SITS CH65

Chapter 65: Viewing Experience

More than half of the Spring Split had passed, and the top three spots in the standings remained unchanged.

First place was still the sudden dark horse UN, second was ACE, and third was TKR. These three teams were virtually guaranteed playoff berths, while the fourth-place spot remained fiercely contested among several hopefuls.

ACE was already in a position to begin preparing for the Masters Cup.

Everyone was in great spirits.

Xu Zhouye was in a wonderful mood too, living in pure bliss with Shen Man. People always said love and a cough were impossible to hide, yet perhaps due to Shen Man’s intimidating reputation, even with the two practically glued to each other, nobody suspected their relationship, assuming they simply shared an ordinary close friendship.

Still, walk down dark roads often enough and you are bound to run into a ghost. One evening, after heading out for late-night snacks, the two were strolling back toward the base with fingers linked when they happened to cross paths with Zhao Rui riding back in Meng Qizhi’s car. Sitting in the passenger seat and spotting the pair holding hands, Zhao Rui genuinely thought he was hallucinating.

Zhao Rui rubbed his eyes furiously, yet when he finished rubbing, the hallucination hadn’t vanished.

Unable to watch any longer, Meng Qizhi spoke up: “I see it too.”

Zhao Rui stammered: “Wait, is there any chance they’re just purely good friends?”

Meng Qizhi: “Zero chance.”

Zhao Rui: “Would you ever hold hands with one of your bros?”

Meng Qizhi: “?” Gently patting Zhao Rui’s head, he asked even more softly, “Babe, would you like me to slap the water out of your brain?”

Zhao Rui: “…”

Meng Qizhi added: “They’re together. Why are you reacting so dramatically?”

Reasonable as that was, even though everyone constantly joked about Shen Man and Xu Zhouye, actually seeing them together still felt like watching a lion suddenly fall in love with a tiger.

Instantly, Zhao Rui remembered the bet he had made with Xu Zhouye. Surely not… Xu Zhouye wouldn’t have pursued Shen Man just over a bet, would he? The more Zhao Rui thought about it, the more horrified he grew, countless cheesy high-school romance plots flashing through his mind: Male Lead A pursues the heroine over a bet, they get together, she finds out, and they break up in heartbreak. He refused to play the role of the scheming sidekick egging on the male lead!

Watching the kaleidoscope of panic flicker across Zhao Rui’s face, Meng Qizhi knitted his brows: “What are you thinking about?”

Unbuckling his seatbelt, Zhao Rui blurted: “I’m heading in first, you go on back.” With that, he bolted straight out of the car.

Holding hands, the two walked right up in front of him just as he stepped onto the pavement.

Spotting Zhao Rui, neither showed any intention of letting go, strolling casually right up to him.

Feeling thoroughly awkward and unsure how to open the conversation, Zhao Rui squeaked: “Good evening?”

“Good evening,” Xu Zhouye grinned brightly. “Did your boyfriend drop you off?”

Zhao Rui mumbled: “Mm-hm…” His eyes dropped straight to their clasped hands.

Naturally pale to begin with, Shen Man’s skin looked even fairer beside Xu Zhouye’s hand, neatly trimmed nails tinged faintly pink. With their fingers intertwined intimately, the sight carried an oddly seductive undertone.

Shen Man’s face remained expressionless. Taller than Zhao Rui, he lowered his gaze to look down at him: “What are you staring at?”

His heart pounding like a drum, Zhao Rui hesitated over whether to confess the bet he had made with Xu Zhouye. He had assumed it was purely a joke, never imagining Xu Zhouye would be formidable enough to actually pull it off.

This was Shen Man, the untouchable flower on the high mountain peak of the HCC! If news of this leaked, half the league’s jaws would hit the floor.

Baffled, Xu Zhouye asked: “Why that expression?”

Having been teammates with Shen Man for three years, Zhao Rui resolved never to become the villainous wingman from a melodrama. Gritting his teeth, he decided to come clean: “Shen Man, I’ve wronged you.”

Shen Man: “?”

Xu Zhouye: “?”

“What did you do?” Shen Man asked. “Planning to transfer away from ACE?” Thinking it over, he figured leaving the team was the only way Zhao Rui could possibly wrong him.

Zhao Rui blurted: “I made a bet with Xu Zhouye.”

Shen Man: “?” The topic came completely out of nowhere. “Bet on what?”

Zhao Rui: “Bet on whether he could successfully woo you!”

Shen Man: “Oh?” He turned his gaze toward Xu Zhouye.

Xu Zhouye: “…” No, wait, ge, I was just trying to scam a free meal, why did you take it seriously?!

Shen Man asked: “When was this?”

Zhao Rui replied: “Back when we filmed the escape room! I-I was just messing around with him!” Who the hell could have predicted Xu Zhouye would actually go after him?!

Back during the escape room? Then there was nothing to worry about. Shen Man said calmly, “Then you lost the bet.”

While confessing earlier, Zhao Rui had been wound tight with dread, terrified of triggering Shen Man’s disgust. Having played alongside Shen Man for three years, he knew the man was a neat freak not only in daily life, but in matters of the heart as well; if Shen Man discovered Xu Zhouye had pursued him over a bet, everything would be ruined. The more he thought about it, the more terrified he grew, bitterly regretting running his mouth against Xu Zhouye back then.

“Doesn’t really count as losing, though,” Shen Man tacked on.

Already struggling to process everything, Zhao Rui grew even more bewildered: “What do you mean it doesn’t count as losing?”

“I was the one who pursued Xu Zhouye.” Reaching out to drape an arm casually across Xu Zhouye’s shoulder, Shen Man stated flatly, “So it doesn’t count as him wooing me.”

He turned an expressionless gaze onto Xu Zhouye.

Locking eyes, the two silently read every word in each other’s stare:

Shen Man: Using me for a bet, huh?

Xu Zhouye: Ge, my bad, totally my bad, I was just trying to con a free dinner.

Shen Man: Heh.

His eyeballs practically bulging out of their sockets, Zhao Rui pointed a trembling finger at Shen Man, then at Xu Zhouye: “You pursued him?”

Knowing he was in the wrong, Xu Zhouye played along dutifully, leaning his head bashfully onto Shen Man’s shoulder and cooing: “Oh, you wicked thing, stop broadcasting private matters like that.”

Zhao Rui: “…”

Shen Man: “…”

Though neither uttered a word aloud, both wore expressions saying the exact same thing: This guy is so gross…

“Making me all shy now.” Thoroughly entertained by Zhao Rui’s expression, which looked as though he had just swallowed a mouthful of dog crap, Xu Zhouye leaned further into the act, covering his face with both hands: “If the others find out, oh my, how embarrassing!”

Zhao Rui: “…” Xu Zhouye, I never knew you had this side to you. How many more surprises are you hiding?

Shen Man gave his back a light pat, signaling that was quite enough.

“Alright, no more joking.” Doubled over laughing, Xu Zhouye grinned broadly: “Just messing with you. We’ve been together for ages.”

Zhao Rui blinked: “Together for ages? Since when?”

Xu Zhouye: “Since Shen Man’s birthday.”

The instant he heard that, the memory of Shen Man holding a massive bouquet of red roses and proposing to Xu Zhouye in front of the entire banquet flashed into Zhao Rui’s mind. He gaped in shock: “Holy shit, you guys are next-level! Coming out in public like that!”

And yet everyone at the party had laughed it off as a joke.

Realizing Zhao Rui had misunderstood the timeline, Xu Zhouye opened his mouth to clarify, only for Shen Man to sling an arm around his neck and haul him back: “See? I didn’t lie to you. I really did pursue Xu Zhouye.”

Zhao Rui murmured: “Oh, oh, oh.” Glancing back and forth between Shen Man and Xu Zhouye, god knew what wild conclusions his brain jumped to, his gaze turning distinctly peculiar.

Having partnered together in the bot lane for three years, the instant Zhao Rui twitched, Shen Man knew exact what nonsense was running through his head.

Shen Man deadpanned: “Yes, it’s exactly what you’re thinking.”

Zhao Rui gasped: “Ohhh!”

Shen Man: “Impressive, aren’t I?”

Zhao Rui: “Ohhhhhh!”

Shen Man smiled like an enchanting demon.

Listening to their cryptic exchange, Xu Zhouye stood utterly baffled, having no idea what charades these two were playing.

“Let’s go,” Shen Man said, keeping his arm hooked around Xu Zhouye’s neck as they walked away.

Ever since discovering Shen Man and Xu Zhouye’s relationship, Zhao Rui realized the two were practically flaunting their sickeningly sweet romance right out in the open around the base.

Yet bafflingly, everyone else on the roster saw nothing amiss.

Zhao Rui even pulled Liu Shishi aside quietly to ask: “Shishi, don’t you feel like our Captain and Xu Zhouye are getting a bit too close?”

Hearing this, Liu Shishi turned a stern, solemn face toward Zhao Rui: “Zhao Rui, I have to criticize you here. You can’t look at pure friendships through rotten shipper lenses! How dare you sully Shen-ge and Zhouye’s pure teammate camaraderie?”

Zhao Rui: “…”

Liu Shishi lectured on: “Besides, haven’t they been close from the very start? Shen-ge mentors Zhouye, Zhouye takes care of Shen-ge, and they fight side by side on stage. What a moving display of competitive sportsmanship!”

Listening to his speech, Zhao Rui thought furiously: Competitive sportsmanship my ass! All I see is forbidden romance!

When people wore thick enough rose-tinted glasses, they truly went completely blind.

Listening to Liu Shishi’s righteous monologue, had Zhao Rui not witnessed everything with his own eyes, he might have genuinely questioned why his own thoughts were so depraved.

Just as Zhao Rui was on the verge of giving up, the sole ally standing on his side finally appeared: none other than the club’s owner herself, Zhu Jingwan.

Having once threatened to write a strict ban on office romances into player contracts, Ms. Zhu strolled into the training room on a bright, sunny afternoon and spotted Shen Man and Xu Zhouye happily playing duo ranked.

Seated close together, a half-eaten box of honeydew melon sat between them on the desk.

That was where disaster struck.

Inside the fruit container lay only a single toothpick.

Saying nothing, the boss stood behind them like a silent specter, watching Xu Zhouye spear a cube of melon with that lone toothpick and pop it into his mouth, only for Shen Man to use the exact same toothpick five minutes later.

Catastrophe! Absolute catastrophe!

The boss’s sky collapsed on the spot.

Freshly awake, Zhao Rui wandered into the training room yawning, spotting his Captain and Jungler queueing ranked while his boss sat slumped in a chair behind them looking as though her soul had been sucked straight out of her body.

Baffled, Zhao Rui walked over and asked: “Boss, what’s wrong? Why do you look so wilted?”

The boss murmured hollowly: “Rui, what do you think of Shen Man and Xu Zhouye’s relationship?”

Zhao Rui paused: “…Pretty good?”

The boss looked at him; he looked back at the boss. Locking eyes for a beat, the boss whispered: “Are they dating?”

She clearly wasn’t asking whether Zhao Rui was dating. Turning around to glance at the two acting sickeningly sweet right behind them, Zhao Rui didn’t know whether to nod or shake his head.

Yet sometimes, hesitation and silence served as an answer all on their own.

Burying her face in her hands, the boss wept helplessly like a three-year-old child: “I knew I should have written ‘no office romances’ into their contracts…”

Zhao Rui thought silently: Boss, give it up, the list of clauses you want added to contracts is way too long.

Having suspected something fishy between Shen Man and Xu Zhouye ages ago, the boss’s lingering hope finally died completely: “If I write ‘no breaking up’ into their contracts right now, is it still in time?”

Zhao Rui pondered: “Uhm…” Somehow, that actually sounded far more practical.

The boss burst into tears.

Shen Man had noticed the boss and Zhao Rui walk in earlier, though he had no idea what the two were whispering about. Finishing a ranked win and turning around, he saw the pair hugging each other and sobbing dramatically, fitting his boss’s customary nonsensical flair to perfection.

Shooting Shen Man a questioning glance, Xu Zhouye silently asked what those two were crying about.

“Ignore them.” Having zero interest in the emotional journeys of his boss and his Support, Shen Man ruthlessly slipped his headset back on: “Keep queueing.”

With that, he speared a cube of melon and popped it into his mouth, crunching happily. Mm, pretty sweet melon. Would be even better without two bizarre background actors hovering behind us.

The playoff bracket draw was announced, dividing teams into two groups.

ACE played the opening match against KL, crushing them in a clean 3-0 sweep to advance.

Fortune smiled on ACE this split: TKR and UN were seeded into the opposite bracket, forced to clash first for the right to face ACE. The winner of that subsequent match against ACE would claim the first Grand Finals berth, while the loser would drop down to face the winner between KL and the TKR/UN loser for the second Finals spot.

On the day TKR faced UN, scrims were canceled so everyone could gather punctually in the conference room to watch the live broadcast.

“Who do you guys think will win?” Zhao Rui asked.

Shen Man raised an eyebrow: “What, itching to make another bet?”

Zhao Rui: “…” Please don’t bring up sore subjects.

“It comes down to the bot-lane duos,” Xu Zhouye analyzed. “Though doesn’t inner seem a bit out of sync over here?”

Struggling to adapt to a new region couldn’t be helped. Though inner had shown flashes of brilliance across his debut split in the league, his form trailed noticeably behind last season. Last year on 3B, he had shone like a dazzling star, whereas dark clouds obscured his brilliance now.

In professional esports, however, such slumps were commonplace.

“He’s still extremely strong,” Shen Man said, giving inner genuine respect. “It’ll come down to how they perform on the day.”

On screen, the pick-ban phase kicked off, ten player portraits lined along the bottom with grim, focused expressions.

The match began.

Best-of-five format.

TKR and UN pushed the series to a full five games. TKR seized the first two games, only for UN to mount a reverse sweep back to 2-2, forcing a decisive Game 5.

All four games were fiercely contested, packed with thrilling back-and-forth action. Both TKR and UN showcased elite discipline, aggressive laning, and razor-sharp spacing; frequently, entire teamfights ended with both squads battered to slivers of health without a single kill dropping.

An absolute visual feast.

“Brilliant,” even the coach couldn’t hold back applause. “inner is sharp! Looks like his form is back.”

“Didn’t expect Luo Zhile to be this gifted,” Zhao Rui praised. “Actually going toe-to-toe with inner.”

“Great match,” the coach remarked. “Qin Yixing’s jungling really is top-tier, shame the guy himself is so obnoxious.”

It was tough for the coach to offer pleasant praise toward the man responsible for giving three of his players food poisoning.

“UN’s Jungler has been underperforming all series,” Xu Xiaochong noted. “If Xu Zhouye were subbed in, this series would already be over.”

“Final game.” Resting his chin on his right hand while tracing lazy circles on the table with his left index finger, Shen Man murmured: “I’d say UN still holds better odds.”

“Why?” Xu Zhouye asked.

Shen Man said, “Luo Zhile’s form keeps climbing higher with every game.”

True to Shen Man’s assessment, Luo Zhile’s momentum only surged stronger. He was a quintessential stage player; while others buckled under tournament pressure, stepping onto the arena stage only fueled his excitement.

Adrenaline was always the finest stimulant for a competitor.

Game 5 remained every bit as electrifying.

The duo of Luo Zhile and Zhou Yao pulled off dazzling synergy and mechanics. Amidst a tense mid-game standoff, Zhou Yao spotted an opening to dive TKR’s Mid Laner; following up instantaneously with seamless execution, Luo Zhile secured the pick, winning the pivotal teamfight.

That clash marked the turning point. From there, UN snowballed relentlessly, suffocating TKR’s jungle quadrant by quadrant and securing every neutral objective.

Until they marched onto the high ground.

In the final teamfight, an insurmountable gold deficit left TKR helpless to resist, falling in a 2-for-4 wipe as UN closed out the series.

The instant the Nexus exploded, broadcast cameras cut to the players’ reactions.

UN’s roster beamed with uncontainable joy, while TKR’s five players sat motionless before their monitors, crestfallen and lacking even the strength to pull off their headsets.

Such was victory and defeat; such was life and death on the stage.

Skipping the post-match interviews, the coach immediately pulled up the match VODs to begin reviewing.

With the result settled, UN was officially their next opponent.

The winner would advance directly to the Grand Finals, while the loser would have to face either TKR or KL in a final elimination match for the remaining ticket.

Reviewing the footage only underscored how ferocious UN’s bot lane looked.

Despite playing together for barely a single split, Zhou Yao and Luo Zhile moved with the uncanny intuition of twins born from the same womb.

“They’re fierce alright,” the coach admitted. “Still a notch below Shen Man, though.”

“That’s true,” Zhao Rui agreed.

Everyone knew the terror of Shen Man’s Marksman play. Had Shen Man’s temper not been so prickly, allowing him to tolerate Zhou Yao’s constant scowling, their bot lane would have easily rivaled or surpassed Luo Zhile’s duo. Of course, players weren’t machines; building a roster required weighing temperament and chemistry alongside raw mechanics, making hypotheticals meaningless.

“Besides, UN’s other lanes are noticeably weaker this split,” the coach concluded. “When the time comes, we’re counting on you to dictate the tempo, Xu Zhouye.”

Smiling docilely as the coach called him out, Xu Zhouye gave a cheerful “Aye!” and promised there wouldn’t be a single problem.