Chapter 1

“Clash of the Sacred Domain” is the hottest 5v5 hero battle MOBA game in recent years, with immense popularity and rapid development. Even a passing dog could play a couple of rounds. The various live streams and professional competitions derived from it also enjoy high popularity.

Today is Wednesday. However, a certain live streaming room in the Sacred Domain Clash section of Miaotu TV is completely unaffected by the weekday, with its popularity still booming and the number of online viewers reaching over 30,000.

The owner of this live streaming room is Bian Yan, a game streamer who has quickly risen to fame in the past two years with his “Card Flow” flashy operations. His ID is Sorry.

The streamer has been stuck in the Diamond rank for a long time. Viewers who watch his streams do so for laughs, for his cheeky banter, or simply for his looks. But one thing is certain: no one is there to learn skills.

With a face that should be the star attraction at a bar, combined with his flashy skins and cheeky operations that could kill with laughter, Bian Yan stands out among the technical streamers on Miaotu TV, becoming the one with the most haters and mom fans. Even if he didn’t play games, he could make a name for himself in the looks category.

[On Screen]

While operating, Bian Yan opens the control panel. The opposing 0-3 marksman has eight seconds left to respawn. The person who was originally leaning back in his chair suddenly perks up, straightening his back quickly, with a sly smile curling at the corner of his mouth.

[Netizen A: My son is smiling, someone’s in trouble~]

[Netizen B: Let’s send the opposing marksman back to the fountain again]

A long string of “hahahahaha” flies across the screen, creating a spectacular scene. Those who don’t know might think Bian Yan has already scored a pentakill.

Bian Yan is playing the Fire Child this round, a character with no displacement and simple operations, but with high damage. He skillfully maneuvers the flamboyantly dressed Fire Child, easily avoiding all the minion waves and sneaking into the enemy’s red zone.

Bian Yan twists his fingers, and the Fire Child slips into the bush near the enemy’s second tower on the top lane. The opposing marksman has respawned and left the fountain. The priority is to secure the red buff to ensure development and output as much as possible.

Perhaps due to being caught by Bian Yan before, the marksman is extremely cautious this time, taking a detour to avoid all the bushes. He even calls for the support, and the two linger in front of the red buff bush for a while.

The marksman stands far away, out of attack range, and Bian Yan waits patiently. Until the marksman starts attacking the red buff—

The Fire Child moves. Bian Yan, under the damage, smoothly uses a skill to slow down, then quickly unleashes a combo. The opposing support doesn’t even have time to react before their marksman evaporates on the spot.

The screen triggers the “Instant Kill Moment 100%” announcement. The low-health Fire Child grabs the kill and runs, nimbly jumping through the bushes along the way, with vision flickering on and off. The opposing support chases relentlessly.

Soon, they reach the first tower on the development road. “Chasing a low-health Fire Child, are you waiting to die?” The boy sneers, lowering his eyes to operate, with only his rising and falling brow bones and handsome nose visible on the screen.

The Fire Child unleashes a combo, and the support is already low on health. Of course, he won’t make a fool of himself again and turns to run. But Bian Yan won’t miss this chance to grab a kill, so all you hear is a clang—

It’s the sound of him freeing his hands and tossing his phone onto the table. The Fire Child on the screen suddenly “lags.” Playing hard to get, fishing enforcement.

The Fire Child’s bounty is extremely high at this point, and the opposing support can’t resist the temptation, immediately launching a tentative attack. Even though it’s a support, a set of skills leaves the Fire Child with just a sliver of health.

Just as the support is about to land the final blow— Bian Yan quickly heals himself, immediately counterattacks, and unleashes a combo as smoothly as when he killed the opposing marksman. Unfortunately, he can’t finish him off, and the low-health support struggles desperately. At the critical moment, a red circle of light appears!

It’s an execution! The opposing support falls with a line, adding another victim to tonight’s Sacred Domain. The bullet screen fittingly fills with white candles, killing with a heart.

Bian Yan skillfully types “Sorry,” matching his game ID “Sorry,” which looks as mocking as it sounds. “Not taking apprentices.” Bian Yan doesn’t even lift his head, already knowing what the bullet screen is saying, his tone extremely arrogant.

[Viewer 1: Damn, when will I ever not laugh when I see Sorry card and counter-kill the opponent?]

[Viewer 2: Not taking apprentices, hahaha, who understands my crappy sense of humor!]

Bian Yan’s Fire Child is well-developed, killing instantly upon appearing, and soon secures victory in this match. He takes off his headphones, closes his eyes, and stretches, his superior neck line very eye-catching, and his eyelashes thick and long.

But the words he says are in stark contrast— “Gonna take a leak.” With that, he gets up and leaves. The viewers are clearly used to his antics, chatting away in the empty live streaming room—

[Viewer 3: The streamer is pretending with us, why not stream going to the bathroom?]

[Viewer 4: Add one, add one, I can help with the belt!]

[Viewer 5: My ancestors helped others with their pants, I’m the fifth-generation heir of my family!]

[Viewer 6: Hey, hey, you guys upstairs, watch out, the abacus beads are hitting me.]

Just as everyone is chatting enthusiastically, a starry world entrance animation suddenly floats into the live streaming room—

[Supreme Emperor – Po Bing enters the live streaming room]

The bullet screen immediately stops discussing who will help the streamer with his pants, and very tacitly starts spamming—

• Ice Ice Sister is here!
• Hahaha, did Ice Ice Sister come after watching Nova’s highlight reel again?
• The truth upstairs, Ice Ice Sister watched Nova’s godly operations and came here to add a bit of unhappiness to her life.

Nova, a former contracted esports player for the well-known domestic esports team WIN, played as a marksman. During his time as a solo player, he had impressive records, and during youth training, he gained quite a reputation.

Back then, he and WIN’s current jungler Pei Yun Chang were evenly matched, with smooth and clean operations and advanced game understanding. Everyone anticipated how he would perform on the professional stage once he officially came of age after youth training.

But no one expected that the day after he came of age, he was invited out of the team by WIN’s announcement, disappearing without a trace. Since Nova was not yet of age during his fame, he never played in official matches, making him a mysterious figure in the esports fan circle.

No photos, no name, just a code name “Nova.” The fleeting genius boy is the easiest setup to spark imagination. So in recent years, rumors about him have become increasingly outrageous, with some even saying, “If Nova were still playing, he’d be the number one in esports.”

The boy has already gone silent, but his highlight reels from back then remain material for many netizens to reminisce about. [Where is he?] Po Bing’s bullet screen, accompanied by flashy effects, slowly floats across the top of the live streaming room.

Although there’s no subject, the familiar tone and a stance of checking in make it clear who he’s talking about. Po Bing is a veteran viewer in Bian Yan’s live streaming room, present even before he developed the high-traffic “Card Flow” playstyle.

She is very generous, spending thousands on gifts every time Bian Yan streams, and even tens of thousands on special holidays. Due to her unclear profession and unknown identity, with only her profile’s gender showing as female, Bian Yan’s fans affectionately call her “Ice Ice Sister.”

There are even rumors that Po Bing is the daughter of Miaotu TV’s owner. Her profile has nothing posted, only a long list of honorary titles for gifting Bian Yan, plus a viewing record of Nova’s operation clips.

So viewers gradually started joking that Po Bing either watched Bian Yan and then went to watch Nova to cleanse her eyes, or watched Nova and then came to Bian Yan to find some unhappiness. Before the bullet screen could answer her question, Bian Yan came back, shaking water droplets from his hands.

He immediately spotted Po Bing’s flashy and cool name in the audience. “Welcome, Boss Ice, to the live streaming room. What hero do you want to see?” Bian Yan, changing his previously arrogant attitude, sat down, pulled out a tissue, and asked with a cheeky smile while wiping his hands.

[Netizen A: Son, your differential treatment really makes mom feel cold-hearted…]

[Netizen F: Cut it out, why don’t you give him a few thousand?]

This time, Bian Yan is playing the utility hero Ghost Butterfly, with no damage but all three skills are control. Whether by coincidence or not, whenever Po Bing comes, Bian Yan abandons the bush trio and picks a hero with slightly more operational difficulty.

Viewers just assume it’s a bit of a young man’s pride and never expose it. Ghost Butterfly’s control is very annoying, so Bian Yan amplifies this point, directly abandoning his lane to help his team’s top lane gain an advantage.

In four minutes, the opposing top laner has been killed three times and has no choice but to switch lanes with the marksman. Seeing the marksman is like a cat spotting a mouse, Bian Yan’s radar immediately goes off.

[Netizen 4: A moment of silence for the opposing marksman…]

The opposing marksman has a lot of displacement, so Bian Yan doesn’t waste skills, directly taking a risky move and going up to face him with an ultimate. Yes, he “lagged” again.

Unsurprisingly, five seconds later, the screen announces Ghost Butterfly’s solo kill on the marksman. “Tsk, fooled another one.” Bian Yan stands by the opposing marksman’s corpse, recalling to base, and silently types “Sorry” again.

[Hahahahahahaha——]

Everyone is used to his operations, but among the usual teasing bullet screens, a few clearly provocative comments suddenly appear—

[Has the streamer ever seen what a national standard looks like?]

[This operation can only fool low-score Diamond players. If you really meet a marksman like Pei Yun Chang from A University back then, you’d be waiting to die.]

The bullet screen scrolls quickly, but Bian Yan happens to see this one. He frowns.

[Why is this person making such a big deal out of it?]

[Pei Yun Chang has already switched to jungler, playing marksman is a thing of the past, what’s there to compare?]

[So what, even if Pei switched to jungler, his marksman was still top-notch!]

[Then what if compared to Nova back then?!]

…

The bullet screen drifts further and further, seemingly about to spark a fan circle war. After all, Pei Yun Chang’s fans are incredibly combative, and any topic mentioning the marksman-turned-jungler Pei Yun Chang can spark a thousand-layer debate.

“I never said it wasn’t true.” Bian Yan quickly finishes the match, casually agreeing. “I really can’t fool Pei Yun Chang’s marksman, besides, aren’t I an entertainment streamer?”

Bian Yan shrugs, his tone nonchalant. This works well, quickly calming the situation. Bian Yan smiles indifferently, silently lowering his head to start the next match, but a line suddenly floats across the top of the live streaming room—

[No, Pei Yun Chang would fall for it too.] It’s from Po Bing.