SITS CH34

Chapter 34: Pre-Tournament Preparations

In their first scrim against TKR, both sides were finding their rhythm. Though mistakes were made on both ends, ACE was visibly in far better form. Even carrying an injury on his hand, Shen Man performed with steady precision. Stepping up early, he suppressed TKR’s bot lane throughout the laning phase. In late-game teamfights, his positioning was razor-sharp; despite lacking dash abilities, he cleanly dodged TKR’s two most critical hard-crowd-control ultimates, guaranteeing his own survival while maximizing damage output.

Those basic attacks woven between max-range kiting maneuvers made everyone’s hearts skip a beat, resembling a breathtaking dance on the brink of a cliff.

While they played, the WM players spectated from behind. Witnessing Shen Man’s mechanics in teamfights, they clicked their tongues in awe, turning to their captain: “Does SLOW look like someone with an injured hand?”

wizard said, “He really doesn’t.”

“Aside from him,” wizard added after a beat of silence, “that fest is no walk in the park either.”

fest, Xu Zhouye. Though he only secured three kills this game, he used his tanky frontline build to soak up countless damage abilities for Shen Man. This kid seemed to have completely mastered the art of being his captain’s loyal guard dog, materializing beside the fragile Shen Man anytime and anywhere like a bound wraith, leaving Qin Yixing with a splitting headache and zero counterplay.

In Game 2, after discussing strategy, Xu Zhouye drafted a jungle-carry composition.

The WM onlookers had initially wondered whether Xu Zhouye could shoulder the burden of primary carry, only to find Game 2 was won even more effortlessly than the first. By twenty-five minutes, they breached the high ground and shattered TKR’s Nexus.

TKR pulled back one game in Game 3, but ACE gave them no further room to breathe, carrying their momentum to finish the series 3-1.

The intensity of these scrims wasn’t exceptionally high; in two of the games, TKR collapsed inexplicably during the laning phase. It was hard to tell whether jet lag was clouding their form, but looking at ACE, one could already glimpse the terrifying dominance unique to powerhouse rosters.

After watching the series, wizard couldn’t help marveling: “They’re back.”

Indeed, they were back. He had witnessed the grandeur when ACE stood atop the world back then.

Shen Man was only eighteen that year. The image of him standing upon the grand stage, hoisting the trophy with a calm face, had become eternal.

Because his expression was so composed at the time, people joked that the kid was simply too young to understand the sheer prestige of that trophy; wait a few years until he was older, and he would surely hoist it with tears streaming down his face.

Though it sounded like banter, it voiced the bitter reality of pro players. Whose ultimate dream wasn’t to stand on that stage and hoist that glorious trophy under the eyes of millions?

Yet across countless geniuses over all these years, those who actually set foot on that stage numbered only a few dozen.

Three years had slipped by, yet Shen Man seemed virtually unchanged. That indifferent composure appeared etched into his very bones; whether winning or losing, he remained the same.

His face, however, had grown even more striking. If eighteen-year-old Shen Man still carried a hint of boyish greenness, then the current him had shed most of that youth, refined and exquisite like a portrait stepped out from a scroll.

He wore no styling, yet merely sitting there with a headset on was enough to command everyone’s gaze.

After spectating the scrim, the WM players began diverting a portion of their attention toward the young man named Xu Zhouye beside Shen Man.

Unable to understand Chinese, they could still tell Xu Zhouye held immense weight within the team. His input even seemed to sway Shen Man’s judgment in certain moments. From mechanics alone, the extraordinary synergy between them was plain to see.

Xu Zhouye was only eighteen as well. Vaguely, people caught faint glimpses of Shen Man from years ago in him.

One Shen Man was terrifying enough; wizard couldn’t begin to imagine what heights ACE would reach with another prodigy of that caliber.

Taking down the first scrim 3-1, everyone was in high spirits.

Though they missed normal lunch hours, the WM players warmly escorted them to the cafeteria for an authentic Western meal.

Shen Man stared blankly at the palm-sized steak and round potatoes on his plate. After a moment, he sliced a piece off, chewing it slowly before swallowing.

Dry as cardboard. Shen Man wondered if he was doomed to eat this for the next few days, glancing toward Xu Zhouye.

Xu Zhouye had a plate of pale lasagna dusted with cheese and parsley, looking equally uninspiring.

Xu Zhouye lifted a forkful into his mouth.

Shen Man asked faintly, “Is it good?”

Xu Zhouye hesitated, words catching in his throat.

Shen Man: “…” Fine, you don’t need to speak, I get it.

The others ate without tasting a thing. Traveling abroad for tournaments, acclimating to local food and water was genuinely a major hurdle. Previously, a foreign squad came to China to compete, ate a peach pastry before a match, suffered a severe allergic reaction that left their faces swollen like bee stings, and was eliminated without surprise.

That wasn’t an isolated case; there were also instances of acute gastroenteritis caused by hotpot. Because of this, the coach forbade them from dining out recklessly.

Just as Shen Man was contemplating how to finish this slab of beef, Xu Zhouye suddenly slipped a small packet toward him.

Shen Man looked closely: chili powder.

Shen Man: “Mm…”

Xu Zhouye beamed: “Clever, right?”

Shen Man gave him a firm thumbs-up.

“I want some too, spare me a pack,” Zhao Rui groaned, unable to swallow his food either.

Xu Zhouye fished a packet from his bag: “Go ahead, brought quite a few, should be plenty.”

Everyone happily divvied up the seasoning packets, finally choking down lunch with the aid of the chili.

With no scrims in the evening, they grouped up to play ranked. The European server’s intensity wasn’t overwhelming, and the five of them didn’t drop a single game all night.

By the time they returned to the hotel, it was past eight. Unlike their home city, the streets here were quiet and desolate before eight o’clock, with virtually no pedestrians out and about.

Shen Man sat by the head of the bed scrolling through his phone. Xu Zhouye noticed he was using his left hand.

A pang of worry struck Xu Zhouye as he asked, “Is the hand hurting again?”

“No,” Shen Man said. “It’s scabbed over. Just trying to use it less.”

Only then did Xu Zhouye relax.

To prevent accidental bumps, Shen Man still kept bandages wrapped around his hand.

“Ge, is this your first time coming here?” Xu Zhouye made idle conversation.

“Mm,” Shen Man said. “I don’t like traveling.”

Forget traveling, he despised leaving the house altogether. Being new, Xu Zhouye might not know that in his three years at the base, Shen Man only went home during the Spring Festival when everyone else cleared out, stopping by to sweep his waipo‘s grave along the way.

“What about you?” Shen Man asked.

Hearing Shen Man ask, Xu Zhouye felt quite happy. In the past, it was always him asking and Shen Man answering; this seemed to be the very first time Shen Man showed curiosity toward his personal life.

“My mom loves traveling, frequently dragging me all over the place. Came here when I was eight,” Xu Zhouye said. “She’s pretty scatterbrained, almost lost me here.”

Shen Man said, “Lost you?”

“Tell me about it. We went to watch some ceremony, the crowd was massive, and we got separated,” Xu Zhouye said. “Luckily I was smart and resourceful, otherwise ge would never have met me.”

Shen Man smiled.

“Visited again when I was fifteen,” Xu Zhouye said. “Then flew over to Country H.” As he spoke, his eyes shone brightly while looking at Shen Man.

Shen Man recalled Xu Zhouye was eighteen this year. Three years ago in Country H…

“You were in the audience for the grand finals that year?” Shen Man asked.

“Mhm!!!” Xu Zhouye nodded like a woodpecker, his gaze toward Shen Man brimming with undisguised reverence. “That finals match was incredible, seriously. It was precisely because of that match that I decided to go pro.”

Shen Man smiled, “Then do I count as leading the youth astray?”

Xu Zhouye laughed along with him.

Shen Man had countless fans. He had heard innumerable voices screaming his name at the top of their lungs, yet that surging, tidal adoration always felt foreign to him. It was as if he stood behind a glass shield, unable to feel, touch, or empathize with it.

Excited juniors had approached him wanting to recount how he inspired them, but perhaps his cool demeanor hurt their feelings, and they hurried away as well.

Only Xu Zhouye was different.

Shen Man locked eyes with Xu Zhouye.

Their gazes met, and Xu Zhouye didn’t look away. Smiling softly at Shen Man, he said earnestly, “Ge, of course you didn’t lead me astray. I came here specifically for you.”

For a split second, Shen Man felt almost scalded by the scorching heat in his gaze, surprisingly breaking eye contact first.

Sincerity and love were emotions no human could resist, and both resided within Xu Zhouye’s eyes.

The atmosphere inside the room turned slightly strange.

Shen Man parted his lips, just about to say something to diffuse the tension, when Xu Zhouye burst into hearty laughter: “I was joking, didn’t scare you, did I, ge?”

Naturally not. Shen Man shook his head.

“Gonna shower first,” Xu Zhouye raised a hand.

Shen Man said, “Go ahead.”

Emerging from the bathroom while toweling his hair, Xu Zhouye saw Shen Man applying ointment to his wound.

Though the wound had scabbed over, it remained starkly alarming against Shen Man’s fair skin. Stretching nearly ten centimeters along his forearm near the joint, it looked grotesque like a centipede.

Sitting across from Shen Man, Xu Zhouye’s Adam’s apple bobbed. His throat felt dry, wanting to say something, but he swallowed the words back down. He wanted to ask if it still hurt… but felt the question was utterly redundant.

How could it not hurt? The sight of Shen Man standing in that pool of blood was something he would never forget for the rest of his life.

With his head lowered, Shen Man seemed to know what Xu Zhouye wanted to ask, murmuring, “It’s fine, doesn’t hurt much anymore.”

Xu Zhouye drew in a breath: “Let me help you.”

“No need,” Shen Man declined. “Almost done.”

Reapplying the ointment and rewrapping the bandages with practiced ease, Shen Man said, “Let’s rest.”

Xu Zhouye agreed in a low voice.

Amused by his dejected expression, Shen Man chuckled: “Really, it’s fine, practically healed.”

Xu Zhouye pressed his lips into a line, resembling a defeated big dog with drooping ears.

Shen Man said, “Alright, stop brooding. Sleep.”

Getting into bed and turning off the light, the room fell dead silent. Shen Man opened his eyes, staring at the dark ceiling. Steady breathing sounded from beside him; Xu Zhouye had fallen asleep.

Everything was quiet. Shen Man felt a rare sense of peace.

He actually disliked sharing a room with others. When rooming with Zhao Rui before, he disliked having another presence in the space, drifting between dreams and waking all night long. Yet rooming with Xu Zhouye this time felt surprisingly comfortable.

Closing his eyes, Shen Man sank into a deep slumber.

It rained the next day.

Autumn rain was far gentler than summer downpours, a steady, delicate drizzle whispering against the earth and treetops.

Such weather was truly made for sleeping, yet with matches to prepare for, they were forced out of bed.

Breakfast featured the same uninspired fare. Lacking sleep, Zhao Rui propped his chin while yawning incessantly. Wiping a tear from his eye, he spotted Xu Zhouye and Shen Man approaching from a distance.

Both stood over 180 centimeters tall. Though dressed in standard team tracksuits, the generic clothing failed to dull their looks in the slightest. Walking over unhurriedly with hands in their pockets, they looked like models strutting down a runway.

Everyone was human, so why had Nuwa sculpted them with so much extra care? As Zhao Rui pondered, Shen Man took a seat across from him.

“Morning,” Zhao Rui greeted between yawns.

“Morning,” Shen Man said.

“What are you having? I’ll grab it for you,” Xu Zhouye offered.

“Two slices of bread and a glass of milk,” Shen Man said.

Xu Zhouye nodded and got up.

Stuffing a slice of bread into his mouth, Zhao Rui noticed Shen Man resting his chin on clasped hands, staring intently at him. He blinked, baffled: “Why are you staring at me?”

Shen Man smiled, “Felt like it.”

Zhao Rui: “…” Creepy.

Despite being teammates with Shen Man for nearly three years, Zhao Rui still wasn’t used to holding eye contact with him.

Shen Man was simply too handsome, especially those eyes. Being stared at with such an amused gaze made one squirm uncomfortably.

“What are you doing?” Zhao Rui asked weakly. “Captain, why are you looking at me like that…” Stared at by Shen Man for half a minute, he couldn’t take it anymore, his entire posture stiffening while a fiery blush crept up his neck and ears.

Seeing Zhao Rui turn beet red, Shen Man let out an ambiguous chuckle and looked away.

While Zhao Rui breathed a sigh of relief, he abruptly realized Shen Man was deliberately messing with him. What infuriated him was that after all these years, he still folded instantly, flaring up in shame: “Shen Man, act like a decent human being!”

Shen Man shrugged: “Not messing with you.”

Zhao Rui: “Then what’s that supposed to mean? Fallen for me? Heh, too late, I’m a taken man.”

Shen Man sneered, “Fallen for you? What, couldn’t find a mirror, and your own piss has a matte finish?”

Zhao Rui: “…”

“Just joking,” Shen Man said. “Testing something out.”

Zhao Rui asked what he was testing.

Shen Man said, “Not telling.”

Zhao Rui: “…”

Xu Zhouye returned with breakfast. Shen Man looked toward Xu Zhouye, and Xu Zhouye met his gaze, neither showing any intention of dodging.

“What is it?” Xu Zhouye smiled. “Want anything else to eat?”

Shen Man said nothing.

The two held the standoff for half a minute until Xu Zhouye asked, puzzled, “Is there something on my face?”

“No,” Shen Man said. “Sit.”

Shen Man had noticed it last night: whenever Xu Zhouye looked into his eyes, he practically never looked away first. Unlike everyone else, he seemed to genuinely relish locking eyes with Shen Man. This discovery was novel; Shen Man had realized long ago that whenever he stared at someone, they quickly grew flustered and flushed crimson—just like Zhao Rui moments ago.

Shen Man idly took a bite of bread. Tch, tastes awful.

Why did Xu Zhouye show zero reaction to his stare? Could it be that in his eyes, he wasn’t considered particularly good-looking? No wonder he acted so completely at ease around him on regular days.