Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
In the dormitory, the members of Team âDaemonsâ crowded in around Asmodaiâs computer.
It wasnât a particularly long recording, but the Daemons players watched with rapt attention. Even Asmodai, seeing it all again, found other moments of brilliance that he hadnât noticed earlier, when he was busy farming minions in-game.
Watching the replay now, observing Zyraâs every movement and action, it only re-affirmed their initial judgment!
âThis guy certainly plays like a pro,â Kang agreed.
As professional gamers themselves, they could easily spot one of their own from the slightest details. Coach Huang Kang was a canny analyst, and he was saying this even before the first fight had broken out.
A pro-gamer possessed incredibly high APM, and unconsciously dodged aside from enemy skills. Although he might appear to be moving at random, each move was calculated, and no skill went to waste.
That was what it meant to play like a pro.
âWhoa, that was awesome! He blocked your hook with a plant!â
âYeah, that was absolutely perfect!â
When everyone saw Zyra doing that, they reacted with shock. Even the haughtier members of the team saw this with interest. After all, it wasnât every Support player who could see through their opponentsâ schemes and their teammatesâ vulnerabilities with such clarity.
âAh, Asmodai, that was a reckless double-Flashââ The coach shook his head when he saw Asmodai going all-in, but suddenly fell silent when he witnessed Zyraâs response to it, his mouth hanging slightly ajar.
âHeâs fast⦠heâs so fast! He dropped that Exhaust on you even before your first basic attack reached him!â Coach Huang Kang exclaimed.
A double-Flash constituted a very abrupt and startling assault, but the speed of that Exhaust on Asmodai, hitting him the very instant he came within reach, suggested that Zyraâs player had seen it coming!
Watching it as a spectator, one might chalk it up to an instinctive reaction perhapsâbut Kang knew that there were even some pro-gamers who werenât this fast!
Next came Zyraâs devastating skill combo, concluding with that last, spectacularly prescient spike shot. Watching this, Huang Kang was beside himself. If this replay was made publicly available, it wouldnât be surprising to see it in some âTop 10â list in the official game forums. It was simply incredible!
Although the whole thing only lasted twenty minutes, and the average viewer might say it was just a player who had a lot of experience playing Zyra, Huang Kang could tell there was a lot more to it than thatâhe was certain that player had received professional training before!
âWhat do you think, coach?â Asmodai asked.
When the coach didnât reply, Charon spoke first. âI think this Zyra is extraordinary. We all know where Yi Qinâs ability level is atâit should have been a simple matter for the two of you to defeat them utterly. However, Zyra countered you at every turn, and made you pay dearly for every kill you got. Itâs a pity that Yi Qin was so clumsy here⦠itâs hard to say which way the fight would have gone, otherwise.â
Coach Kang nodded. âThatâs true. Asmodai, have you added him as a Friend yet?â
âIâve sent him a Friend Request, but he followed Yi Qin out of the game early. I donât know if heâs even seen it yet,â Asmodai replied.
âRight. Note down that ID. If possible, Iâll try to meet up with him,â Coach Huang Kang said.
âCoach, perhaps weâre being too hasty? It could just be that this player was in unusually good form that game. Weâve only seen barely more than ten minutes of laning. Itâs hardly uncommon for us to come across skilled players in Ranked play.â
âAs Iâve said, this guy has the makings of a pro. If we develop his talent further, heâll be a real contender,â Coach Huang Kang declared earnestly.
âIâll keep a close eye on him!â Asmodai swore. Like the coach, he saw something truly special in that player, even in those brief ten minutes.
For players of their caliber, ten minutes was enough to tell.
***
The next few days, whenever Asmodai was playing on his alternate account, heâd send another Friend Request to that playerâs ID.
To his disappointment, the player didnât respond.
Asmodai found it peculiar that a player of such ability would go several days in a row without logging on. He started up âLoL Boxâ 1 so he could look up that playerâs match history.
Sorting through the details, it appeared that this player mainly partnered with Yi Qin to play in Ranked games.
Asmodai refused to give up, and fell into a habit of looking up that playerâs match history on a daily basis. Three weeks passed, and not a single new match.
Asmodai even went as far as to seek out Yi Qin, but sheâd gone abroad, and likewise had never logged into the game since then. This discovery had left him with a certain sense of loss.
***
True to Asmodaiâs research, Yu Luocheng really hadnât played a single game on that account in over three weeks.
At first, Yu Luocheng had concluded that Snowfall had just been in a foul mood at the time. Things should be back to normal after a few days. However, this whole month, heâd yet to see her again.
Sheâd neither logged into the game, nor her QQ. He didnât have her number, so calling her was out of the question.
Sheâd just vanished from his world, without any notice nor explanation.
For the longest time, Yu Luocheng had made a point of logging on every week to chat with her for a bit, play a few games of Ranked, talk about the latest fads on the internet, and occasionally even share a few things from their own lives⦠but although heâd been curious, there had always been a certain line heâd never dared to cross.
When spending time in her company became a habit, became a reason to look forward to the weekends, Yu Luocheng had added her to a mental list of his most precious, cherished friends, long before heâd ever been graced by the sound of her lovely, captivating voice.
And then one day, sheâd disappeared under the most enigmatic circumstances, without any clue of what had happened. As the weeks went by, anticipation gave way to despair. He often thought he saw her name lighting up in QQ, but when he reached over to click on it, he found it still grayed out after all.
He was worried, but he couldnât think of what to do. There was a gaping void in his heart where she used to be.
Although itâs said that knowledge is food for thought, and the truth can make you whole, Yu Luocheng had spent the entire month completely focused on nothing but his studies, but although his grades were rising, his heart was still in pieces on the floor, and his anxiety seemed to be mounting with each day.
Two months, and still no reply.
On the sixtieth day, the last sliver of hope died in Yu Luocheng. She was really gone.
With her knowing, mesmerizing, elegant, gorgeous voice, sheâd set his youthful heart afire, such that heâd wanted nothing more than to fly over to her and take her into his arms.
And then, with an off-handed stroke of Alt-F4, sheâd severed the link between them. It was time for Yu Luocheng to stop denying it.
Nevertheless, heâd keep going on his QQ. Heâd maintain that game ID at exactly that score in Ranked, so that on the day Snowfall returned, he could still be her partner, and they could reach for the higher tiers side-by-side.
Until she returned, he didnât have the heart to play on that ID anymore.
***
âMaybe she fell terminally ill or something, and thatâs why she left without saying goodbye.â Yu Luocheng continued to wonder what had happened to Snowfall No explanation he thought of was ever quite good enough.