AWM: PUBG - Chap 11
Edited by Tin
“Why are you throwing a tantrum for no reason?” He Xiaoxu called Yu Qianxi to the break room and closed the door, doing his job to try his best to convince Yu Qianxi. “Didn’t you see that Qi Zui was already being very polite? Thankfully, Coach Lai wasn’t present. Otherwise, if he saw you dying so easily during solo, wouldn’t he scold you to death? Are you looking for a scolding in front of the newcomer?”
“Don’t they scold me often enough?” Yu Qianxi lowered his head as he played with his phone, scoffing. “The newcomer? If it weren’t because of me, would he be able to enter the team? Oh, I can’t call him a newcomer anymore, he’s not going to be one soon.”
He Xiaoxu did not understand. “I… I still don’t understand what’s going on with you till now. You’ve been like this since last night. What exactly are you feeling?”
“Fine, let’s be completely honest.” Yu Qianxi tossed his phone, smiling coldly at He Xiaoxu. “Why would Qi Zui recruit a substitute player out of nowhere? Who’s he supposed to substitute for?”
He Xiaoxu laughed. “You think that Youth is here to be your substitute?”
Yu Qianxi asked. “If not?”
Yu Qianxi laughed self-deprecatingly. “Lao Kai? Even though his natural talent is only so-so, since he’s hardworking and doesn’t try to snatch the spotlight, Qi Zui and Lai Hua like him.”
“Bu Nana? Ha… that’s even more impossible. He is Qi Zui’s old teammate. Qi Zui himself had once said in an interview that his relationship with Bu Nana was not the same as with everyone else.”
“They’re both Qi Zui’s close pawns. Qi Zui definitely cannot bear to chase them away, right? Then who else can it be?” Yu Qianxi had been holding back his anger for too long. Once he started, he could not stop. He stared at He Xiaoxu and smiled scornfully. “Unless… the Light of eSports, the Right Hand of God has finally decided to retire?”
“Shut up!” He Xiaoxu was extremely angry. “Are you crazy?!”
“Look.” Yu Qianxi spread out his hands. “I can’t even mention him. All the sponsors the team attracts is due to him. Yes, he even plays a part in our livestreaming contracts… You’re also aware that none of those three can stop playing. So who’s left?”
“I entered the team late. It’s only been half a year, and I’m definitely not like the two of them. They were hand-picked by Qi Zui. When Lai Hua scolded me that time, didn’t he say it too?” Yu Qianxi smiled darkly and coldly. “If it wasn’t for the fact that the previous team member had retired quickly, and they really could not find a suitable person, they wouldn’t have picked me no matter what.”
“Coach Lai said that in a fit of anger! Also, do you not remember what you did at that time?” He Xiaoxu could not stand listening to him anymore, and said angrily, “Do you need me to remind you? You only applied for three days of leave at that time, but you went out and delayed coming back for almost a week!”
He Xiaoxu stood up, turning a circle to walk back and look at Yu Qianxi, suppressing his anger. “Do you not know how to compare this aspect of yourself to Qi Zui? Ah? At least you have holidays! Look at Qi Zui! Besides for the New Year holiday when he returned home for a few days, has he ever left the club’s grounds? Has he ever had a holiday for these past few years?!”
“Of course I can’t compare to him,” Yu Qianxi said mockingly. “He only trains for four to five hours a day, and he might not even livestream once per month. And even if he livestreams, it’s because you guys cry and beg for him to livestream. What about me? I’m fucking tired! All I did was livestream for a few more hours and I was scolded by Qi Zui and Lai Hua!”
“That’s only these few months! In the past, he only slept for four to five hours per night, and at that time, you weren’t here yet!” He Xiaoxu could not hide his anger. “You’re comparing yourself with him? Even if he trains less, he can steadily maintain his peak performance. What about you?!”
Yu Qianxi’s expression was cold and he refused to speak.
“Also…” He Xiaoxu took a deep breath, trying his best to calm down. “You remember these sorts of minor details? Doesn’t Coach Lai also scold them extremely severely? But look at them, which one of them holds a grudge against him?”
“They don’t hold grudges and can be scolded anytime, that’s why they are well-liked.” Yu Qianxi shrugged. “I don’t want to be like them and have to willingly accept getting scolded. Thus, they dislike me even more…”
He Xiaoxu did not think that Yu Qianxi’s anger was so bad that they would not be able to communicate normally and instead, he was so angry he could explode. He Xiaoxu gave up on communication and waved his hand. “You… Go and calm down for a while. I’ll let you take half-day leave, go out and get some fresh air…”
Yu Qianxi stood up to leave. He Xiaoxu sat on the chair, rubbing his temples as he said in a low voice. “Qianxi… I know that you don’t want to listen to what I say now, but I’ll tell you clearly that Qi Zui wanting a substitute is definitely not targeted at you. I’ve talked to Coach Lai before, Coach Lai did not tell me in detail, but he was clear that Qi Zui had his own considerations. Whatever they do is for the team… Youth is the substitute for all of you, it’s not targeted at anyone, and not to squeeze anyone off the main team.”
Yu Qianxi paused, but he did not say anything and continued to walk out, closing the door behind him.
In the training room on the third floor, Yu Yang got used to his new set-up. He updated some of the settings and installed some software he normally used and opened the game, setting the keyboard controls to what he was used to using. After that, he started a solo queue to warm up.
“The official team account has already posted and said that in half an hour, at exactly eight, you’ll start to livestream.” The quality of He Xiaoxu’s psyche was shocking, his ability to deal with pressure was comparable to that of Yu Yang’s. It had not even been half an hour and he had already managed to adjust his mindset, hurriedly rushing to the third-floor training room to teach Yu Yang how to earn money. “Are you feeling warm? If it’s too hot you can lower the temperature. There’s no need to be worried about causing them to freeze. No matter what, don’t take off your clothes. Even if it doesn’t completely fit, it still looks good, you look very handsome.”
“It doesn’t matter if you want to look at the barrage or not, just do as you wish. There is definitely going to be people trying to make the atmosphere bad. We’ve assigned two room managers to you, but they might not be able to control the situation. So do take note of the situation, there’s no need to reply to things that are not necessary to explain. Just remember one thing, definitely don’t lose your temper. Don’t argue with the people in the barrage.” He Xiaoxu instructed Yu Yang. “The people in the barrage that are commenting on the game normally haven’t even bought the game. There’s no need to care about them, just focus on your game. It’s enough to livestream for two years, there’s no need to feel stressed.”
Yu Yang had not felt anything originally, but He Xiaoxu’s words had caused him to become a little nervous. Yu Yang looked at the camera that was stuck on the top of his screen and said, “Do I need to switch this on?”
Of course, it was not necessary. However, He Xiaoxu wanted to package Yu Yang as a celebrity gamer. Of course, he had to show his face, so he vaguely said, “Switch it on… Eh, you’re so handsome. Why are you scared of people seeing how you look like? Look at Bu Nana, even he switches his camera on all day long.”
Bu Nana and Lao Kai’s game had just ended, and Bu Nana happened to hear that last sentence. He unhappily hit the table and said, “Eh! Eh! What is it? Why are you attacking me? So what if I switch on my camera? Aside from our team leader Qi, I, Pang1 Nana, am the most popular. Aren’t I the pillar of the team?”
“Let me correct you.” Qi Zui was in a custom server practicing his spray control2. After he heard Bu Nana’s words, he reloaded his gun as he said, “Screw3, thank you.”
Bu Nana was stunned for a moment before he exploded in anger. “Qi Zui, fuck your uncle!”
Qi Zui tried to peek 4 and manage his spray control. He said, without much care, “You can go and fuck him. I think he returned to Shanghai recently.”
“Can you stop messing around?!” He Xiaoxu was extremely annoyed. “Listen to what I’m saying!”
He Xiaoxu continued to keep his cool and told Yu Yang, “If you’re hot, you can tie your hair up. Tie it up like what you did yesterday, it looks good too. When you’re livestreaming, be careful, you can’t insult the broadcast platform, or say anything bad about the club and the team. Of course, don’t say anything bad about the other eSports teams as well. Take care to not be carried away by people that want to cause trouble. You should know about that, right?”
Yu Yang was originally a quiet person and was definitely not someone who would speak about too many things, so he naturally nodded. “Alright.”
“Other than those things, there’s nothing else to take note of… Alright, it’s already 7:50 PM. Prepare yourself, I won’t disturb you guys anymore.” He Xiaoxu looked at the hair beside Yu Yang’s ear that had been messed up by the headphones and wanted to fix it for him. However, he remembered Yu Yang’s fist just now and felt that it would be awkward if he did so. So, he could only use his hands to signal as he said, “Your hair…”
Yu Yang fiddled with it a few times, not knowing how to deal with it. Then, he took off his earphones and tied his hair up.
“Perfect!”
He Xiaoxu was totally satisfied, giving him a thumbs-up and going downstairs.
Qi Zui’s gaze moved away from his screen and he took a glance at Yu Yang, smiling a little.
With that sort of face, he did not need to be scared of livestreaming.
As he thought that, Qi Zui minimized the game screen and opened the website of the livestream platform, entering Yu Yang’s channel.
HOG’s official Weibo had already been promoting him for a while, and although Yu Yang had yet to start livestreaming, there were already more than ten thousand people waiting. After the solo competition yesterday, everyone was very curious about him.
After all, he was the player that had defeated the Knight’s team leader Hua Luo.
[Is Youth not here yet? I’m worried!!!!!]
[Drunk| Fan’s daily question: Is there a possibility that my God-Qi will livestream this month?]
[I saw the replay of the competition yesterday! Ah ah ah ah ah ah God-Yang is so handsome ah ah ah ah ah that shot made me pregnant!]
[God-Yang is extremely handsome! Total comeback, winning against Hua Luo!]
[So what if he wins, don’t keep spamming alright? And you’re even calling him God-Yang, what a joke. The Knight team’s practice competition schedule has been packed these few days. If God-Hua wasn’t too tired, how could he be killed by this youth training camp trainee?”
[This is HOG’s channel, right? Did I mess up and go somewhere else instead? Can the Knight’s fans help yourself to the door and turn left? Our team won yours and you refuse to let us talk about it?]
[Can you stop trying to cause trouble? We’re all waiting to see Youth. The room manager will ban you from commenting.]
[Youth ah ah ah ah, why aren’t you coming yet? I want to spam you with presents5!]
[It’s already eight! Where’s God-Yang?]
Qi Zui turned his head to look at Yu Yang, and his gaze happened to meet Yu Yang’s.
Yu Yang hurriedly turned his head to the side. Qi Zui smiled, knowing that he had become a little nervous. Qi Zui did not say anything, instead, he opened his friends list in the game.
Yu Yang looked at the constant spamming of the barrage in his livestream assistant, and suddenly, the sound of his game notifications rang.
Drunk: Cutie 6, start your livestream, I’ve been waiting to watch it.
Yu Yang jolted, the tip of his thin and long index finger scratching his mouse in embarrassment.
Yu Yang did not dare to look at Qi Zui. He breathed out slightly and switched on the camera.
There was a sudden quietness in the barrage for a second before it completely went crazy.
[Ah ah ah ah ah ah ah ah! Is this Youth? Ah ah ah ah ah ah, Mom, I’m in love!!!!]
[Youth, with your looks, why did you decide to join eSports! Do you know how tough it is!!!]
[Hahahahahahahaha as expected, HOG recruits people based on looks.]
[Spend money spend money spend money. I don’t care about the rest of the month already, Youth look at me look at me look at me.]
[Does the logistics team want to die? Why didn’t you give our God-Yang a suitable team uniform? You better not let me find out that someone is bullying him, otherwise, I’ll continue trying to explode your Weibo!]
[Ah ah ah God-Yang, don’t look at the camera!!! Don’t look at me!!! I can’t deal with it!!!]
The barrage was too excited, and Yu Yang said, a little stiffly, “Hello, I’m HOG’s Youth.”
[His voice sounds so nice, I don’t want to live anymore ah ah ah ah ah…]
[Youth, are you really of age? Hahahahahaha…]
[God-Yang, do you have a girlfriend? If you don’t… QAQ look at me!]
Drunk| Fan’s daily chanting: God-Qi if you don’t livestream soon, you’re going to lose me. This isn’t my fault, there are just too many good men in the world, too many…]
[I’m in love, it’s for real this time.]
Yu Yang coughed once, then opened up the game interface, then picked some of the comments in the barrage to reply.
“I’m of age, I’m already nineteen.”
“Don’t have a girlfriend.”
“Mmhm, substitute player.”
“Not substituting for anyone, I’m just a substitute player.”
“They all treat me very well.”
“Team uniform jacket…”
Yu Yang’s ears were a little red, but thankfully, it was covered by the headphones. He said in a muffled voice, “It’ll fit me in a few days.”
Yu Yang chose to play solo and landed in the airport.
[Wow, as expected, Youth is really aggressive!]
[Youth look at the camera! Look at the camera!]
[Can those face-cons calm down, he’s just landed, how can he look at the camera, isn’t that asking for death?]
[Ah ah ah ah ah. That shot is so handsome ah ah ah ah! What should I do? Everything he does is so handsome.]
[Landing in the airport in the first game. Do you not have a brain or are you trying to use the popularity from the competition yesterday?]
[Is there something wrong with you? The main star of the solo competition was originally Youth, OK?]
[God-Hua had continuously had training competitions for a week, God-Hua had continuously had training competitions for a week, God-Hua had continuously had training competitions for a week.]
[Can Hua Luo’s Mary-Sue fans leave already?]
[Does your family own the livestream app? Why can’t we watch it? Isn’t he supposed to be very great? Are you scared of people watching him?]
Qi Zui looked at the barrage, frowning slightly.
Hua Luo was the only person in the current eSports scene whose popularity was just second to Qi Zui. The number of fans he had was comparable to Qi Zui’s Mrs.Qis. No matter what sort of group it was, when the numbers were big it was easy to cause trouble. Yu Yang managed to win against Hua Luo in the gunfight yesterday and won the championship, and while Hua Luo might not think much of it, his fans might think differently.
Qi Zui looked at Yu Yang from the side of his eyes. Very surprisingly, Yu Yang watched as the whole screen was full of comments bad-mouthing him, his expression calm.
“My KDA7 has decreased, it’s easy to increase my KD by playing aggressively at the airport.”
“The competition yesterday? I won.”
“Flower8 is very strong.”
“It’s not by luck.”
“Admitting that he’s very good does not contradict with admitting that I didn’t win only due to luck.”
“I’m not scared of him. I anticipate the next time we meet.”
The corner of Qi Zui’s lips curved upwards slightly.
He was neither too humble nor pushy, and he really did make a good showing for HOG.
Yu Yang’s unhurried but firm tone was surprisingly very convincing, and the people trying to cause trouble suddenly decreased in his livestream room.
Qi Zui was no longer worried, and he watched Yu Yang’s game, quietly remembering all the small mistakes he had made.
His occasional reply to a few of the barrage comments did not interfere with Yu Yang’s game, in his first solo match, Yu Yang managed to steadily get first place.
Yu Yang received a new notification on his steam. He exited the game interface and opened it… the barrage exploded instantly.
Knight-Flower is requesting to be your friend, do you accept?
[Ah ah ah ah ah ah ah what is this? Hua Luo has added Youth?!!!!]
[Aiyo, we were talking about God-Hua just now, what happened? What exactly is the relationship between you two?]
[A friendship grows from an exchange of blows? Hahahahahaha.]
[The fuck!!! What’s going on, I suddenly find it cute?]
[So cute so cute so cute…]
The smile on Qi Zui’s face slowly decreased.
Qi Zui took two pieces of chewing gum and tossed it in his mouth, slowly chewing… Hua Luo that little shit was also watching the livestream.
Yu Yang was also stunned, what was going on?
Yu Yang was not sure about the relationships between different eSports clubs, but he knew that according to the rules, he was not supposed to contact the management from other eSports teams. However, Hua Luo was not part of the management, and he was still livestreaming now, this…
Yu Yang was stunned for a short while, and there was constant spam of barrages about how cute Yu Yang and Hua Luo was. Some people even started to write out small plays, and Qi Zui quietly watched. A small paragraph that had sexual content caught his eye, and he pushed his keyboard back with one hand and stood up…
“Lend me your mouse for a bit.”
Yu Yang did not notice that Qi Zui was already standing behind him, and he was shocked. He instinctively nodded and leaned back to pass the mouse to Qi Zui.
Qi Zui appeared on camera and the broadcast room completely exploded.
Qi Zui continued to chew on his chewing gum, expressionless. One of his hands was on Yu Yang’s desk, and his other held Yu Yang’s mouse. He looked at the screen and pressed the reject button unhesitatingly.
“You can keep playing.”
Qi Zui directly placed the mouse down and returned to his seat to continue watching the livestream.
