive stage, performing even sharper in official matches than during daily scrims.

Shen Man was already at the pinnacle of the bot lane, yet Xu Zhouye wasn’t overshadowed by his brilliance in the slightest. Across ten matches, the two split the MVP awards fifty-fifty, with one remaining award going to Zhao Rui for a Support game where he landed every single hook.

Ever since showcasing his signature Mad Hound at Worlds, Xu Zhouye’s Mad Hound had remained permanently locked in the ban slot. One team refused to believe the hype, deliberately leaving Mad Hound open while drafting a counter-composition against it.

Stubborn as ever, Xu Zhouye locked it in without hesitation, proceeded to shred their bot lane to ribbons, and closed out the game at twenty-three minutes on the dot.

Casters and livestream viewers alike agreed that Mad Hound in anyone else’s hands versus Xu Zhouye’s hands felt like two completely different Heroes. Most terrifying of all, while Xu Zhouye was undeniably a Mad Hound specialist, his pocket picks extended far beyond just one Hero.

Horn Mountain, The Hanged Man, and even Twin Stars: Xu Zhouye’s Hero pool was bottomless. Just as opponents tried guessing which meta staple he would lock in, he would pull out a Hero nobody had seen him play before.

When asked when he had practiced it, he would merely smile sweetly and say he had practiced it for a month last month, leaving opponents grinding their teeth in frustration.

Innate talent was infuriatingly enviable. ACE’s previous Jungler had worked tirelessly, grinding nearly twelve hours every single day, yet when you couldn’t win matches, even twenty-four hours a day meant nothing. If you didn’t have it, you just didn’t have it.

The Spring Split determined qualification slots for the Masters Cup.

After nearly two months of play, barring major upsets, the qualifying contenders were becoming clear.

This year’s Masters Cup was hosted domestically, sparing everyone a great deal of travel hassle.

Having dated for two months now, the atmosphere between Shen Man and Xu Zhouye had grown sweeter than honey mixed with oil. Even Zhao Rui sensed something was off; glancing between Shen Man and Xu Zhouye, he mentally made excuses for them, telling himself his own mind must be dirty to mistake their pure comrade-in-arms friendship for romance.

Right now, both Xu Zhouye and Shen Man were streaming. Holding a grilled sausage, Xu Zhouye took two bites, muffledly asked Shen Man if he wanted a taste, and casually held it out.

Standing nearby, Zhao Rui watched Shen Man take it effortlessly, nonchalantly placing his own teeth marks right over Xu Zhouye’s.

Zhao Rui: “?”

Liu Shishi asked, “What are you staring at?”

Zhao Rui said, “Would you eat something I already took a bite out of?”

Liu Shishi frowned: “? Are you sick? That’s disgusting.”

Pointing at the two in front of them, Zhao Rui said, “Shen Man just ate the sausage Xu Zhouye took a bite out of…”

Liu Shishi: “…”

Zhao Rui pressed: “Don’t you feel like something is a bit off?”

Liu Shishi said, “I think your rotten shipper eyes are just seeing romance everywhere. Isn’t that pure teammate camaraderie between the Captain and Xu Zhouye?”

No sooner had he finished speaking than Xu Zhouye suddenly leaned right into Shen Man’s personal space, their faces nearly touching, saying, “For starter items on this patch, you still have to go Wind Chant.”

“Wind Chant feels clunky,” Shen Man said. “I prefer Bonecrusher.”

Xu Zhouye asked, “Then can I buy the Dice?” (A starter item that randomly granted gold, potions, or wards at fixed intervals, relying purely on luck.)

Shen Man paused: “…How’s your luck?”

Xu Zhouye: “Pretty decent.”

Shen Man smiled, a distinct trace of indulgence showing in his expression, his voice remarkably gentle: “Buy it then.”

Listening to their exchange, Liu Shishi lectured: “Look, Zhao Rui, don’t blame me for calling you out. Look how normal their conversation is! They’re even discussing item builds offline to maximize synergy. I forbid you from twisting their pure teammate bond.”

Zhao Rui: “?” Could he really be overthinking things?

Leaning over, Zhao Rui chimed in: “Captain, let’s queue flex together! I want to buy the Dice and test my luck too.”

Shen Man gave a hollow, mirthless smile: “Didn’t you buy it in ranked yesterday? Twenty minutes into the game and you didn’t roll a single consumable. Anyone unaware would’ve thought the game bugged out.”

You couldn’t blame Shen Man’s attitude. The item relied entirely on RNG: good luck yielded a three-hundred-gold potion, and even mediocre luck gave a hundred-twenty-gold ward. Unfortunately, Zhao Rui’s luck stank like stepped-in dog crap, rolling five measly gold coins every single time and turning Shen Man’s face pitch black.

Zhao Rui: “…” It wasn’t like he wanted that kind of luck either.

Shen Man asked, “You queuing or not?”

“Coming, coming!” Zhao Rui launched his client.

They had played a bit of flex queue when the boss suddenly popped her head through the doorway, her voice dripping with syrupy sweetness: “Man-er~”

Hearing that tone, Shen Man instantly knew nothing good was coming. Without removing his headset or turning his head, he pretended not to hear her.

“Man-er~~~” Trailing a sing-song wave in her voice, the boss walked right up to Shen Man’s side.

With her standing directly beside him, continuing to ignore her felt inappropriate. Shen Man asked flatly, “What do you want?” Being overly attentive without cause meant either treachery or theft.

The boss cooed, “Well, there’s just this tiny matter… could we maybe discuss it?”

Shen Man: “No.”

The boss shrieked: “I haven’t even said what it is yet!”

Shen Man said, “With you acting this coy and squirmy, what good could possibly come of it?”

Sound logic as that was, the boss protested: “It’s really not anything bad!”

Shen Man cast a sidelong glare at her.

Rubbing her hands together like a scheming fly, the boss explained: “The league officials reached out to me. They want to film a promotional feature.”

Shen Man thought to himself: What’s the big deal about a promo shoot? Don’t they film one every year? Why act so shady about it?

The boss continued: “Here’s the thing. Since we achieved such great results this year, the officials want to strike while the iron is hot and try something fun and creative.”

Shen Man stared silently at the boss without uttering a word until she grew visibly guilty, only then asking softly: “Does this ‘something fun’ involve me?”

Boss: “Hehe.”

Shen Man: “…”

The boss hurried on: “Don’t give me that look, I haven’t finished! They want to film a variety show segment, playing that escape room game you young people love so much. Since we’re the reigning champions, we naturally have to send more members to set an example.”

“What’s fun about that stuff?” Instantly reminded of certain unpleasant memories, Shen Man’s face darkened. “Sounds boring.”

“That’s just what you think,” the boss countered. “Viewers love watching this kind of content.”

Shen Man refused flatly: “Not going.”

Having anticipated his refusal from the start, the boss thickened her skin and pleaded: “Man-er, I know you’re reluctant, but I’ve turned down every single commercial endorsement for you this year. You know how many people I’ve offended doing that… The league officials have been hounding me for ages, and I already turned them down several times before running out of excuses.” Putting on a pitiful expression, she begged, “Take pity on your poor boss, okay?”

Though she was deliberately playing the victim, her words did carry genuine weight. In the pro scene, even superstar players rarely escaped mandatory commercial clauses in their contracts, meaning signings typically bundled heavy sponsorship obligations together. The primary reason Shen Man remained steadfastly at ACE was that the boss had stripped commercial obligations out of his contract.

Furthermore, she actively fended off sponsors on his behalf so Shen Man could focus purely on competing.

She never forced ads onto him, leaving everything to his own whim; and since Shen Man had no shortage of money, he barely accepted a handful of endorsements all year.

Recognizing the truth in her words, Shen Man let out a sigh and softened: “Just me alone?”

Boss: “Of course it won’t just be you!”

Shen Man asked, “How are the participants chosen?”

The boss said, “They’re going to run a fan vote… does that mean you agree?”

Shen Man said, “Fine, I’ll go. Doing you a favor, just this once.”

Never expecting Shen Man to yield so easily after just a few sentences, the boss was overjoyed: “For real? You agreed that fast? Are you in a good mood today?”

It was Friday, so Shen Man genuinely was in a good mood. He muttered, “You talk too much.”

The boss beamed: “Then I’m heading out! It’s settled, I’ll go confirm with them right now and we’ll sign the contract on Monday.” Terrified Shen Man might back out, the boss spun around and bolted, only to poke her head back through the doorway, staring closely at Shen Man’s side profile before blurting: “Shen Man, did you secretly get cosmetic work done lately? How did you get even better-looking?”

Shen Man: “?”

“Boss, I think so too!” Carrying a burger as he walked past, Zhao Rui mumbled indistinctly with a mouthful of food before swallowing: “He really did get even better-looking.”

Shen Man had changed. Starting at some imperceptible moment, that icy aura isolating him from the world had faded considerably; faintly, almost hesitantly, he seemed willing to extend feelers and form connections with the people and things around him.

If his past self had resembled a hazy, distant painting hung high out of reach, that painting had now been brought closer, allowing observers to clearly appreciate its finer, warmer details.

Treating both of their remarks like hot air, Shen Man slipped his headset back on and ignored them.

Likely afraid Shen Man would change his mind, the variety show arrangements moved with lightning speed. The league launched the public poll on Monday; while other players were still waiting on voting results, officials had already arrived at ACE with a contract for Shen Man, clearly eager to lock him down before complications arose.

In truth, most pro gamers didn’t enjoy Shen Man’s good fortune; ending up under a nasty club owner made life miserable.

Not long ago, news had broken of a promising rookie who got contract-jailed the moment he showed results, paid bare minimum wage and benched to the academy roster when he refused to comply.

Left helpless, the player had no choice but to cave.

Such incidents were commonplace, and the boss’s management style remained a major reason Shen Man loved ACE.

She wasn’t a textbook businesswoman; founding ACE purely out of personal interest, watching the squad actually win Worlds had been a delightful surprise.

With the contract signed, the matter was settled.

Though final poll results hadn’t officially closed, the top rankings had already taken clear shape.

Unsurprisingly, Shen Man led the pack by an astronomical margin, sitting undisputedly at first place. What surprised many, however, was rookie Xu Zhouye surpassing veteran superstar Qin Yixing to claim second place.

Xu Zhouye’s stage dominance had won over droves of fans, even earning him the nickname “Smiling Tiger” for maintaining a bright, sunny grin even while diving in on Mad Hound to melt enemy health bars in milliseconds.

Third was Qin Yixing, fourth was UN’s Support OI, while fifth and sixth were locked in a tight race between this split’s standout Marksmen, inner and Luo Zhile. Seventh sat Zhao Rui, trailing slightly in votes yet still within striking distance.

Barring unexpected upsets, the final lineup would emerge from these seven players.

“Have you guys ever watched this variety show?” Liu Shishi asked.

“I have, I have!” Acting like a walking encyclopedia, Zhao Rui knew a little about everything. “Its ratings are actually pretty high…”

Shen Man asked, “What themes do they usually run?”

Scratching his head, Zhao Rui said, “All sorts, though viewers especially love horror-themed episodes…”

Shen Man: “Scary?”

Zhao Rui pondered for a second: “Not nearly as scary as that escape room we went to last time.”

Shen Man remarked: “Honestly, if you hadn’t been there last time, it wouldn’t have been scary at all.” That escape room really owed Zhao Rui a paycheck for single-handedly providing all the atmospheric terror.

Zhao Rui: “…”

Mumbling under his breath, Xu Zhouye walked over: “Ge, hurry and take a look for me, something got into my eye.” Without waiting for Shen Man to reply, he leaned his face straight in front of Shen Man.

Shen Man showed zero resistance to the intrusion, whereas Zhao Rui nearly jumped out of his skin. Having played alongside Shen Man for three years, he knew intimately how much Shen Man loathed physical contact; getting too close immediately triggered frosty rejection on his face, and while he rarely voiced complaints, his body language instantly made his distaste clear.

On this front, Shen Man had never compromised his comfort for anyone.

If sharing food Xu Zhouye had already bitten into could still be brushed off as comrade camaraderie, cupping Xu Zhouye’s chin to gently blow an eyelash out of his eye was crossing well past any normal boundary.

Yet both wore completely natural expressions, making Zhao Rui look like the one making a fuss over nothing.

Xu Zhouye’s eyes were slightly red, blinking rapidly from the irritation. Shen Man blew gently a few times before asking how it felt.

“All better,” Xu Zhouye said, rubbing vigorously at his eye.

“Stop rubbing it,” Shen Man scolded softly. “It’s bad for your eyes.”

“Okay,” Xu Zhouye obeyed docilely.

The moment Xu Zhouye straightened up, Zhao Rui abruptly shoved his own face forward.

Shen Man shoved him back with one hand: “What are you leaning in so close for?”

Zhao Rui whined in a falsetto: “Ge~ something got into my eye too, blow it out for me too~”

Successfully disgusted, Shen Man wore a look of pure revulsion: “Stop being gross.”

Zhao Rui pressed on: “Then what am I supposed to do when something gets in my eye?”

Shen Man deadpanned: “Pop your eyeball out and rinse it under the tap.”

Zhao Rui protested: “Wait, why?! I’ve been with you for three years, and he’s been with you less than a year! When something gets in his eye, you gently blow it out, and when something gets in mine, I have to gouge it out and wash it?!”

Shen Man thought to himself: Because he’s my boyfriend, and what are you to me? Aloud, he replied calmly: “No worries, going blind doesn’t matter anyway. Esports doesn’t require eyesight.”

Zhao Rui: “…You truly have a heart of stone.”

Shen Man: “Get your face further away.”

Internally, Zhao Rui sounded every alarm bell: Something’s wrong. Wrong, wrong, wrong! No matter how you sliced it, Shen Man’s treatment of Xu Zhouye had gone way overboard, even giving off an eerie sense of familiarity that reminded him of the exact romantic atmosphere between himself and Meng Qizhi.

Are Shen Man and Xu Zhouye actually dating?! Shuddering violently at his own realization, Zhao Rui darted his eyes back and forth between the two. Until this very moment, he had been utterly incapable of picturing Shen Man dating anyone, yet if the partner happened to be Xu Zhouye… somehow, it actually felt… remarkably fitting?

Zhao Rui mentally screamed: Crap, we’re totally doomed!!