SITS Ch12

Chapter 12: Insidious Twin Stars

During the intermission, the coach lavished praise on Xu Zhouye’s Twin Stars, claiming he had never witnessed such gloomy, damp mechanics on the tournament stage. In that moment, it felt as though Xu Zhouye had merged into one with the Twin Stars’ lore character itself—the one who crawled outside people’s windows every day to voyeuristically peek inside, plotting to steal their lives.

Xu Zhouye remarked, “Coach, are you praising me or cursing me?”

The coach laughed, “Haha, of course I’m praising you! Xiao Xu, you know I speak rather bluntly. If I offended you before in any way, please don’t take it to heart, haha.”

Xu Zhouye: “…”

Zhao Rui chimed in: “Me too, me too! I didn’t mean anything by it either.”

Seeing Shen Man sitting beside him also wearing a look as if hesitating to speak, Xu Zhouye finally couldn’t help complaining aggrievedly, “What do you all mean? Even if I play a mean Twin Stars, aren’t I usually plenty sunny?”

The coach said, “Yes, absolutely! From now on, if anyone dares utter a bad word about Xiao Xu, I won’t stand for it!”

Xu Zhouye: “…”

“No more jokes. Your Twin Stars will probably draw a ban next game. UN is clearly reeling from the shock, so let’s strike while the iron is hot,” the coach said. “Take them down!”

Everyone nodded in agreement.

In Game 2, things turned out just as the coach had predicted.

UN was clearly thrown off balance by Xu Zhouye’s Twin Stars, making blunders right in the Ban/Pick phase by shockingly leaving both meta-dominant Support and Marksman completely unbanned.

Shen Man and Zhao Rui locked them in without hesitation.

Seeing the heroes they selected, Caster 1 sighed repeatedly: “What’s going on with UN? Are they still rattled by the previous game? To let both power picks through—this game is going to be rough.”

Caster 2 nodded in agreement: “They probably feared fest’s hot hands locking in Twin Stars again, so they spent a ban on Twin Stars… but doing that visibly compromises their entire draft.”

Caster 1 said, “This draft looks very grim.”

Caster 2: “Mhm…”

The pre-match win-rate prediction for ACE surged straight to 70%—an AI projection based on team compositions, showing just how deeply Xu Zhouye’s Twin Stars in Game 1 had affected UN.

In showdowns between apex players, the draft alone could sometimes determine the victor.

Shen Man and Zhao Rui’s bot lane duo was practically unstoppable in the HCC this season. The moment the two locked in meta-dominant picks, the outcome of this match was already set in stone.

At twenty-five minutes, the final sliver of health on the blue side Nexus representing UN was chipped away by a single basic attack. Amidst the audience’s roof-raising cheers, Shen Man took off his headset.

A godlike score of 9-1-3 drew the camera squarely onto his breathtakingly handsome face. His head tilted slightly; having been sick for half a month, his face had slimmed down another round, bearing almost no excess flesh on his cheeks. Yet this only made the lines of his profile sleek and refined, stunning as a painting under the dim arena lights.

The moment this face appeared on the giant screens, the atmosphere erupted to a fever pitch. Below the stage, the dense sea of fans roared in impassioned cheers: “SLOW! SLOW!!!” Fans chanted his name, holding their light boards and cheering banners high into the air, all to express their adoration for him.

“Captain’s popularity is truly insane,” Liu Shishi marveled. Even though he had witnessed it countless times, he still couldn’t help sighing in awe every single time.

“It’s pretty tame now compared to when he won his first championship,” Zhao Rui said. “I remember a few extreme fans back then who staked out the base gates every day, terrifying Shen Man so much he didn’t dare step outside.”

Liu Shishi asked, “Then why aren’t there as many people now?”

Zhao Rui replied, “Isn’t that thanks to our team’s horrific match results saving Captain’s life?”

Liu Shishi: “…”

Shen Man said faintly, “Then I really have you to thank.”

Throughout the entirety of last year across two splits, they only made it to the Masters Cup once. During matches, they took vicious beatings from opponents, and after matches, they took venomous tongue-lashings from fans; they didn’t even dare open social media apps. Zhao Rui wasn’t nearly as famous as Shen Man, yet the pressure almost made him burst; he had no idea how Shen Man endured it. Ever since joining ACE, however, he had never seen Shen Man lose his composure—even when plummeting overnight from the pinnacle to rock bottom, he remained breezily calm.

Shen Man was ACE’s anchor.

Returning to the base that night, ACE’s win streak had already climbed the Weibo trending searches.

Clicking in, the first thing Xu Zhouye saw was Shen Man’s gorgeous face: wearing a headset with focused eyes, looking less like an esports player and more like a still of a celebrity starring in an esports drama.

Xu Zhouye saved the photo casually. Scrolling down, he didn’t expect to see his own face, with fan comments underneath the picture.

[In the first week, I thought Xu Zhouye would still be drooling even if cured; who knew he’d drool while knocking UN flat on their backs.]

Xu Zhouye: “…”

Beside him, Zhao Rui was browsing Weibo too, catching Xu Zhouye’s frozen expression from the corner of his eye: “Look at it less, it’s bad for your mammary glands.”

Xu Zhouye: “…I’m a guy, where would I get mammary glands from?”

Zhao Rui laughed: “Haha, you wouldn’t know, would you? Men really have them. Last year, the manager—”

“Zhao Rui, why do you talk so damn much?!” The manager poked his head over from the front, barking.

Zhao Rui: “Fine, I’ll shut up.”

Xu Zhouye thought to himself that this manager truly lived an ill-fated life, escaping neither hemorrhoids nor breast issues. He opened the comments of that post:

[UN didn’t even react in time before Twin Stars stole their lives away]

The second comment was nicer, seemingly from a fan:

[I love the way fest wears that dazzling smile while chasing people down to slit their throats]

The third comment:

[Oh no, I’m shipping them so hard]

Shipped them? What does that mean? Just as Xu Zhouye wanted to take a closer look, the bus arrived at the base, and the driver called for them to get off.

“What are you looking at? Let’s go,” Shen Man stood up.

“Oh, coming,” Xu Zhouye slipped his phone into his pocket.

Winning this match against UN meant they had immense hopes for playoffs.

Beating two powerhouse teams was the best result ACE had achieved since Qin Yixing’s departure, so everyone was in high spirits.

The manager was the same, generously announcing he’d treat everyone to late-night supper.

“Man-ah, what do you want to eat?” the manager asked Shen Man, who had his head down peeling a tangerine.

“Want spicy,” Shen Man said. “My mouth has no taste.” Popping a segment of tangerine into his mouth, he casually handed the rest to Xu Zhouye.

Taking it over, Xu Zhouye ate a segment too.

“Chili is out of the question,” the manager said. “Your cough just healed. What if it relapses?”

Shen Man said, “Then just order whatever you want to eat, don’t mind me.”

Manager: “Why is this kid so stubborn?”

Zhao Rui sidled over: “Are the tangerines sour? Give me some too.”

“Not sour,” Xu Zhouye seemed rather reluctant to share. “There’s not much left, just peel a fresh one yourself.”

“Aiya, I’m too lazy to peel, just want a taste.” Zhao Rui was lazy to the bone. “Xiongdi, don’t be so stingy.”

Xu Zhouye handed it over: “Fine, have some.”

Zhao Rui thought to himself: Hah, winning a match really does put him in a good mood; he’s even willing to share snacks. Not standing on ceremony and fearing Xu Zhouye might change his mind, he reached out, snatched the entire remainder, and stuffed it all into his mouth in one go.

The next moment, a blood-curdling screech echoed through the base.

“Aaaagh!!!” Tears streamed down Zhao Rui’s face as his entire face scrunched up like a prune, drool flowing uncontrollably. “SO SOUR—!”

Xu Zhouye smiled, “I thought it was fine.”

Tears cascaded down Zhao Rui’s cheeks. This tangerine was even more sour than the last one; the instant it touched his mouth, his body had shuddered uncontrollably. Turning his head with tears in his eyes, he glared venomously at the smiling Xu Zhouye and the deadpan Shen Man: “You two dog men—”

Shen Man: “Lord Zhao, speak with caution.”

Xu Zhouye explained with a grin: “Do you understand? Let me translate for you: it means Zhao Rui, watch your mouth.”

The manager burst into uproarious laughter.

Zhao Rui sobbed, “I knew it, there’s a reason Xu Zhouye plays Mad Hound so well—” With a tangerine this sour, neither of them had twitched an eyebrow after putting it in their mouths! And to ensure he took the bait, they even put on an act, tricking him into swallowing the whole thing at once. Having learned the hard way last time, he had actually trusted these two wicked creatures again! He was permanently blacklisting any tangerine offered by these two from now on!

Xu Zhouye said, “Wasn’t it because we couldn’t finish it and didn’t want it to go to waste?”

Zhao Rui: “Aaaaargh, you’re infuriating me to death!”

The manager stepped in: “Alright, alright, hurry up and order supper, I’m starving to death.”

When eating supper, Shen Man still couldn’t get his beloved chili. Facing his expressionless demeanor the entire time, the manager finally crumbled and conceded: “My ancestor, I’ll fetch some chili powder from the kitchen for you to dip in, okay? Just stop with that long face.”

Shen Man asked, puzzled: “How am I making a long face? Isn’t this how I usually look?”

Indeed, Shen Man rarely wore many expressions normally. But he was completely oblivious to the fact that the atmospheric pressure around him when in a good mood versus a bad mood were two entirely different worlds. When in a bad mood, merely sitting there would cause everyone to drop their voices, fearing they might bother him.

This preferential treatment was never requested; it was wholly involuntary.

While Shen Man was talking to the coach, Xu Zhouye had already fetched the chili powder from the kitchen and returned.

“We’re just having a taste, don’t eat too much,” Xu Zhouye placed it before Shen Man, coaxing gently. “If you cough again after eating, you’ll have to take medicine again. There are so many pills, taking too much isn’t good for you either…”

Zhao Rui mumbled under his breath, “Why is that speaking tone so disgustingly gentle?”

Xu Zhouye smiled, “Was I not gentle when I fed you that tangerine earlier?”

Zhao Rui: “…” Fair point, but why does your smile look a bit terrifying, xiongdi?

Shen Man had abstained from his cravings for almost half a month because of that wretched cough. Finally getting a taste of spice, his mood improved considerably.

“By the way, TKR reached out to scrim against us,” the coach sitting nearby suddenly remarked.

“Huh? They reached out to us?” Zhao Rui asked in surprise. “For real?”

“Of course it’s real,” the coach said.

“When was this?” As Zhao Rui spoke, he glanced at Shen Man, who was slowly chewing his food beside him. “They actually want to scrim with us?”

The coach looked toward Shen Man as well.

Swallowing the beef in his mouth, Shen Man lifted his cola and took a sip: “Why are you all looking at me?”

The coach said, “Aren’t we afraid you might have reservations about them?”

Shen Man said, puzzled, “Are you the coach or am I the coach? If you want me to coach, that costs extra.”

The coach had originally worried that lingering bad blood with TKR might cause friction or misunderstandings with Shen Man. Hearing this, he flared up in determination: “Then we play! Arrange it right away! A BO5 isn’t enough, we’re playing a BO7!”

Shen Man’s eyes didn’t even flicker, quietly picking up another piece of beef, dipping it heavily in chili powder, and popping it into his mouth.

The coach suddenly realized this guy was simply seizing the opportunity to scarf down chili, probably not paying heed to a single word they said, instantly deflating: “…Eat less of that, it’s so spicy.”

The coach was from out of town, where his hometown barely touched chili peppers, leaving him with nothing but sheer awe for Shen Man’s spice tolerance. Even now, he vividly remembered going out for noodles with Shen Man back in the day: he had cautiously added a single drop of chili oil to his bowl, only to hear Shen Man across the table remark in an icy tone: “With that little, you might as well drip it directly into my eye.”

Coach: “…” Child, why must you be so ruthless to yourself?

Shen Man didn’t think it was spicy, so he kept quiet.

“So… we really playing?” the coach asked.

Shen Man grew annoyed: “You’re the coach. You call the shots.”

Coach: “Alrighty then!”