SITS Ch15

Chapter 15: The Origin of Rumors

After thoroughly pummeling the enemy’s talkative mid laner, Xu Zhouye felt vastly better inside, so much so that the smile on his face turned several degrees gentler. When the coach assigned him a hero he rarely played for Game 4, he didn’t protest either.

“I’m not great at this, might lose,” Xu Zhouye remarked during the BP phase after the coach assigned a hero he wasn’t particularly practiced on.

“If we lose, we lose,” Shen Man said. “It’s just a scrim.”

True enough. Shen Man’s mental fortitude was notoriously renowned across the entire HCC—unshaken even if Mount Tai were to collapse before him.

Playing an unfamiliar hero made it difficult to gain any advantage against TKR, especially when facing Qin Yixing at the peak of his form; they lost without any surprise.

Still, their stats weren’t horrific, because TKR’s Yang Shanhe had clearly been battered into a daze by Xu Zhouye in the previous match. His soul was wandering elsewhere, leaving several openings.

Unfortunately, ACE failed to capitalize on them as well.

Once this game reached the tier of apex play, what teams truly competed on was the shortest plank in the wooden barrel.

The scrim concluded with a score of 1-3.

By all rights, the victorious TKR ought to have been all smiles, yet the players and coach wore scarcely any joy, looking rather solemn instead.

“Xu Zhouye is formidable,” TKR’s coach offered high praise for ACE’s roster during post-scrim review. “ACE dug up a true treasure.”

They were all top-tier players; an opponent’s true caliber became evident after just a few games. Throughout these scrim matches, Xu Zhouye had visibly piloted heroes outside his comfort zone in several games, yet even so, he had hardly fallen at a disadvantage.

“The weather in the HCC is about to change,” the Marksman sighed in awe.

In contrast to TKR’s grave atmosphere, ACE’s vibe was remarkably relaxed.

It gave off the distinct feeling that although they had lost the match, their spirits were still riding high.

The coach held an hour-long meeting, concluding the VOD review and mentioning he would find separate times to speak with each player privately regarding their respective issues.

Sitting beside Shen Man, Zhao Rui muttered in the lowest possible murmur, “I think Xu Zhouye’s biggest issue is that his salary is too low.” Given this wage-to-performance ratio, he genuinely feared other clubs would start plotting buyouts before the season even wrapped up.

Shen Man calmly analyzed the situation: “It’s fine. If we achieve great results this season and he leaves after winning a championship, his salary will be even higher.”

Zhao Rui flashed a thumbs-up, giving full props to his captain’s level-headedness: “Makes sense.”

Both of them simultaneously glanced toward Xu Zhouye, who was merrily munching on an ear of corn, thinking to themselves that they absolutely couldn’t slack off in the upcoming matches; otherwise, what if Xu Zhouye ran away?

Noticing their stares, Xu Zhouye mumbled indistinctly around his food, “Captain, what’s wrong? Do you want some?”

With an unprecedented gentleness in his tone, Shen Man consoled his little teammate: “Nothing. Just looking at you. Keep eating.”

Xu Zhouye: “Hehe.”

Zhao Rui thought to himself: How does such a happily grinning dummy pilot heros like Mad Hound and Twin Stars so terrifyingly well…?

Come to think of it, this corn had been mailed by Xu Zhouye’s family. He had candidly stated his family grew corn for a living, which made Zhao Rui’s heart ache with sympathy, instantly conjuring a tragic mental picture of a rural migrant worker lured and cheated into ACE at rock-bottom wages by their wicked, penny-pinching manager.

“Honestly, on this matter, it’s hard for me to take the manager’s side,” Zhao Rui muttered near the lounge while Xu Zhouye went to the restroom. “His family is even mailing him corn from home; it can’t be easy. Such a poor kid, how could the manager…”

Before he could finish, Liu Shishi cut him off softly.

Liu Shishi said, “Hold on a second.”

Zhao Rui: “Hm?”

Liu Shishi asked, “Did you see the shoes on his feet?”

Zhao Rui said, “Yeah.”

Liu Shishi said, “Brand X’s hottest model. Reselling for six figures right now.”

Zhao Rui: “…”

Liu Shishi patted his shoulder: “And barring any accidents, his salary will be higher than yours next season. Zoop-ah, instead of worrying about his family growing corn, you’d better worry about your own retirement fund.”

Zhao Rui wept bitter tears on the spot from Liu Shishi’s words. After attempting to grab Shen Man’s arm and getting ruthlessly shaken off, he sobbed even more heart-wrenchingly: “Captain! I am your most loyal Support, you can’t abandon me! I’m only twenty-one, I can still play for a few more years…”

Shen Man said, “Twenty-one. Not many years left until retirement.”

Zhao Rui: “Wu wu wu wu, no way, anything but that!”

Even though the two were joking, esports was fundamentally a brutal industry. Across the entire HCC, players over twenty-five were already considered aging veterans. Slower reflexes with age was an indisputable fact.

Shen Man was older than Zhao Rui, born on February 18, catching the very tail end of Aquarius.

Time flew so fast; over three years had passed since he joined ACE.

Shen Man felt the urge to smoke again. Just as his hand reached into his pocket, his eyes locked onto Xu Zhouye, who had just returned from the restroom.

“Captain,” Xu Zhouye called out.

Shen Man silently withdrew his hand from his pocket, half-raising it to indicate Xu Zhouye had misunderstood him.

Xu Zhouye smiled, “I knew Captain wouldn’t lie to me.”

Shen Man: “Haha.”

Zhao Rui watched the interaction between the two suspiciously, wondering when on earth they had become so tacitly coordinated. And Xu Zhouye, you’re jungling just fine, you wouldn’t suddenly come gunning for a poor Support’s job, right?

Zhao Rui’s anxiety was not entirely unfounded.

Because the very next evening, Shen Man and Xu Zhouye went on a lovey-dovey duo queue again.

In the brief time Zhao Rui stepped out to grab food, he returned to find Shen Man streaming. Sidling over, he saw Shen Man duo-queueing with “Little Sweet Soft Candy.”

The ID “Little Sweet Soft Candy” was very familiar; Zhao Rui instantly recalled that it was Xu Zhouye’s smurf. But looking around the room, Xu Zhouye was nowhere to be seen.

At that moment, “Little Sweet Soft Candy” was piloting Phantom, lazily attached to Shen Man’s character, utterly carefree—yet Shen Man didn’t scold him in the slightest.

Zhao Rui’s eyes nearly popped out of their sockets: “Wait, he isn’t even detaching to help you prep minion last hits, and you aren’t saying anything?!”

Hearing his voice, Shen Man turned his head: “What does our duo queue have to do with you?”

Zhao Rui: “…”

Shen Man explained faintly, “He’s eating.”

Zhao Rui went into a daze, his voice trembling: “Then why do I feel so much pressure when duo-queueing with you?!”

Shen Man shot him a glance, expressionless: “Duo-queueing with you is work.”

Zhao Rui: “…” So fucking duo-queueing with Xu Zhouye is life, is that it?!

Shen Man muted his mic and added an even more brutal truth: “You won’t jump ship. He will.”

Zhao Rui: “…” Fuck, he was thoroughly shaken by Shen Man’s pragmatism.

Still, ever since learning how little Xu Zhouye made, everyone’s attitude toward him had softened considerably. As the saying went, you only endure grievances proportional to your pay; judging by Xu Zhouye’s current situation, he couldn’t be made to take a single ounce of grief at ACE.

The true culprit was that penny-pinching manager…

Having fallen short of his stream hours last month, Shen Man had to make up extra time this month.

Regarding his behavior of immediately hopping into a duo queue with a “soft girl” the moment he logged on, the chat voiced severe condemnation:

[Someone tell me whose smurf Little Sweet Soft Candy actually is]

[With that sweet tone, it’s definitely a girl]

[And a soft girl at that! Is SW dating???]

[From a technical standpoint, he probably isn’t. Besides, with his prickly temper, is there really any girl who could stand him?]

[Whether a girl could take it I don’t know, but looking at that face of his, I feel like even I could endure it]

[Can you gay dudes tone down the scent a bit]

Xu Zhouye had headed out in the afternoon, mentioning he had errands to run, and hadn’t returned by evening. Yet when Shen Man was getting ready to queue, he spotted Xu Zhouye’s smurf account, Little Sweet Soft Candy, online.

As if possessed by spirits, the two ended up duo-queuing.

Since they were playing in a low rank, Shen Man felt zero pressure. Halfway through the match, Xu Zhouye said, Gege, I want to eat something, attaching an adorable kaomoji. Shen Man thoughtfully typed back, telling him to take his time.

Though he said “eating,” it was really just freeing a hand to bite into a flatbread; Xu Zhouye ate fast and finished in two bites, making it a mystery why he insisted on typing it out in the first place.

Xu Zhouye: [Thank you, Gege! Gege is so gentle and considerate, I love Gege the most o(^▽^)o]

Sharing Zhao Rui’s sheer shock was the stream chat:

[Am I hallucinating? Why is he pampering this Support like a prized treasure in the palm of his hand?]

[Investigate, investigate thoroughly! SW has massive issues!]

[SW, tell us, who on earth is this?]

[Definitely his girlfriend, the evidence is ironclad!]

[SW has a girlfriend, my world is crumbling!]

Shen Man said, “Not a girlfriend.”

[Not a girlfriend, so a wife?]

[A fiancée!]

[A soulmate!]

Shen Man said, “It’s a guy.”

After a barrage of ellipses spammed the screen, everyone’s thoughts quickly spiraled out of control:

[So it’s a boyfriend! Scared the hell out of me… wait, hold on, a BOYFRIEND??]

[Case closed: zoop retweeting adult videos was forced by SW!]

[Spread the word: SW likes men!]

[Spread the word: All ACE players have been casting-couched by Shen Man!]

[What? ACE’s company benefits are this good? That sounds so tempting.]

Shen Man was frequently baffled by the mental stability of his chat. Within a few short minutes, Shen Man witnessed the birth of a rumor with his own eyes, the subsequent comments straying far beyond the boundaries of human comprehension.

Shen Man: “…” Forget it, can’t be bothered.

As a result, late into the night, the topic “SLOW is in a relationship” inexplicably climbed onto the trending searches.

Shen Man hadn’t even noticed until the manager, appearing out of nowhere like a phantom, informed him.

“Shen Man, when did you start dating?” Looking like an abandoned first wife, the manager drifted over full of spectral grievance.

Shen Man said, “When did I ever start dating?”

The manager said, “Look at Weibo trending.”

Shen Man opened Weibo: “…”

The manager wore a face of ironclad certainty: “Look at that!”

Shen Man said, “That is Xu Zhouye!”

The manager turned even more horrified: “You’re dating Xu Zhouye???!”

Shen Man drew in a deep breath and closed his eyes. A major reason he disliked talking was because he found interpersonal communication far too exhausting; he felt the words spoken tonight were more draining than playing a full BO5 series.

Tears welled in the manager’s eyes: “He’s only eighteen, he’s only been at the base for a month… and he was so cheap…”

Shen Man: “…” The emphasis was on that last sentence, wasn’t it?

Grinding his molars, Shen Man squeezed out: “Read the Weibo posts again carefully. Don’t force me to curse you out.”

Manager: “…Oh.”

Having read the Weibo posts thoroughly, the manager finally relaxed: “Thank goodness, as long as you aren’t dating Xu Zhouye.”

Shen Man: “?”

The manager said, “I understand the romantic stirrings of hot-blooded youngsters like you, but as you know, Xu Zhouye’s buyout fee is very cheap… what if you two have a conflict and he storms off in anger…”

Shen Man’s head buzzed with static, feeling the headache that had just healed threatening to relapse.

Catching his expression, the manager gave an awkward laugh: “Just a joke, isn’t it?”

Shen Man tugged at the corner of his lips: “Hilarious, really.”

Sensing danger, the manager beat a hasty retreat, leaving Shen Man alone with the topic still climbing the trending charts.

Shen Man thought to himself that every stream truly shaved ten years off his lifespan; he genuinely couldn’t clock in for this job for a single day longer.