SITS CH18

Chapter 18: A New World

In the afternoon, Zhao Rui, who had gone to meet his online date, returned sporting his fried-shrimp head.

Returning with him were large and small bags of local specialties. Faced with everyone’s warm condolences, Zhao Rui displayed the quintessential trait of a dead duck—stubborn to the bone.

“Actually, he’s a pretty nice guy,” the dead duck asserted. “He treated me to meals, bought me stuff, and we even played sweet duo-queues for three days…”

Everyone listened with beaming smiles, until Xu Xiaochong delivered a historic summary of this offline meetup: “Take it easy. Butt pain affects your match performance.”

Zhao Rui hopped mad: “…Shut your trap already.”

Speaking of matches, quite a few teams had reached out to schedule scrims with ACE recently; the schedule for the days following the holiday was packed to the brim. According to the coach, TKR wanted to play again, but was turned down by him.

“Barring any surprises, we’ll have to face them in the playoffs anyway,” the coach said. “Let’s leave each other some privacy.”

Toppling the two great mountains of TKR and UN meant that ACE was practically guaranteed a playoff spot this season. And given TKR’s current form, they had also locked in a playoff berth.

Playoff results were directly tied to slots for the subsequent World Championship, so everyone attached great importance to it.

The coach had already begun early preparations for the playoffs and even the World Championship tournament beyond.

Xu Zhouye had just joined the HCC this year, so reasonably speaking, his pressure should have been immense. But clearly, as things stood, an even more high-pressure task awaited him—clearing Shen Man’s name. No, it couldn’t be called clearing his name; it should be called righting an injustice.

Xu Zhouye made a Weibo post, featuring a photo of himself smiling brightly with Shen Man playing ranked right behind him, captioned: Shen-ge and I have a great relationship, everyone please stop spreading wild rumors.

The comments below:

[fest, if you’ve been kidnapped, change your Weibo name to: ‘Super Happy Today.’]

Xu Zhouye: “?” His Weibo name was literally already “Super Happy Today.”

[Right, look at the glass cup on his desk. Isn’t there a crying stick figure drawn on it? Even though he’s smiling, his heart is crying.]

Xu Zhouye: “??”

[Look everyone, the curtains next to fest are blue. Blue is BLUE, starts with BL, which is the abbreviation for bullying! He’s hinting that Shen Man is bullying him!!]

Xu Zhouye: “???”

You people could score full marks on the college entrance exam reading comprehension section, couldn’t you?

These terrifying comments made cold sweat break out on Xu Zhouye. Not daring to tell Shen Man, he quietly deleted the Weibo post. Yet after deleting it, the netizens grew even more riled up.

[Hard evidence, ironclad proof! Shen Man kicked Xu Zhouye and forced him to delete the Weibo post!]

[Exactly, I am the shoes on Shen Man’s feet, I can testify that it’s true.]

Now things were splendid: Xu Zhouye’s rumor-dispelling attempt had utterly failed, saddling him with more pressure than when a jungle monster slapped him to death in Week 1.

The key issue was that besides netizens, his teammates who watched the whole thing unfold began pouring fuel on the fire. Every day, the first thing Zhao Rui said upon seeing Shen Man was: “Yo, Captain, beat up Xu Zhouye again today?”

With headphones on his head, Shen Man didn’t even turn around: “Yeah, beat him twice.”

Zhao Rui laughed, rocking back and forth like a duck: “Quack quack quack quack.”

Xu Zhouye, having witnessed the whole thing, slipped out alone that evening. When he returned, he was holding a bag of something.

Zhao Rui had the greediest mouth, leaning over to take a look: “What good stuff did you buy?”

Xu Zhouye smiled: “Something delicious.”

Zhao Rui asked, “What is it?” He rummaged through and saw a bag full of sticky bean buns.

Xu Zhouye took one out: “Freshly bought, eat it while it’s hot.”

Zhao Rui said, “Looks pretty tasty…” He picked one up and stuffed it into his mouth…

Zhao Rui: “…”

Xu Zhouye said, “Is it good?”

Zhao Rui: “Mmph, urgh…” He felt his mouth glued shut by a lump stickier than industrial adhesive. He couldn’t spit it out and couldn’t swallow it down, choking until tears welled in his eyes.

Xu Zhouye tilted his head, smiling with lethal brilliance: “Where’s the manager?”

Zhao Rui: “?” Ge, your smile looks terrifying.

That night, every single person in the base tasted the peerless delicacy brought back by Xu Zhouye: the sticky bean buns. The moment a sticky bean bun entered a mouth, the classic scene played out in full, leaving each person misty-eyed.

Especially the manager—pushing forty, he was nearly sent to the afterlife by this sticky bean bun. Only after furiously pounding his chest for a good while did he finally manage to force it down. The instant tears slipped from the corners of his eyes, he finally realized that the ‘sticky bean bun’ spoken of by Xu Zhouye and Shen Man wasn’t an excuse, but the god’s honest truth. He choked out, “You could’ve just told me, you didn’t have to actually buy it back for me to eat…”

Xu Zhouye maintained his well-behaved schoolboy appearance, standing beside him and saying earnestly, “Wasn’t it because I feared you wouldn’t believe it? Practice brings true knowledge.”

The coach: “…” You youngsters are truly terrifying.

Shen Man lacked interest in this whole rumor-dispelling business. In any case, before Xu Zhouye arrived, everyone already knew he had a bad temper. Although he didn’t know how the rumor originated, he had grown completely accustomed to it. Everyone assuming he had a nasty temper meant they treated him with deference after joining the team and didn’t dare provoke him; wasn’t that pretty great?

Xu Zhouye, however, couldn’t accept it. That night, he started a live stream, attempting to continue setting the record straight.

The topic had already been trending hotly over the past few days; the moment he went live, it grew even more boisterous.

Xu Zhouye turned on his webcam and said earnestly, “I ask everyone to stop spreading rumors based on false information. Shen-ge is genuinely a very good person, he has never bullied me. That day…” He had originally wanted to say ‘sticky bean bun,’ but seeing how absurd that sounded, he concocted a different excuse instead: “That day, I ran into something very sad, and Shen-ge was comforting me.”

The comments flew across the screen:

[Comforting you? With that expression, he was one second away from bursting into laughter.]

[Say what you will, slow wearing that expression with that face of his actually looks pretty handsome.]

[Heh, don’t be fooled by his face, he clearly isn’t a good person at first glance.]

[That’s right, he’s a femme fatale villain.]

Xu Zhouye: “…” He desperately wanted to kneel before the chat to make them believe him, but if he knelt right now, the chat would firmly believe Shen Man had kicked his knees out from under him.

Xu Zhouye’s vision darkened again and again, feeling as though his corpse was turning cold.

Just then, a colossal gift animation suddenly popped up in the stream room, followed by a string of text sweeping across the top of the screen:

Streamer ACE.slow sent Super Rocket x10

Xu Zhouye: “…”

Then, slow posted a smiling face emoji in the chat box.

Xu Zhouye felt dizzy watching this, swearing he would never touch a single sticky bean bun with the tip of his finger for the rest of his life.

The rockets gifted by the falsely accused Shen Man instead turned into evidence that he was bribing Xu Zhouye. The drama-loving crowd swarmed forward, cheering merrily:

[Look, look, look! And you claim you weren’t bribed by slow? This is the smoking gun!]

[Hahahahahahaha, why is slow’s smiling emoji so hilarious?]

[fest looks like he’s about to shatter.]

Xu Zhouye signed off at light speed, sitting in his chair with his soul completely detached from his body, not even noticing Shen Man walking up behind him.

“I’m the one being wrongly accused, why are you so sad?” Shen Man’s voice drifted over, carrying a hint of puzzlement.

Xu Zhouye turned around: “But this whole thing started because of me.”

Shen Man said, “Even without this, did I not already have a bad temper?”

Xu Zhouye said, “That’s different.”

Shen Man said, “Don’t care too much about online commentary. Reading too much of it only does you harm.”

The logic was sound, but Xu Zhouye felt somewhat crestfallen, his head drooping like a big dog that had caused trouble. Causing trouble didn’t make him sad; what made him sad was that his master didn’t blame him in the slightest, gently consoling him instead.

Looking at his dejected state, Shen Man sighed helplessly: “I truly don’t care.”

Xu Zhouye said, “I was thinking…”

Shen Man: “Thinking what?”

Xu Zhouye said faintly, “Maybe I should run a giveaway.”

Shen Man: “A giveaway?”

Xu Zhouye said gloomily, “The prize being one box of sticky bean buns per winner.”

Shen Man burst into laughter.

By late June, the final playoff seeding was announced.

After several months of grueling warfare, ACE tied with TKR for the top of the leaderboard with only a single loss.

TKR’s record was also impressive, losing only that one match against ACE.

On the day the playoff spots were locked in, the promotional commercial they had shot earlier also aired.

In the promo, Shen Man sat atop a throne in a custom-tailored suit. His face bore no smile, his expression cold and arrogant. In the darkness behind him stood four dark silhouettes wielding different weapons; stepping slowly forward, they were none other than the four players of ACE.

The shot gradually zoomed in, focusing on Shen Man’s eyes. The background music shifted from languid to intense. When the camera pulled back again, Shen Man was already seated in the driver’s seat of a sports car. In the passenger seat was Xu Zhouye, propping his chin with a bright smile as he gazed out the window. A deafening roar erupted as the engine’s rumble stimulated the eardrums; behind them appeared three racing cars of different colors, escorting Shen Man on either side like wingmen.

Xu Zhouye’s voice sounded in the background, asking, “Captain, can we win?”

Shen Man spoke in that same carelessly indifferent tone: “There is no other choice on this road—only victory.”

Then, bold, sharp characters appeared on screen: Brand XX, Your Sole Choice.

Much thought had clearly gone into this promotional video, capturing Shen Man—the protagonist—with striking visual elegance. It was said the sponsors were exceptionally pleased after reviewing it, feeling as though they had paid one sum to hire both an esports pro and a celebrity icon simultaneously.

Of course, the most satisfied were Shen Man’s fans. Looking at Shen Man, they seemed to completely forget his “crimes” from a few days ago, swarming in with doting kisses.

This allowed Xu Zhouye, who had still been itching to clear his name, to breathe a tentative sigh of relief.

“Don’t dwell on this anymore,” Shen Man truly didn’t care. “I have so many rumors attached to me; adding yours changes nothing, and removing it changes nothing. Some believe them, some don’t.”

Xu Zhouye said, “That’s different.”

Shen Man asked, “How is it different?”

Xu Zhouye said, “I don’t want you getting cursed out by others because of me.”

Shen Man: “…” It was truly the first time anyone had ever said that to him.

According to playoff rules, with ACE’s current standing, they only needed to play two series, one of which would inevitably be against either TKR or UN.

Temperatures hovering near forty degrees Celsius for over a dozen consecutive days pushed summer to its boiling climax.

The air conditioning at the base ran nonstop day and night, parching throats and drying tongues.

Shen Man was relatively fine, but everyone else at the base was going stir-crazy from being cooped up.

Past one in the afternoon, having finished scrims, Zhao Rui rolled up his sleeves, proclaimed he was going to conquer Mother Nature, and stepped out the door in his flip-flops.

Watching his back, Xu Zhouye asked, “Not stopping him?”

Shen Man said, “Zhao Rui has three virtues.”

Xu Zhouye: “Ah?”

Shen Man said, “He doesn’t eat food off the floor, he knows how to use a smartphone, and…”

Before he could finish, the Zhao Rui who had just rushed out came stumbling back drenched in sweat. Shen Man unhurriedly finished his sentence: “…when it rains, he knows to run home.”

Xu Zhouye: “Pfft.“

Zhao Rui wheezed, “Can’t go out, absolutely cannot go out. If I stay out there, I’ll be cooked medium-well.”

The manager said, “What are you heading out for in this scorching heat?”

Zhao Rui acted bashful and fidgety.

The manager eyed him with suspicion: “What’s with that face? Is someone waiting for you out there?”

Zhao Rui said, “No such thing, no such thing.”

The manager remained doubtful, but since Zhao Rui clung stubbornly to denial, he let the matter drop.

The manager turned to Shen Man: “Man-ah, come over here. There’s something I need to talk to you about.”

Shen Man stood up and followed the manager.

The two sat facing each other in the conference room. The manager pulled a cigarette from his pocket and offered it to him.

Shen Man didn’t take it, frowning: “State your business first.”

The manager said eagerly, “It’s like this: didn’t you shoot that promo video earlier? The results were phenomenal…”

Shen Man: “Not taking any more.”

The manager pleaded aggrievedly: “I haven’t even told you what it is yet.”

Shen Man said, “Isn’t this saving you some time?”

The manager said, “Don’t refuse so quickly. We’re still negotiating; the offer from their side is extraordinarily good…”

Shen Man said, “Do I look like someone with anywhere to spend money?”

The manager was left speechless, having nothing to say. Shen Man was currently dressed in a simple T-shirt, jeans, and sneakers—everything on him combined probably didn’t exceed a thousand yuan. He ate and slept at the base, rarely stepped outside, and the coach had never seen him buy any luxury goods. His material desires were absurdly low, his self-discipline terrifyingly strict.

Commercial contracts signed through the club yielded commission cuts, so the club was naturally delighted to broker partnerships between players and brands. But Shen Man was notoriously difficult; getting him to agree was no easy task. Even for the promo video they just filmed, it took the boss personally stepping in for Shen Man to grant that bit of face.

“Don’t want to shoot,” Shen Man said. “Don’t like it.”

Tears welled in the manager’s eyes: “Really not shooting?”

Shen Man shook his head.

“Alright then,” the manager let out a long sigh. “Think it over a bit more…”

There was no need to think at all; Shen Man stood up and walked away.

The promo video had indeed blown up. In just a few short days, Shen Man’s Weibo gained over a hundred thousand followers, though he didn’t see it as a good thing—when he played poorly, that was just an extra hundred thousand people cursing him.

Under the post reposting the promo video, the hot comments were wildly colorful. Shen Man had originally only meant to skim through, but his gaze suddenly halted on a certain picture. After getting a clear look at its contents, his pupils visibly trembled.

In the picture were two people: one sitting in the other’s lap, while the other looked down, gazing at the person in his arms with lingering affection. In pure description, there was nothing wrong with it; the biggest issue was that one of these two people was him, and the other was Xu Zhouye.

Shen Man: “…” This wasn’t the first time he had seen something like this, but this time, he couldn’t suppress his curiosity.

Shen Man closed his eyes, mentally steeling himself for ten whole minutes, and clicked into the comments below the image.

[Wu wu wu, our little couple is so sweet!]

[Food!! There’s food!! I feast!!!]

[I can watch this promo for a hundred years. When they locked eyes, it looked like they had done it ten thousand times in that car]

[Look at fest’s hand resting on slow’s shoulder, that skin tone contrast got me bricked up]

…

Bold, wild, and unrestrained remarks filled his eyes. Shen Man set down his phone and lit a cigarette.