The coach, who usually didn’t pay attention to Weibo, saw his players all on their phones.

“We’re about to go on the field. Put your phones down! What’s with all this internet addiction? If we lose today, I’m going to twist your heads off and use them as a ball!”

The ST starting players, who had been distracted by their phones, were taken aback by the coach’s stern words. In response, they couldn’t help but feel a little sheepish and silently wondered, “Do they really love having that thing around their neck so much?”—referring to their phones, which seemed to have a hold on them.

Kuang Ye and the others quickly turned off their phones and began preparing seriously for the match. After all, it was a matter of their heads, and there was no room for carelessness.

Meanwhile, O Lan’s Weibo gained a more positive response because of Kuang Ye’s reaction.

– “This guy is trying to steal our Wild God’s girlfriend?”
– “No, I think it’s probably just a misunderstanding. Wan isn’t blind. Who would choose this little scrub over Wild God?”
– “I had a friend who knows how to Photoshop look at the those photos. The chat log pic on Weibo was definitely edited. The streamer really got the short end of the stick—being falsely accused and doxxed.”
– “That original poster is too much. They ruined an innocent person’s life with online harassment.”
– “Ladies, cherish this moment. This is a screenshot I took from a live stream today, I think it’s Wan. Damn, she’s so breathtakingly beautiful.”

Everyone clicked the link, and it showed a GLF picture: the woman had long flowing hair, delicate features, and a cold, detached gaze like a dark, porcelain doll. She was holding the camera at arm’s length, taking a self-shot.

– “Ahhhhh, who is this beautiful, intense woman?”
– “A goddess has descended! Her beauty, her aura—what could have happened to make our Wan so angry? Her eyes are practically frozen.”
– “Isn’t that the internet celebrity who went to O Lan’s sister’s hospital to cause trouble? The figure standing next to her, not showing his face, seems like Wild God?”
– “Oh my god, it’s him! He’s playing in the competition, wearing the same clothes!”
– “I went to the hospital with my mom today. I was there in person. It was seriously beyond words, so incredible. I’ll tell you all about it once I’m done in the bathroom.”
– “……”
– “Still in the bathroom?”
– “Did you fall asleep there?”
– “Ugh, Wan’s photo is gone.”
– “I can’t click into it anymore.”

The topic among the crowd gradually drifted off course, eventually sinking into some kind of Mariana Trench. However, after the photo was confirmed to be photoshopped, the original Weibo poster was immediately bombarded with criticism from netizens.

Many netizens weren’t just keyboard warriors; they truly sympathized with the woman’s ordeal and wanted to help her vent her frustration. But they didn’t expect that this would become a weapon in someone else’s hands. The Weibo poster logged into the backend several times but dared not speak. This guilty behavior quickly alerted netizens, who began relentlessly questioning her in the comments section. Some people even began to use the situation as a new emotional outlet, stomping all over it. Evil people always end up paying for their misdeeds.

Not long after, the woman who posted the Weibo clarified under pressure. She revealed that her ex-boyfriend wasn’t O Lan, but the star streamer, Lan Tiange from Xingchen Streaming Platform. He had sent her nude photos to her parents, threatening her that if she didn’t comply, he would send them to all of her relatives. She didn’t want her parents to be embarrassed, so she had no choice but to…

The matter was settled. Everyone felt sorry for the innocent victims, O Lan and Mu Wan. As for Lan Tiange, O Lan had reported him to the police for intentional framing. Lan Tiange was taken to the police station for investigation, where it was discovered that he had used improper means to force out several other streamers in the same field. His methods had been discreet, which is why he had avoided detection until now.

Once the scandal broke, several former streamers, or those who no longer worked for Xingchen, came forward:

– “I fucking knew something was up during that time, I kept running into trouble.”
– “He was once with my manager. My data was doing fine, then suddenly, I was switched to another team for no reason, and my numbers plummeted.”
– “What a shameless scoundrel.”
– “Compared to what O Lan went through, we got off easy. He was trying to drive someone to the brink of ruin. O Lan’s sister is still in the hospital!”
– “If he had just told the girl not to expose him, this wouldn’t have blown up. But his malicious plans backfired, didn’t they?”
– “Let’s just say, bad people always get what they deserve.”
– “I don’t want to talk about his ex, though. She’s also a victim, but she’s also an accomplice. I can’t even imagine what would have happened to O Lan if Wan and Wild God hadn’t helped him.”

Indeed, if Mu Wan and Kuang Ye hadn’t been there to help, what would have happened to O Lan? Watching Mu Wan, who had just put her phone down and was now discussing music with her sister, O Lan thought about it.

If his sister’s condition worsened and he couldn’t afford the surgery, he would probably have continued streaming. He would have forced a smile while enduring all those vicious comments. He would have comforted his sister, saying he was fine, but deep down, he would have been terrified of every phone call, scared of every stranger’s gaze. And after raising enough for her surgery, he would have collapsed.

The terror of online abuse was something he had only experienced for a short while, and even that made him shiver. He wasn’t strong enough to handle it. ^[1]T/L’s Note: Hugs for you O Lan huhu

—

“Congratulations to ST for securing the victory in this match!” the commentator announced with a chuckle, her tone light and playful as the tension from the game dissolved into celebratory cheers. She then added a quip that had the audience laughing, “It seems the starting players’ heads are safe—they won’t be used for a game of Five in a Row after all.”^[2]The remark referenced a humorous threat the ST coach had made earlier in the day. Frustrated by his team’s lack of focus before the match, he jokingly warned that if they lost, he’d “twist … Continue reading

After the victory, the commentator, who was also Jiang Shixi’s girlfriend, couldn’t help but tease.

Coach: “What Five in a Row?”
Manager: “You don’t want to know. Also, don’t go online for a while.”

In the esports world, it’s a well-known rule that when professional players announce their relationships, there’s no avoiding criticism. It’s not just female fans, but many male fans feel that “women affect the speed at which you draw your sword.”^[3]“women affect the speed at which you draw your sword” is a colorful metaphor often used in competitive or intense fields, particularly those involving high levels of focus and discipline, … Continue reading The coach is usually the most criticized, blamed for not keeping control of his players and being accused of giving out too little work.