As the four of them took the elevator downstairs, Tong Yao's umbrella ended up in Lu Sicheng's hands. She clutched Pikachu's paws and kept muttering, "I told you to bring an umbrella when you go out, but you didn’t listen. And now it’s raining, so someone has to bring you one. Why not just buy one at the mall?"
"Looked already. They don’t sell umbrellas."
"...Then take a taxi back!"
"It’s just a short walk. No need for a taxi."
"But now you’re the one calling for a taxi!"
Lu Sicheng glanced at the person standing one step ahead of him, noticing the traces of rainwater still glistening on their short hair. He paused for a moment. "Didn’t you spend an hour searching? And you still want to walk back?"
"...How far is it, really? Just a few steps, why take a taxi?" As Tong Yao said this, she realized the words sounded oddly familiar—how had they ended up in her mouth again?
"Weren’t you about to freeze to death?"
"Ever heard of hyperbole?" After ordering a ride on her phone, she stuffed it back into her pocket and shivered again. "But it is a bit cold... Didn’t your mom ever tell you that if you get separated from an adult, you should either stay put, stand somewhere obvious, or find a police officer? Why run around blindly? And your phone was off!"
"It died. I was wondering why no one had called me yet," Lu Sicheng glanced down at her. "Yeah, my bad. Next time, I’ll wait for you at the entrance."
His apology was prompt, but—
Tong Yao: "There won’t be a next time. This time, I only got caught because Rui Ge happened to see me... Moral of the story: if you’ve got nothing to do at the team headquarters, just grind Ranked Games. The price of slacking off even a little is being sent out on errands until your legs give out."
Lu Sicheng: "I’ll carry you."
The support player from the neighboring team, Liang Sheng, who was standing in front of them, turned around to look. Tong Yao deadpanned, "We’re already at the pickup spot. If you’d said that three minutes ago, you think I wouldn’t have climbed onto your back?"
Liang Sheng glanced at them again, taking in the grumpy-faced girl with Pikachu around her neck, and chuckled in a peacemaking tone. "Go back and take a hot shower to warm up. Don’t catch a cold—we’ve got the Summer Split draw tonight."
Tong Yao blinked, then smacked her forehead. "Oh right, the Summer Split group draw is tonight."
Starting this year, the Professional League had adopted a new format. The twelve LPL teams would be divided into two groups of six via a draw before the season began. They’d first compete in intra-group matches, then cross-group matches, and finally return to intra-group matches—all best-of-three (BO3), with one point awarded per win and none for losses.
At the end of the season, the top four teams from each group would advance to the Playoffs to compete for higher placements and more year-round total points.
The LPL region had three slots for the S-series World Championship. The first slot went to the season’s overall champion. The second slot was awarded to the team with the highest combined points from the Summer and Spring Splits. The third slot was determined through a Gauntlet among the remaining top-ranked teams. For teams with no hope of winning the Summer Season Champion title and a poor Spring Split ranking, this Gauntlet was their only shot at making it to Worlds.
Since ZGDX had been the Spring Split runner-up, their points were high enough that they, like CK Team, were practically halfway through the door to the S-series World Championship—Although their goal had always been to win the Summer Season Championship.
“I hope we don’t get drawn into the same group as you guys tonight,” Liang Sheng clasped his hands together in a praying gesture. Pope, standing beside him, gave him a sidelong glance, but Liang Sheng didn’t notice and continued, “We barely avoided relegation in the Spring Split. Winning the Summer Season is out of the question, so we at least have to make it to the Playoffs to qualify for the Gauntlet…”
Tong Yao: “Isn’t the draw done by the team captain? Go back and cleanse yourself with incense… Honestly, I don’t think drawing CK would make much difference. They still have their Spring Split roster, and we’ve added me as a new player.”
Since CK and ZGDX were the champion and runner-up teams of the Spring Split, both were placed in the first seed pool, meaning they wouldn’t be in the same group for the Summer Split—so other teams would have to face either ZGDX or CK, a choice between two tough opponents.
Hearing this, Liang Sheng paused, then turned to grin at Tong Yao: “But I feel like CK isn’t as unbeatable as your Operator Team. We actually won a scrim against them recently.”
Pope, who couldn’t understand most of what was being said, only caught the word “CK” and forcefully inserted himself into the conversation with a low “Hmm,” succinctly adding, “CK? Noob. Can win.”
Tong Yao: “…”
Tong Yao blinked. This bunch of scrubs actually won a scrim against CK? …That’s kinda impressive.
As she was pondering this, a large hand suddenly landed on her head and patted her. A man’s unhurried voice followed: “‘Unbeatable,’ huh? You hear that, shorty? Such flattery— achoo .”
Tong Yao grabbed the Pikachu plushie’s paw and wiggled its butt, then swatted the man’s hand away. “See? That’s karma. Even the heavens can’t stand you.”
Lu Sicheng: “…”
The four of them got into the car. After walking for an hour, Tong Yao finally sat down, feeling like her legs belonged to her again… She took the Pikachu from around her neck and hugged it, resting her chin on its head. Her dark eyes fixed on the man in the passenger seat as she watched him frown and sneeze again—
The fifth one.
That first sneeze seemed to have set off a chain reaction. Lu Sicheng hadn’t stopped sneezing since leaving the mall. Even the driver chuckled and said, “Young man, did you catch a cold from the rain? The weather’s been unpredictable lately—gotta remember your umbrella. Getting soaked and then blasting the AC is a sure way to get sick!”
“I’m fine.”
Lu Sicheng responded lazily, glancing at the shorty curled up in the backseat through the rearview mirror. His peripheral vision caught her half-dry hair fluttering in the AC breeze. He reached out and adjusted the vent—
The person in the back immediately protested: “Don’t touch the AC. I’m hot.”
Lu Sicheng’s large hand remained blocking the airflow. “It’s cool enough outside. What are you hot for?”
Tong Yao: “Turn it back. You’re already sick—why are you blasting cold air?”
Lu Sicheng: “Aren’t you worried you’ll be the next one to catch a cold?”
Tong Yao: “I’m strong and healthy.”
Lu Sicheng: “Right. Idiots don’t get sick.”As she spoke, she rolled down the window a bit, letting in the cool breeze mixed with the scent of rain. The man in the passenger seat said expressionlessly, "Driver, please turn off the AC."
Tong Yao: "..."
...
The group dawdled, and it was almost 3 PM by the time they returned to the team headquarters one by one. When Tong Yao and Lu Sicheng walked into the house one after the other, Xiao Rui, who had just finished his work, was comfortably squatting on the sofa petting the cat... Seeing both of them looking disheveled, he paused: "Didn’t Tong Yao bring an umbrella? How did you still end up like this?"
"An umbrella is useless in such heavy rain," Tong Yao said as she turned to go upstairs to find a towel to wipe her face.
Xiao Rui looked at Lu Sicheng: "Tong Yao said your phone was off."
Lu Sicheng: "It ran out of battery."
Xiao Rui: "And you still ran around with a dead phone?"
Lu Sicheng: "I didn’t know it was dead."
Xiao Rui: "How did you guys get back in the end?"
Lu Sicheng: "Took a taxi."
Xiao Rui: "It’s so close you could fart your way there. Why take a damn taxi?"
Lu Sicheng paused, looking as if he didn’t understand why they had to go over the same topic again. He just said helplessly, his voice slightly hoarse, "That shorty got tired of walking, so we took a taxi back."
Xiao Rui thought to himself, Wow, you’re really considerate of your teammate , but then something felt off: "...Wait, do you have a cold?"
Lu Sicheng: "Don’t know."
As he spoke, he sat down in front of the computer. Xiao Rui stood up and walked behind him, kicking his chair: "If you’re sick, take some medicine. Or are you planning to go to the draw ceremony tonight with snot hanging from your nose? I was hoping we’d avoid the neighboring team—heard they won against CK in scrims. This Summer Split, they might turn from a relegation team into a tough opponent... Hey, Captain, how can your draw luck be good with snot dripping?"
Lu Sicheng chuckled briefly: "The neighboring team is thinking the same thing."
Xiao Rui: "What?"
Lu Sicheng: "Avoiding us."
Xiao Rui: "Then we’d better just hope Liang Sheng has good luck with his draw... You with your snot, tsk tsk tsk. Take some medicine, I’ll get you cold pills."
Lu Sicheng: "It’s just a chill. No need for medicine."
Just then, a door upstairs opened and closed. The person with a towel draped over her head came downstairs and glanced at the man sitting steadily in front of the computer, his hands empty. She paused: "Cheng Ge, did you take medicine?"
Lu Sicheng lifted his eyelids to glance at her, pretending not to hear as he clicked the mouse to enter a ranked match... Xiao Rui looked at the girl bouncing unsteadily down the stairs, his gaze inevitably drawn to the bright yellow thing hanging around her neck: "What’s that around your neck?"
Tong Yao grabbed its paw and shook it: "Pikachu."
"I had a childhood too," Xiao Rui twitched his lips. "Where’d you get a Pikachu?"
Tong Yao glanced at the person behind Xiao Rui, who was lowering his eyes expressionlessly to play the game: "In the end, I found our team’s and the neighboring team’s AD carries—combined height nearly four meters—in the children’s play area. They were dominating the claw machine battlefield, looking like they wouldn’t leave until they bankrupted the mall..."
Xiao Rui: "Pro gamers have nimble fingers. They’re really good at this kind of stuff."Tong Yao waved her hand dismissively with a look of disdain: "Back when I was still dating the jungler from CK, the money he wasted on those machines was enough to buy the machine and all the dolls inside it."
Xiao Rui: "So that's why you broke up!"
Tong Yao: "...Good point, hahahahahahaha!"
The two of them bantered happily together until the man sitting in front of the computer finally seemed unable to take it anymore. He lifted his eyelids slightly and said flatly, "You're so noisy." As soon as the words left his mouth, he sneezed.
Little Fatty: "Cheng Ge, I've been your support for a year and a half, and I still don't have a single Pikachu."
Lu Sicheng: "Ask the shorty to give you one."
Tong Yao: "No."
...
That evening, the group draw ceremony was broadcast live to all viewers. The two teams from the first seed pool drew first. The captain of CK Team picked a blue ball and was placed in Group B. After he stepped down, ZGDX's group placement was already obvious—
Under the gaze of all the viewers, Lu Sicheng stepped onto the stage with a cold expression, pulled the remaining red ball from the box, handed it to the host announcing the results, and then hurried off the stage without looking back.
He left in a rush.
[What's up with Cheng Ge?]
[He looks murderous.]
[Does he need to pee? Kidney deficiency?]
[Cheng Ge is still so handsome today hhhhhhhhh]
[Hey, the one who said my husband has kidney deficiency, stay right there—I promise I won't kill you!]
[I'm already looking forward to the Summer Split ahhhh it's the day after tomorrow ahhh I've waited so long for this!]
[Cheng Ge's expression is terrifying... What happened?]
[I hope the opening match is ZGDX vs. CK, even if they're in different groups, huh? Hahaha I can't wait to see these two teams go at each other again.]
"Anyone would think you were desperate for the bathroom..."
His teammates, waiting below to see the group results, all laughed at him.
No sooner had the words been spoken than Lu Sicheng sneezed several times in a row. The corners of his eyes and the tip of his nose were slightly red as he muttered, "I was holding back sneezes. Almost died."
So the reason he looked murderous and scowling like a burnt pot was because he was suppressing sneezes? Tong Yao, sitting in her seat, twitched the corner of her mouth at this. "Where does this heavy idol baggage come from?"
Lu Sicheng glanced at her but didn't answer. Instead, he sat down beside her with a long sigh, looking utterly exhausted... Tong Yao turned her head to look at him. "Still not taking medicine?"
"I'll take it when we get back."
"Oh."
Fifteen minutes later, the group draw results were announced.
Group A—
ZGDX; Huawei; Red Arrow; King; Storm; Obsidian.
Group B—
CK; YQCB; Doom Orc; Alpha; The Qing Dynasty Fell Centuries Ago; ANT.
The Summer Split officially begins on May 28, 2016—just two days from now.
The opening match is the highly anticipated revenge match of the Spring Split finals—
ZGDX Team vs. CK Team.
Lu Sicheng: "..."
Lu Sicheng: "Not taking the medicine."
Tong Yao: "????"
Lu Sicheng: "Cold medicine makes you sluggish. Affects performance."
Tong Yao: "Who told you that?"
Lu Sicheng: "I did."
Tong Yao: "..."
Lu Sicheng: "Can't lose the opening match. Too embarrassing."
Tong Yao: "Your idol baggage, I swear..."As soon as the words were spoken, a large warm hand landed on her head, ruffling her short hair with just the right amount of force. A low, hoarse chuckle followed as the voice said slowly, "Good luck, new Mid Laner."
Tong Yao froze for a moment before looking up at the person beside her. In his tired eyes, she saw a glimmer of excitement and determination—it was the first time in the month since she joined the team that she had seen such vivid emotion on this man's face...
He must have been waiting for this moment for a long time—
To redeem their honor in the Spring Split.
And then, one day, to stand at the pinnacle of the world.
OpenNovel