Assassin, Don't Be Too Arrogant [E-sports] - Chapter 14

[Female Ghost: Looking at me like that now, thinking things might take a turn for the better? Don’t even dream of it!]

The female ghost glared at him viciously and tossed the heart aside.

[Female Ghost: I’m going to kill everyone in the village you’re protecting!]

[Village Chief’s Wife: Ah! You’ve wronged him! It was all me, everything was caused by me! Your heart is with me, not with him…]

The female ghost was momentarily stunned.

[Female Ghost: What do you mean by that?]

The village chief’s wife was crying so hard she could barely catch her breath. Growing impatient, the female ghost trembled as she quickly grabbed the village chief’s wife by the neck.

[Female Ghost: I asked you what that means!]

[Village Chief: Yan’er, it was my fault!]

Using his last ounce of strength, the village chief could only manage to lift his hand. Unfortunately, before it could reach her cheek, it fell heavily.

Seeing this, the village chief’s wife removed her golden hairpin and followed him in death.

For some reason, the two quickly transformed into a wisp of golden light, as if drawn by an attraction, and merged into the female ghost’s body.

All of their memories surfaced, and the female ghost gradually felt her blood flowing once more. Her entire being transformed back into her living flesh, that long-lost thing…

“Thump—thump—”

Beating so powerfully.

The screen gradually darkened, reflecting the faces of the two. Then, lines of text appeared across the sky—

[Congratulations, player, for completing the dungeon—Eroding Heart, achieving the perfect ending: Repayment.]

[Congratulations, player, for earning the achievement: Your Heart, My Heart, They Seem Alike.]

[Congratulations, player, for unlocking the Eroding Heart map, available for free exploration.]

[Congratulations, players Jyao and Wzhe for obtaining the “Master and Disciple” bond.]

“To think there’s even a bond,” Jian Yao remarked, seeing it for the first time and taking a closer look.

“Yeah, it’s my first time seeing it too,” Wen Zhe raised an eyebrow. “Master.”

Jian Yao, midway through stretching, paused slightly before completing the stretch. “Well, I guess I got lucky with you.”

Wen Zhe smiled without saying anything, glanced at the time, and addressed the live stream chat. “Signing off now. Heading back to the base for training. Next stream will be after the competition.”

[Good luck in the competition!]

[Bye, Zhe Shen!]

[Popping the champagne early: We are the champions!]

“Bye, we’ll do our best.”

Seeing Wen Zhe end the stream, Jian Yao also bid farewell to the viewers. “Bye, bye, bye. Signing off now.”

[Why are you leaving? Are you competing too?]

“Yeah,” Jian Yao pouted. “With my skills, shouldn’t I be competing?”

[Of course, you should!]

[Which team are you joining, baby?]

“Which team? Well, that’s…”

Before Jian Yao could finish, Wen Zhe chimed in. “AFG.”

Jian Yao was momentarily caught off guard, unsure if Wen Zhe was joking.

[For real?!]

[I don’t care, it must be officially confirmed!]

“Yeah, joining AFG,” Jian Yao shamelessly confirmed. “You’ll see the news during the transfer window. Just wait.”

[We’ll be waiting!!]

[I can’t wait already!]

[YAO on the competitive stage must be so captivating! Especially since this is the team you loved most since your student days!]

Seeing this comment, Jian Yao reminisced about those times. “Yeah, back then, I made a promise with someone to go there together.”

[Who? Who?!]

“A senior.”

[So curious, what’s his name?]

“His name? Actually, I don’t even know his name.”

[You don’t know?!]

“He probably doesn’t know mine either.”

【So what do you know?】

“Only that he’s really good at Chinese.”

【If he’s good at Chinese, he probably isn’t very sensitive to games, right?】

“Not at all. His math scores are only a few points lower than his Chinese.”

【YAO must be good at math too.】

“You caught me. I’m quite sensitive to numbers.”

Jian Yao chatted patiently with the stream comments as he reminisced about the past.

At some point, Wen Zhe’s intense gaze lingered shamelessly on Jian Yao.

The composure of the person before him contrasted sharply with the tangled, uneasy feeling deep in Wen Zhe’s heart. He clenched his fists and leaned toward the window, trying to shift his focus.

Wen Zhe didn’t know what was going on inside him. He was afraid that if he looked at the other person again, he wouldn’t be able to control himself. He didn’t want Jian Yao to see this side of him.

Especially since…

Surprisingly, Jian Yao chatted for a long time, while Wen Zhe remained silent beside him.

“Alright, I’m logging off. Let’s chat again next time.” Jian Yao shut down his computer and turned to Wen Zhe. “Sorry, Wen Zhe, I kept you waiting. I didn’t realize I talked for so long.”

“It’s fine,” Wen Zhe replied without looking at him. “Want to go check it out? AFG’s club.”

Without hesitation, Jian Yao said, “Yes!”

“Okay.” Wen Zhe lowered his gaze, stood up, and headed outside. “Let’s go.”

The night breeze was a bit chilly. Wen Zhe hesitated but ultimately didn’t speak, and the two walked in silence all the way to the club entrance.

“Hey, Xiao Yi, the captain’s back.” Jian Yao followed the voice and saw Su Ze and Zhong Yuyi.

Su Ze approached Jian Yao. “You’re YAO, right? What’s your name? Mind telling me?”

“Yeah,” Jian Yao nodded. “I’m Jian Yao.”

“Got it~” Su Ze naturally slung an arm over Jian Yao’s shoulder, which didn’t bother him. “Did the captain bring you to tour the club?”

“Yes, Wen Zhe asked if I wanted to come see it.”

“Ah, I see. Well, I’ll show you around then.” Su Ze turned to Wen Zhe. “Captain, I’ll take care of Xiao Yao!”

“Alright.” Wen Zhe agreed and walked behind with Zhong Yuyi.

“Captain, are you sure it’s him?” Zhong Yuyi asked, watching the two ahead.

“Yeah, that’s what I’m thinking,” Wen Zhe continued. “We can see how well he meshes with the team.”

“Sure. There’ll definitely be some who aren’t convinced,” Zhong Yuyi chuckled. “Might as well let Jian Yao put them in their place.”

At that thought, Wen Zhe’s slightly furrowed brow relaxed. “Yeah, he’s a good fit.”

–

It happened to be break time. As Su Ze led Jian Yao past the training room, the people inside quickly noticed the newcomer and grew alert.

The atmosphere made Jian Yao a bit uncomfortable.

“Ze-ge, is this a new recruit?”

Before Su Ze could respond, chants of “1v1!” erupted from the training room.

“A 1v1?” Jian Yao said indifferently. “I’m fine with that.”

“What’s your role?”

“Assassin,” Jian Yao paused. “But if you want me to play something else, I can do that too.”

“No need. The battlefield is unpredictable anyway—roles don’t matter that much. I’ll go first.”

The first to step up was Chen Xuan, ranked third in the training room, who played as a Warrior.

Everyone cleared a spot for Jian Yao. When they saw the name that appeared after he logged into his account, they couldn’t stay calm and started whispering behind him.

“YAO?”

“Who’s YAO?”

“That really skilled streamer.”

“Just a streamer. Can he really compete with pro players?”

“Since when has a player’s skill level been defined by their profession?”

Wen Zhe and Zhong Yuyi appeared at the doorway. He swept a cold gaze over the crowd gathered to watch the spectacle. “You have time to watch a show, but not to play a few more rounds?”

“Sorry, Captain Zhe, we’ll go right away.”

As the crowd was about to disperse, Jian Yao finally spoke up, looking at Wen Zhe. “It’s fine, just a few minutes.”

“Don’t underestimate me too much,” Chen Xuan frowned, his cheeks slightly flushed.

Jian Yao neither agreed nor disagreed, opening a 1v1 face-to-face match room. The two were ready in the game.

The 1v1 map was extracted from the “Peak Duel” map, featuring a balanced disc. Both players fought on the balanced disc; the one who either exhausted their health bar first or fell into the deep space surrounding the disc would lose.

Conversely, the other would win.

The words [Game Start] appeared, and both players materialized on opposite sides of the disc simultaneously.

Jian Yao controlled his character, stretching and loosening up. Though he was looking at the screen, his gaze seemed to pierce through it, reaching Chen Xuan on the other side, making him freeze for a moment.

“Forgot to tell you, let me add something!” Jian Yao toyed with the weapon in his hand. “I’m best at fighting against warriors.”

Chen Xuan shook his head, trying to dispel the haunting words echoing in his mind, and charged at Jian Yao, swinging his weapon overhead.

Jian Yao dodged back and forth with ease.

“What, only know how to dodge? Attack! Don’t tell me you’re scared!”

The opponent kept taunting, grating on Jian Yao’s ears. “You should stay quiet while gaming. Seems you didn’t learn that from your captain.”

With a sidestep, Jian Yao used the momentum of the warrior’s heavy strike to grab his opponent’s wrist, executing a shoulder throw that slammed him to the ground. Quickly drawing a dagger, he pressed it against the opponent’s neck—

“Too slow,” Jian Yao remarked casually.

Chen Xuan gritted his teeth, trying to make his character resist, but Jian Yao overpowered him, leaving him unable to turn the tables.

Jian Yao raised his hand and brought the blade down. Chen Xuan’s screen darkened.

[Defeat.]

Su Ze’s lips curved into a smile as he exchanged a glance with Zhong Yuyi. The two subtly gave each other a thumbs-up.

“Chen Xuan, I’ll go.”

Chen Xuan looked up and, though unwilling, nodded. “Alright, Wu Yu, be careful with your marksman.”

“Got it,” Wu Yu replied with a smile, patting Chen Xuan’s shoulder before turning to Jian Yao. “Pleased to meet you, YAO.”

“Pleased to meet you,” Jian Yao replied politely.

Wu Yu, second in the youth training program, position: marksman.

Famous in the youth training for his stationary marksman playstyle, his marksman was no mere support. Within his attack range, enemies found it difficult to get close to him.

Jian Yao had heard of this player’s strength, but that was in 4v4 matches. On the balanced disc, everything was uncertain.

After all, he was an assassin.

[Game Start.]

As soon as Jian Yao entered the game, he darted around the disc, trying to disrupt his opponent’s balance.

However, as he expected, Wu Yu remained unfazed.

Instead, Wu Yu stood steadily by the edge of the disc, casting a formation centered on himself.

Countless skills shot toward Jian Yao from within the formation. Jian Yao waited a second after seeing the skills coming his way before moving to dodge—and avoided every single one.

Wu Yu’s smile froze on his face as he muttered, “How is this possible…”

“One second, three skills per group. As long as you remember the sequence, you can dodge them,” Jian Yao explained while dodging, his hands never stopping.

Wu Yu’s momentary hesitation gave Jian Yao the opening to counterattack.

Jian Yao flicked his jade whip, transforming it into a longsword, and charged straight at Wu Yu.

“Watch out!”

Chen Xuan’s warning came too late. By the time Wu Yu pressed the keyboard again, it was already over.

A single, fatal strike.

[Defeat.]

Wu Yu stood up silently. “Your skills are so chaotic—how did you know?”

“What? You didn’t know?” Jian Yao glanced at him and continued, “You have to understand both the strengths and weaknesses of your skills. Did you really think no one would notice?”

“Seems like your dynamic vision still needs some work.” Jian Yao returned to the main interface when a hand rested on his desk beside him.

“Your assassin is pretty impressive, Captain. Let me have the next round.”

Wen Zhe looked at Jian Yao. “He’s an assassin too.”

Jian Yao nodded. “Alright.”

Xu Leming, top of the youth training program, position: assassin.

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