FOG [e-sports]

Chapter 127

Free took the initiative to give up on the league’s free European tour benefits for the relatives of the players who made it to the quarterfinals. It wasn’t completely without its upsides. By doing so, they also dispensed with the need to record videos with their relatives, leaving them with a whole day of training more than the other teams.

The quarterfinals was approaching day by day. Apart from training day and night, Free’s players were trading insults with Sacred Sword online.

Zhou Huo’s original plan had been that before the quarterfinals, he wanted the players to disconnect from the Internet. In any case, they used the league’s officially-provided server when playing the practice games. It could be that only this would be provided access. In fact, everyone’s computers can be set up for the players so that when they use their computers the only thing they could access would be the game.

He could also temporarily confiscate the player’s mobile phones. They would be clearly cut off instantly. All these grievances can be discussed after the game. As manager, Zhou Huo still had this authority.

But before Zhou Huo could tell this plan to the players, it was stopped by Old Qiao.

“It’s a hundred ills with no benefit.” Old Qiao shook his head, “They must remain used to the rhythm of being sprayed and having their heads messed with. If you protect them too much, they won’t be able to resist pressure very well. Really, this is just how people are... The more spoiled they are the more fragile they become. What would happen if they’re told something they couldn’t stand on the day of the match? If they can’t immediately adjust their mood and it affects the match, we’re dead.”

Zhou Huo wondered, “How can anyone mess with them on the day of the match? The security in the stadium is so strict. How could they possibly dare? Besides, can they say anything worse than what they’ve already been saying?”

Sacred Sword was posting disturbing tweets every day. The day before yesterday they asked Shi Luo if he was feeling nervous. Yesterday, they showed a picture of the peripherals Yu Sui used when he was in Sacred Sword and asked if Yu Sui was missing them. Today, they asked Free if they’d already booked their return flight after the quarterfinals. Posting several tweets a day and sending greetings to all and sundry, Zhou Huo was really busy these days. With how stressed he was, whenever he saw their tweets, he would blow a fuse. “If I could just squeeze out some spare time these days, I would have already filed a complaint with the league officials. Damn this group of e-sports hooligans!”

“It’s useless trying to look for help from the league. They’ve already said that we normally have good relations and that we’re just joking around before the match. Besides, they were obviously prepared.” Old Qiao sneered. “They don’t say anything too excessive on their official Twitter account. The really provocative ones, they send out using their boss and their manager’s personal accounts. These are personal statements and the league can’t control them. And also...”

Old Qiao said solemnly, “Trust me, they really haven’t begun to mess with our heads yet.”

Zhou Huo had to wisely abandon the idea. Still, he did not believe they could do anything worse.

Until the day of the rehearsal before the quarterfinals.

The venue for the quarter-finals has been changed. Unlike when they were playing in the group stage, the venue for the quarterfinals was changed to the local stadium which could accommodate the most spectator seating. There will be a bit more pre-match programs compared to the group stage, such having as an opening ceremony, introduce of each player’s military record, so on and so forth... The entire thing was going to be broadcasted live and so, to avoid any unforeseen incidents, the players had to go through the entire process once.

On the day of the rehearsal, Zhou Huo looked in satisfaction at the huge stadium that had been knocked together. This was the first time he had led a team to the World Championships. He felt that they were being given enough face. Zhou Huo had been smiling at the stadium since he had spotted it inside the car. That was until everyone got out of the car, entered the stage and passed the spectator seats.

Today was just a rehearsal but many of the local fans had also come.

Local fans naturally meant that they were supporters of Sacred Sword.

Today, all the quarterfinal teams were coming for the rehearsal. The organizer was worried about any accidents and set the guardrail up early to prevent fans from being carried away by their enthusiasm and rushing in, causing trouble to the players.

But while they could stop the fans, they couldn’t stop the fans’ lighted signs.

Zhou Huo saw the lights held by Sacred Sword’s fans and he heard their laughter. His face began to turn a little blue.

Zhou Huo walked in the forefront. He was worried that the players would notice the problem on the lighted signs so he quickly reduced the anger on his face, turned his head and urged, “Go on, hurry up. We’ll just have to go through it once and we can go back to the hotel. I’ve already informed them of our arrival. We arrived the earliest so we can rehearse first. Hurry up, don’t go looking around...”

Old Qiao and Chen Huo really hadn’t noticed anything. Puppy had on a headset and didn’t look around. He kept his head down and walked forward. Only Shi Luo inadvertently glanced at the noisy Sacred Sword fans.

Shi Luo looked at the lighted signs held by Sacred Sword’s fans in the distance and stopped.

Sacred Sword’s fans not only held lighted signs of their team but also of Yu Sui’s.

Yu Sui’s lighted sign that Sacred Sword’s fans held up read: EU-Whisper.

Because of his nationality, the fact that Yu Sui used this account name when he was playing for Sacred Sword was insulting.

The league competition was a competition between divisions, not between nationalities.

From beginning to end, there had never been any custom of adding a nationality prefix on player names.

Sacred Sword’s fans playing this hand was clearly meant to taunt Yu Sui for once playing for another country.

Translated, it was worse than when Yu Sui was sprayed by the domestic sprayers for being a disloyal slave.

When the fans saw that Shi Luo was watching them, they began to boo and jeer, shouting Whisper’s ID.

With the prefix, they first called out ‘EU’ and then ‘Whisper’. It was very rhythmic.

Walking ahead, Old Qiao and Chen Huo, turned their heads and the expression on their faces all changed.

Shi Luo’s face was frosty, he suddenly raised his hand and took off his sunglasses.

“What are you stopping for?”

Yu Sui had been the last one to get out of the car. He was silently walking behind Shi Luo. He put his hand on Shi Luo’s right hand, the one holding his sunglasses and said, “Let’s go.”

Shi Luo’s eyes swept across the Sacred Sword fans. He then put on his sunglasses again and proceeded backstage without saying a word.

Once backstage, Zhou Huo handed the players over to the team leader and went to find the league staff.

Zhou Huo didn’t come back. In the first half of the rehearsal, except for Yu Sui, all the members of Free had on icy expressions.

The staff member who went to receive Free for this rehearsal was constantly wiping away sweat. They didn’t dare say anything. They just kept apologizing, thanking them for their hard work.

No one spoke in Free’s lounge. Suddenly, Chen Huo got annoyed. He raised his head and asked the staff, “Just what are we working hard on?”

The staff was embarrassed. Yu Sui was playing Tetris and said quietly, “What good would it do to embarrass the staff?”

Chen Huo held down his irritation, stood up and said, “NSN is probably here too. I’ll go chat with Old Gu and the others.”

Puppy also didn’t bother waiting in the room. He got up and went with him.

Shi Luo wasn’t playing on his phone nor was he reading the flow chart. He sat on the sofa to one side and put his two long legs directly on the small coffee table in front of the sofa.

Yu Sui raised his eyes and glanced at Shi Luo. Then, he smiled.

Shi Luo was really angry this time.

Although Shi Luo looked like the perfect example of ‘stranger-danger’, he was actually very well-taught. Even in their home base, even when he was dead tired, he would never act like this.

Shi Luo was blaming the event organizers.

He was blaming the staff.

He was blaming them for letting in Sacred Sword’s fans and letting them hold up those insulting signs.

Yu Sui puts away his phone, walked over to Shi Luo and sat down.

Just as Yu Sui was about to speak, Shi Luo suddenly cut him off, “Don’t coax me.”

Yu Sui was startled.

Shi Luo’s face was red with anger. His lips moved, “I should be the one coaxing you...I haven’t adjusted my mood yet. So there’s no way I can comfort you. This is my problem.”

“If I still let you coax me at a time like this...” Shi Luo turned his head irritably, refusing to look at Yu Sui. After a while, he whispered, “I’d be a complete good-for-nothing.”

Yu Sui looked at Shi Luo and smiled.

His little boyfriend was too cute.

Shi Luo tried to control his temper, “Don’t talk. Give me a moment and I will coax you well.”

Yu Sui complied with his request and nodded. He continued to play Tetris.

Less than five minutes later, Shi Luo took off his hat and got up. With an angry expression on his face, he looked at the staff who were still in the lounge.

Shi Luo coldly issued an order to chase them out, “My teammate and I would like to be alone for a while, thank you.”

The staff nodded apologetically and went out.

Yu Sui put down his phone and looked at Shi Luo with a smile, waiting to see how Shi Luo would comfort him.

Shi Luo rubbed his hair and sat on the small coffee table in front of Yu Sui, leaning slightly to look at him.

Yu Sui looked at Shi Luo with a smile.

Shi Luo bowed his head and kissed Yu Sui’s lips.

Yu Sui said in a low voice, “That’s it?”

“There’s more...but you’ll have to wait until the end of the World Championships.” Shi Luo whispered, “After the World Championships...I’ll go wherever you want me to go, you...”

Shi Luo’s voice went even smaller, “You can do whatever you want.”

Shi Luo murmured, “This time, I won’t ever say no... We’ll do whatever you want.”

Yu Sui’s lashes moved slightly, “...you should know, this kind of little thing isn’t enough to mess with my thinking.”

“I know.” Shi Luo kissed Yu Sui’s lips again. His voice was a little husky, “But it’s not going to get in the way of me loving you.”

Yu Sui’s eyes moved.

There was a knock on the door of the lounge and the staff outside reminded Free that the rehearsal could begin.

Yu Sui gently pushed Shi Luo away, “I’ve long been used to these things. This really doesn’t bother me. But having my boyfriend feel wronged on my behalf...This matter needs to be settled.”

Shi Luo frowned, “What?”

The staff opened the door and came in. Yu Sui didn’t speak any more He took the jacket from beside him, put it on and left the lounge.

The rehearsal began. The two teams stood separately on one side of the two corridors backstage. The captain of each team stood at the front and the host outside on stage began the pre-match introductions.

Yu Sui rubbed his neck and suddenly looked at the Captain of Sacred Sword beside him.

Shi Luo, who was standing at the back of the line, looked up to the front and frowned, “What are they talking about?”

Yu Sui was speaking German and Shi Luo couldn’t understand a word of it.

But he saw the face of Sacred Sword’s captain changed and his expression become hesitant.

Behind Yu Sui, Puppy and Chen Huo suddenly laughed and Shi Luo was even more befuddled.

Yu Sui waited quietly, a bit of taunting in his eyes.

After a full minute, Sacred Sword’s captain nodded and cursed again. The last sentence was swearing and Shi Luo understood that.

Shi Luo’s eyes widened instantly. Before he could ask, Chen Huo, who was standing in front of Shi Luo, turned around and laughed, “Do you know what Yu Sui just did? Hahaha...My Yu Shen suddenly had a fit of bad temper.”

The gloomy expression on Chen Huo’s face was wiped clear, “Yu Sui just said to Sacred Sword’s Captain, ‘I don’t think you’re worth it but today I’m not in a particularly good mood, so I suddenly wanted to have a little fun’.”

“In the quarterfinals, Yu Sui wants to have an account-deleting wager with them and Sacred Sword agreed.”

“It goes without saying how valuable Yu Sui’s account is. This is the player account with the most honors in the league. The only living fossil officially recognized by the league. If we lose, Yu Sui will immediately delete his account, never to be retrieved, after we finish the last BO5 game with Sacred Sword.”

“But if we win, Sacred Sword will destroy even the accounts of their boss, manager and all the team members under them, never to be retrieved ever again.”