As Da Ming took a breath, his brother Da Qing already knew what he wanted to say. Quick as lightning, he covered his little brother’s mouth and dragged him into the team’s van, not letting him reveal the woman’s identity.

Da Ming squirmed like a fish out of water on his seat for a while before breaking free from Da Qing’s grasp. With a pair of terrified eyes, he whispered to his brother, “Is he crazy? Wasn’t this person one of the most active fans of our team? Always talking about liking the captain, how come she’s with Lian now? Was it her he went to a hotel with last night? Then what about before that……”

Was that girl Lian fought for a fan too?

One-night stands with fans.

These few words suddenly appeared in Da Ming’s mind, making him too ashamed to lift his head. “How could he do such a thing?”

If this got out, it was going to be a huge scandal.

The club would definitely be affected too.”

Voices outside the car door could be heard conversing. It turned out to be the female fan ganking the last person getting into the car, Lu Qi, “Qi Ge, can you give me an autograph?”

Lu Qi’s response was quite cold, “Sorry, no, we’re rushing to a match.”

The female fan was persistent, “Lian promised to take me around your base for a look, can I go into your dorms?”

When she asked this, her voice became more coquettish.

“He’s lying to you,” Lu Qi sneered, “The base isn’t his alone, can he just bring people in as he pleases?”

Moreover, Lu Qi disliked people entering the dorm for no reason— —even though it was not just his dorm.

The last time a program came to record a video at JK’s base, when asked if they could enter the rooms, Captain Lu’s face immediately darkened, and he coldly replied with two words without any warmth: “Not allowed.”

The girl instantly looked like she was about to cry.

Lian looked over with a disdainful expression, and waved impatiently, “Xiao Xin, come here, I said I’ll take you, why listen to him blabber?”

As Xiao Xin looked towards Lian, Lu Qi broke free from her grip on his clothes, stepped into the car with a long stride, and closed the door.

As the car drove away, everyone inside breathed a sigh of relief.

Despite being a fan, that person gave them a feeling of being surrounded by zombies

The match was scheduled for 6 PM, with the previous regular match at 3 PM.

ARE vs. ET.

They left so early, rather than saying it was to prepare for the match, it was more like they were avoiding the plague.

As JK’s car left the base, they coincidentally saw their brother team, ARE’s nanny car just emerging from the neighborhood. Spotting JK’s car, Qing Guang rolled down the window and greeted them.

“Your match is in the evening, why are you leaving so early? To watch our match?”

Da Qing rolled down the car window and loudly responded, “To see you guys lose your pants and have a crazy meeting on Tieba!”

“Pei!” The captain of the neighboring team, Qing Guang, angrily rolled up the car window.

JK burst into laughter, attracting the extremely dissatisfied gaze of the captain who was sleeping with his head covered.

‧

Approximately an hour and a half drive later, when everyone got out of the car, their steps were wobbly. They could not help but admire the captain’s decision — — it was a good thing they arrived early; if they had come late, they would not even know if they could play the match when they got off the car.

After a simple meal and a short rest, they saw on the big screen in the lounge that the regular group match was already in preparation. The door of the neighboring team’s lounge, ARE, also opened, and Qing Guang led the team members to get ready to go on stage.

Before leaving, Qing Guang knocked on JK’s door, “What do you guys think of ET?”

“Very strong,” JK’s captain replied concisely.

“Can we win?” Qing Guang asked again.

Lu Qi replied, “I can, you can’t.”

The neighboring team collectively cupped their fists, “Thanks for the toxic milk^[1]Usually refers to someone jinxing something, Lu Qi, we’ll give you a red envelope when we win. Bye!”

Lu Qi: “……”

Yu Yue sat up halfway on the couch, watching the ongoing scene with a puzzled expression.

“Don’t understand, huh?” Da Ming laughed heartily, “Promise me you’ll only be my support later, and I’ll tell you.”

Yu Yue’s face showed a conflicted expression and after a while, she shrugged, “I’d rather not know.”

Da Ming: “Why not? I’m your favorite ADC!”

“Because there’s no future following you,” Lu Qi closed the door and walked back, saying calmly, “In this meta, supporting the marksman is a bit silly. In the KPL region, apart from ADS, no one dares to play as a marksman’s support. If you want to play as a marksman’s support, excuse me but are you CET4?”

Da Ming lowered his head in shame.

“Looking back a few seasons, the marksman might not even make it to the competitive stage,” Da Qing said, “but the marksman is still strong, especially after several revamps, now some marksmen fight tanks like a father beating his son.”

As a top laner, Da Qing had a lot of say in this matter.

Because he was the top laner who was constantly hammered down by the marksman.

“One season of meta, one season of gods. ADS just happened to conform to the meta this season, hence they’re quite strong. IF JK wins in the loser’s bracket and the regular group matches, successfully making it into the top four, I hope that ADS gets eliminated quickly by the other teams in the winner’s bracket,” Ling Chen said.

After some calculation in his mind, Da Qing said, “The winner’s bracket consists of QAQ, FLY, ECR, and ADS. Who do you think ADS would be better off facing?”

Everyone had the same answer in mind.

Of course, it’s QAQ, they can eliminate them in one go, with no suspense at all!

Ling Chen analyzed rationally, “ECR won’t do, their strength lies in their top laner Cai Shen. But FLY can give it a try, against ADS, it’s a fifty-fifty chance. They can fight, but it wouldn’t be as suspenseless as against QAQ, with a clean sweep elimination.”

“When will the mage meta come around,” Da Ming sighed, “then our team will definitely make it to the finals. After all, our Qi Ge is a top-tier mid laner!”

“You’re daydreaming,” Da Qing disdainfully said to his younger brother, “as a noble damage dealer, you want to be carried? How about I switch positions with you, and you go play as an orphan on the side lane?”

Once the thought of being ganged up on by several people crossed his mind, Da Ming quickly shrunk his head, “I’ll carry! I don’t want to be carried! But……even the orphan side lane can’t just lie down and be carried, right?”

“No position allows for lying down and being carried,” Yu Yue finally chimed in, “They’re all equally important.”

There was a commotion outside, and before the people in the room could figure out what was going on, the door to the lounge was pushed open, revealing several individuals holding microphones and cameras, along with their awkward team manager, Xiao Ruo.

The coaching staff was the first to step forward, “What’s going on?”

“They’re here for a visit,” Xiao Ruo succinctly stated, “since there was no prior appointment, we can’t accept your interviews. Please don’t make things difficult for us.”

“Sure, sure, your match is at 6 PM, so there’s plenty of time now,” the lead girl said. Noticing Lu Qi standing up, her voice raised by eight decibels, “Qi Ge, I’m from the ‘Voice of Glory’ program. Can I ask you a few questions?”

“No,” Lu Qi replied even more succinctly than Xiao Ruo.

All the players present discreetly gave their bold captain a thumbs up.

Our Qi Ge is the boldest.

With an aura of two meters eight.

Wiping his sweat, Xiao Ruo followed up with a forced smile, saying, “Although not on stage for the match, the players and coaching staff need to discuss tactics. Please don’t disturb them. Of course, you can schedule a time with me for an interview.”

Ignoring Xiao Ruo, the female journalist walked straight into the lounge, “JK seems to be in good shape, but why didn’t they send starter Lian against QL and instead bring in substitute Eden? Is JK planning to have Eden as the starter, benching Lian, or are you hiding your strength?”

The way she said it made it seem like Eden was inferior to Lian.

Everyone present was somewhat displeased.

To avoid disturbing the players’ mood, Xiao Ruo, who had been advising politely all along, could not help but raise his voice, “I’m JK’s team manager. If you have any queries, you can schedule with me for a discussion. Don’t disturb the players!”

“Eden! The forums are all calling for you to play, do you also think you’re stronger than Lian?”

“Alright, that’s enough! We won’t answer any of your questions. Please leave immediately, this is not a place for you to be.” Lu Qi, unable to bear it any longer, told Xiao Ruo, “Get security.”

Facing Lu Qi’s dark-as-the-bottom-of-a-pan face, Xiao Ruo did not dare to make a sound and hurried off to call the arena security.

For the follow-up questions, it was clear that JK had no intention of answering anything, and eventually, the cameraman awkwardly put down the camera.

Once the security had escorted the intruders away, Da Qing and Da Ming cautiously approached Yu Yue, “You don’t need to worry about this kind of situation; it’s very rare…… Not sure how they managed to get in without anyone stopping them. Don’t bother with those comments.”

“I’m not bothered, thanks for your concern,” Yu Yue smiled.

Her gaze was particularly pure, and in an instant, Da Qing and Da Ming felt like they might have been overthinking things.

Anyone who could compete in esports could not be considered as fragile.

“Senior Lian has been playing far longer than me, so having fans support him is normal,” Yu Yue said lightly, jotting down some of QL’s habits in her notebook, “But that’s okay, I’ll have my fans sooner or later.”

Once she had her own fans, she’d pamper them to the sky!

Let them feel the love of the professional player they are a fan of!

Da Ming exclaimed excitedly, “You will have them!”

Yu Yue clenched her fist, “I must!”

Lu Qi, on the other hand, remained expressionless, looking at the bot lane duo with a faintly disdainful look that seemed to say, “Are they dumb?”

“Oh, forgot to mention,” Da Ming added, “most of the fans in our team are Qi Ge’s solo fans. So he’s very proud!”

“I just hope some of them have a bit of brains, rather than just liking my face,” Lu Qi snorted.

“What are you writing?” Ling Chen saw Yu Yue writing quickly and hurried over— —

This little book of Yu Yue’s was quite magical, like a legendary spellbook, recording many things they had not noticed before.

They used to jokingly call that little book ‘The Girl’s Diary,’ but now they can’t wait to treat ‘The Girl’s Diary’ as their new obsession.

Every time Yu writes something in it, it attracts a group of big men, tightly surrounding her, trying to see what’s written in the little book.

“Last night, I reviewed a few classic battles of QL, including shutout games and turnover games,” Yu Yue said. “And then I realized that this team is just as you guys evaluated yesterday. They have strong individual combat abilities, but teamwork is lacking. Basically, you can’t expect them to cooperate well to play a game.”

“The games they win, the three lanes all exploded and the jungle was invaded,” Yu Yue turned a page of her diary and continued earnestly, “But in the turnover games, you can find five or more flaws in almost every match.”

One flaw could lead to disaster, so having five flaws would be a lost cause, right?

“Especially the top laner and support, their dissonance with the team is very apparent.”

Ling Chen thought for a moment and said, “The top laner and support……is Qing Ming and Xiao Wei, right?”

“Uh……” Daming suddenly said, “I really want to see QL and ARE play a match.”

“They’ve already played. Didn’t they play during the regular season? QL is in serious internal conflict now, they can’t even beat us, let alone the adjusted ARE afterward.” Da Qing realized he had spoken too much and quickly tried to remedy it under Lu Qi’s silent gaze, “But the game we played against QL during the regular season was in early April, it’s been almost two months now, who knows if they have new strategies.”

Lu Qi grunted. “Even with new strategies, they need to be able to work together. In QL, probably only the jungler, Juan Zhi, wants to win.” 

Yu Yue closed the little book, summarizing her insights from watching so many QL matches. “When facing QL, I suggest focusing on breaking through from all three lanes, singly picking them off. But compared to the mid laner, who likes to play fortress mages and is extremely sneaky, it might be easier to gank the top and bot lane.”

Before the coach could speak, Da Qing and Da Ming raised their hands and feet in agreement.

“That makes sense. The side lanes are left on their own, and Ling Chen usually doesn’t have time to support there. Da Qing gets very unhappy when he’s left alone all day, especially since their team isn’t very harmonious to begin with.”

If they keep ganking, the team might end up fighting internally among themselves.

Coach: “……”

He was angry at being interrupted but felt somewhat reassured seeing they had their own ideas.

‧

ET was an uprising strong team, surprisingly formidable, going back and forth with ARE, and in the end, ARE won the match with a score of 3:2, successfully advancing.

After the handshake, the first thing that Qing Guang did was knock on JK’s door, regardless of whether Lu Qi wanted it or not, he forcibly shook hands with Lu Qi, expressing gratitude as if JK had just saved the whole world, ” Qi Ge, thank you so much! We almost turned over on ET, but thankfully, you opened your golden mouth.”

Behind them, Da Ming quietly told a bewildered Yu Yue, “Qi Ge, besides being unlucky, is also a jinx. His predictions always fail. If he says you can’t beat them, you can beat them.”

Yu Yue: “!!!!!”