On the other side, at the ST base, after Kuang Ye finished his basic training, he went back to his dorm to take a shower. He came out wrapped in just a towel. In the esports industry, professional players usually train late at night, and the team doctor, concerned about the potential health issues they might face at such a young age, had set up a strict physical training plan for them. As a result, Kuang Ye had a great physique—eight-pack abs, broad shoulders, and a narrow waist. Shen Lele had once said that even if Kuang Ye stopped being an esports player in the future, he could easily transition to being a professional male model.

He dried his hair with a towel, his eyes briefly landing on the roses sitting on the windowsill, his expression softening a little. As soon as he unmuted his phone, a notification sound from WeChat went off. Seeing the friend request, the smile at the corner of his mouth deepened, and he immediately accepted it.

Mu Wan would never know. This engagement wasn’t just a whim of the old Mr. Kuang. It was Kuang Ye betting everything he had, making his final push for a chance.

—

As soon as Mu Wan saw that her friend request had been accepted, she immediately opened the chat window. After some hesitating and deleting, she finally sent a message with a smile emoji.

“Congratulations on winning the championship.”
“Can you teach me how to play the game?”

The moment she sent it, Mu Wan regretted it. Would Kuang Ye think that everything she was doing was just to get a pro player to help her with the game for free? She quickly tried to retract the message.

But the reply came first.

“Okay.”

“Huh???”

Mu Wan’s eyes widened in surprise. Kuang Ye actually agreed! She hugged her pillow and rolled around on the bed in pure joy. After a couple of spins, she finally responded.

“I’ll log in now.”

Since it was her first time logging into the game, there was a tutorial for beginners. Afraid of making Kuang Ye wait too long, Mu Wan quickly skipped through it.

Finally, when they matched up and reached the hero selection screen, she froze.

Huh? What did the NPC say earlier again?

She felt a bit embarrassed and took a photo to ask Kuang Ye.

Mu Wan: 【(photo) Which one should I choose?】

Kuang Ye quickly replied: 【Pick the one you like.】

So, Mu Wan returned to the hero selection screen and without hesitation, chose the most beautiful model. They entered the game. She wasn’t very skilled, and seeing everyone else head down the three lanes, she chose one as well. Then, first blood! Mu Wan contributed the first kill to the enemy.

“……”

The hero Mu Wan picked was called Wind Spirit, a support character whose skill involves riding on other heroes’ heads, giving them magic bonuses and shields. This hero requires a lot of operational awareness, and for beginners, it’s easy to mess up. Since Kuang Ye’s rating was high, the game matched them with players who weren’t beginners. As soon as they saw the situation, they immediately spoke up on voice chat.

“Can the support even play? Giving away kills under the tower, reported.”

“Nine out of ten Wind Spirits are bad. This game is 4v5, just surrender.”

Mu Wan wasn’t the type to back down. On the contrary, as the precious daughter of the Mu family, she had a somewhat arrogant personality. Seeing those insults, her face darkened and she immediately started typing a retort. But just then, she heard a game notification sound—Kuang Ye had just secured a double kill against the enemy ADC and support.

In the chat:
“I’ll make up for the economy she gave away, double it back. Shut up, got it?”

The chat area instantly went quiet. As promised, Kuang Ye made sure that whenever Mu Wan died, he would get two kills for the team. A lower-level match against professional players was like fishing in a barrel for him. He made it look easy. The victory was clear.

At the end, her teammates in the chat expressed their awe:
“In the future, if you’re going to carry a girl, please use this standard.”

Mu Wan’s face flushed. Although it was just in the game, being carried by someone with such skill, unconditionally protecting her, really hit her sweet spot.

Mu Wan: 【Can you enable voice chat?】
Kuang Ye: 【Sure.】

She put on her headphones, and her WeChat popped up with a voice message. Kuang Ye’s deep, husky voice came through her earbuds.

“Next match, you’re with me.”

Mu Wan’s voice was soft: “Okay.”

Then, in the second match, Mu Wan didn’t choose the delicate, slim Wind Spirit who could ride on teammates’ heads. Instead, she randomly selected a hero riding a horse, with thick eyebrows, big eyes, and a wild look, the perfect opposite of the support hero.

Kuang Ye, wanting to help Mu Wan improve her game experience, said, “….”

While Mu Wan was researching the hero’s abilities, a deep, pleasant voice came into her ears, teasing yet with a hint of tenderness.

“This horse can’t ride on my head.”

Mu Wan’s face turned red, and feeling embarrassed, she automatically activated her defense mechanism and retorted sharply.

“Who needs to ride on your head? I have my own horse.”

The laughter in his voice grew louder, and after a while, a soft, affectionate whisper reached her ears.

“As you command, young lady.”

—

After playing games all night, Mu Wan finally got the hang of the basic rules. Because she had stayed up so late, she fell into a deep sleep, but Kuang Ye couldn’t do the same—he had to go for a morning run and then training. After the morning run, the team manager pulled Kuang Ye aside and asked seriously.

“Kuang Ye, are you in a relationship?”

Kuang Ye: “?? What are you talking about?”

The manager pulled out a screenshot and confronted him.

“This is your smurf account, right? Ten or so double-ranked matches, and you said [I’ll make up for the economy she gave away, double it back. Shut up, got it?]—do you dare to say you’re not in a relationship?”

Kuang Ye: “……”

Who has that much time to screenshot low-tier matchups and send them around?