Chapter 20
FOG [e-sports]
There are too many cars at the exam site. Even if there was special traffic police to direct traffic, the road was still jammed. Each car had an exam candidate in it, and everyone was in a hurry. The road became even more congested. For a moment, Yu Sui was afraid they wouldnât be able to return to the hotel. Yu Sui took a look outside and said to Shi Luo, âMaybe you should take a nap first? The math test is this afternoon, right? It wonât do if you suddenly turn sleepy.â
Shi Luo frowned and closed his eyes with an âEnâ.
Although Shi Luo was much better off than Yu Sui, having had a few hours sleep last night, the exhaustion from their last match hadnât completely dispersed. Add to that the shock from this morning and having to take the exam, his energy was sapped. After a few minutes, he actually fell asleep.
Ji Yanhan turned his head and glanced at him. âHeâs sound asleep... Not bad, he didnât put up a fuss when he got in the car. I was worried that he was going to run and not take the other tests.â
âHe definitely thought about running. But after thinking about it, he realized he had no choice and he turned up his nose and got in the car.â The corner of Yu Suiâs lips twitched slightly. Lowering his voice, he said, âIâve got his wallet and phone here. Where would he run? And besides, heâs a minor, he wonât be able to check into a hotel. â
Speaking of this, Ji Yanhan was reminded of something and he laughed.
Three years ago, FS went to another part of the country for a match. Ji Yanhan was no longer with the team at that and unfortunately, the coach wasnât there that day. It was soon after the FS team was formed, and their staffing wasnât complete yet. There was no one else who could manage the team. Ji Yanhanâs brain short-circuited, and he waved his hand and told the four of them to go on their own. In any case, it was just a regular season game.
Yu Sui and the others didnât think much about it. After they landed, they took a taxi to the hotel. Once they were there though, they looked at each other, completely at a loss. The four of them were minors and none of them could process the check in.
In the end, Ji Yanhan had to fly over himself He hurried to the hotel where he found the four internet-addicted teenagers sitting on top their suitcases with âF*ck Youâs written all over their faces.
Ji Yanhan sighed, âEverything was a mess back then. Weâve actually come so far.â
Yu Yan said indifferently, âWeâll endure anything for success.â
Ji Yanhan said, âOf course. Yu Shenâs so awesome.â
Yu Sui was about to say something back when suddenly there was a harsh car honk from outside. Then next second, Yu Sui leaned sideways to Shi Luoâs side and put his hands around Shi Luoâs ears.
Shi Luo was dead tired and he didnât wake up. He moved though and leaned against Yu Suiâs palm.
Yu Sui simply wrapped his hands on Shi Luoâs shoulders, letting him lean against him more steadily.
Ji Yanhan glanced at them from the rearview mirror. â... I didnât know you wanted a younger brother.ân/o/vel/b//in dot c//om
âThanksâ Yu Sui said very quietly. âbut no thanks. I donât.â
Fortunately, the road didnât stay blocked for long. The three hurriedly ate something and headed to the hotel. However, there was another problem at the hotel. Ji Yanhan miscalculated. All the decent hotels near the exam site were almost booked full. They didnât have any extra rooms.
Even for the largest suites that hardly anyone ever booked, there were only two available.
âOriginally, I did say weâd each get a room but&#k2026;â Ji Yanhan said helplessly, âWhat can we do? Itâd be fine if these were standard rooms. At least, thereâd be two beds, but the suites only have one large bed.â
Yu Sui didnât even have to think about it. He said, âShi Luo can have a room by himself. Iâll squeeze in with you.â
Yu Sui turned to Shi Luo. âYou get a whole room to yourself. That good?â
Shi Luo frowned. âWhat do you mean âgoodâ? ...Wonât you hate crowding into one room?â
âWhatâs crowded about this? When I started out, the team dorms only had one-meter-wide bunk beds.â Yu Sui took Shi Luoâs ID and handed it to the front desk. âIâve suffered all types of hardships.â
Shi Luo curled his lips in contempt. âHardship? When I had nowhere to live, I slept on an internet cafe sofa. What do you say about that?â
The only one of the three who had actually suffered hardships, Ji Yanhan was at the end of his rope. âFine, fine. Young masters, I have made you suffer such a great grievance making you stay in an executive suite worth more than four thousand yuan per nights! Itâs my fault that I didnât arrange it well. Iâm so sorry! â
Ji Yanhan took the room cards and herded the two towards the elevator. After watching Shi Luo enter his room, Ji Yanhan said uneasily, âHe wonât run, will he?â
Yu Sui said, âRelax, he not actually unable to differentiate good from bad. He knows we mean well.â
Shi Luo definitely can differential good from bad.
After entering his suite, Shi Luo stuck his head in his pillow and lay on his stomach for a long time.
He was really embarrassed to say that Yu Sui was the only one who has ever waited for him to get out of school for the day.
Though technically, he had come out of the exam site, not out of school for the day. But it was similar. It really was Shi Luoâs first time to leave through the school gates and have someone there waiting for him.
Ji Yanhan, who had been standing next to him, could be disregarded. In short, Yu Sui was the first person to pick him up from school.
He was also the first person to drive for eight hours to send him to school.
Did he tax his mind and body, drive himself to exhaustion to get him here to force him to take the college entrance exam for a mere prank? Who was he kidding?
Shi Luo sighed softly. He suddenly understood what was this indescribably feeling heâd been having these past days.
It was peace of mind.
It was the first time Shi Luo had found a place where he could have peace of mind.
Although the boss had his own selfish motives, being willing to spend money to have him be nothing more than a benchwarmer, was to some extent a recognition of his ability.
Teammates ... Although he would constantly quarrel with that bastard Chen Huo, in the end, they were just petty quarrels. Here today, gone tomorrow.
Old Qiao, the other striker in the team, and Puppy, the sniper, didnât even quarrel with him. Although they only exchanged a handful of words, the two had no malicious intentions against him so Shi Luo was quite satisfied.
Finally, Yu Sui...
Shi Luoâs thoughts swelled.
Yu Sui had driven the entire night last night. When they passed through a rest area, Shi Luo was lying half-asleep in the car. He looked out between the crack in his eyelids. Underneath the lamplight of a tollbooth, there stood Yu Sui, plastic bag in hand. Inside were several cans of drinks he had bought from the service area supermarket. He didnât immediately get in the car. He grabbed his cigarettes from the bag and had a smoke.
By then, Yu Sui hasnât had any rest for more than twenty hours already. One can well imagine how tired he must be from driving more than 500 kilometers in the night on no sleep.
Under the hazy spotlight, Yu Suiâs arm holding the cigarette seemed particularly thin, making his whole person look a bit thin.
At that moment, as Shi Luo looked at Yu Sui in the distance, his eyes inexplicably turned red.
It can no longer be said that he hasnât known Yu Sui long. But from beginning to end, Shi Luo has never been able to clearly figure out what Yu Sui was thinking. He was forever unable to predict what Yu Sui would do when it comes to him.
None of the clues came from a place of self-interest. The other party was simply being good to him.
Shi Luo has lived for seventeen years, and this is the first time he has encountered such a thing. He felt a bit helpless.
Shi Luo rubbed his face and sat up on the bed. He pushed aside the bunch of flowers that Ji Yanhan gave him and picked up the one handed to him by Yu Sui. He lowered his head and took a sniff.
Shi Luo sniffed, got up and threw Ji Yanhanâs flowers into the trash.
With Ji Yanhanâs flowers thrown away, Yu Sui became the only person who ever gave him flowers.
In the suite on the other side of the corridor, Ji Yanhan sneezed.
Yu Sui lying on the bed and playing with his mobile phone. He said absent-mindedly, âWant some indigo woad root?â
âNo.â Ji Yanhan rubbed his nose, âAre you really gonna share a bed with me?â
âOf course not,â Yu Sui said, âI just took a look at that sofa. Itâs not that small, and itâs foldable. In a little bit, weâll unfold that sofa for you to sleep in.â
Ji Yanhan: â...â
Ji Yanhan really couldnât understand. âSo a substitute player gets a suite to himself, the captain gets to sleep in a big bed and the boss sleeps on the sofa?â
âWhy do you always have to emphasize the âsubstituteâ?â Yu Sui looked down at his mobile phone. âHeâs a fragile and susceptible exam candidate, ok? Iâm too tired today, I canât sleep on the sofa. Weâll change tomorrow. Iâll sleep on the sofa and you get the bed.â
Ji Yanhan respectfully refused. âNo, Iâll be leaving tomorrow. I just happened to have business around here so I handed the stuff to you. I donât have any more business here tomorrow so I wonât be accompanying you guys.â
Yu Sui nodded. âOkay, you go handle your matters.â
âIâll be really busy for the next two months so I canât take care of the teamâs affairs. I already told your manager. If anything major comes up and he canât contact me, heâll look for you.â Ji Yanhan lay paralyzed on the sofa. âDonât refuse this, alright? Take it as you helping me. â
Yu Sui had no choice but to agree. âEn.â
âActually, there shouldnât be anything. Weâve already secured a spot for the playoffs.â Ji Yanhan relaxed and patted his stomach. âWeâll definitely reach the finals, the matches before that ... You can keep any eye out for things. Actually, aside from the matches, thereâs nothing you need to look out for. Just shooting some promotional videos, record a few rubbish words, and then ... â
Ji Yanhan rubbed his eyebrows and tried to think about what else he needed to explain. âAh, right. Shi Luoâs a newcomer, and this will be his first time to participate in a large-scale match. Heâs like a blank slate. Donât forget to mention the things he needs to pay attention to so that he doesnât go amiss. His playerâs personal points are zero and he wonât be able to afford to get into trouble ... Oh no, he just played a regular season game. Heâs got two points, but those two points are as good as nothing. Theyâre not even going to be even to pay for a minor violation. â
The FOG League has regulations that provided professional players with personal points that they obtain through various league-recognized matches. For the regular season best of three match that Shi Luo just played, he got one point and he got one more point for winning the game. So, Shi Luoâs personal points now totaled two points.
The accumulated points wonât be cleared out at the end of the season but will be retained forever. It was usually useless. Only when the player violates the regulations, will the officials of the league deduct from the playerâs points according to severity of the violation. If the offense was too great or if the player had negative points, they may be suspended from the matches as a penalty. It would be for at least one match but there was no ceiling on the maximum possible number of suspended games. They would have to look at the severity of the situation and decided from there.
Once the suspension has expired, if the playerâs personal points are still negative, they will have to accumulate points from each match to get it back to positive. Before that, it was a period of observation. If they were careless, they could be punished even more severely. If the matter was serious, a lifelong suspension was possible.
Players like Shi Luo, who have a scant number of points, feared this the most.
âYouâve already discussed everything before the game yesterday.â Yu Sui yawned. âWhen there are official cameras around, you must wear the team uniform whether it is for a game or not. You must not cover the sponsor logo on the team uniform, especially the game sponsorâs logo ...You must not say anything bad about the league or the club while in public. You must not discredit the league officials and you follow the arrangements of the referee during the game... You mustnât look at the screen of your teammates during the game. Do not get up and leave without special reason. If there is, you must first call for a timeout. They must first approve the timeout ... You canât type in the public channel during the game. You canât say f*ck off in it. You canât even type hello... â
âIâve said everything I can remember...â Yu Sui was so sleepy, âHe remembered it very well. He remembered everything, and he made no mistakes during the game yesterday. There wonât be any problems in the playoffs ...â â
Yu Sui has been playing for so many years. He should be familiar with all the things that needed to be looked out for. Ji Yanhan thought for a while and said, âEn, nothing should go wrong if heâs with you.â
Unfortunately, it was too early for Ji Yanhan to rest assured.