Assassin, Don't Be Too Arrogant [E-sports] - Chapter 8

With that thought, he got up and went to the mirror, adjusting his hat to find the angle that most closely matched the photo, then snapped a picture.

He posted it publicly with the following message:

“1. The photo is of me.

2.I am male. If you think I look like a woman, you’re blind.

3.Anyone claiming I’ve ‘collapsed’ again like last time can just leave. Go check the clarification post. Besides, even if I were dating someone, it’s normal—I haven’t cheated or hooked up with fans, so there’s no need for all this drama.”

He then attached the candid photo of his face along with the one he had just taken.

Finally, he added: If you still don’t believe it, I suggest you call the police.

As soon as the post went up, the buzz followed. Fans first saw his photo, and the comment section erupted in a frenzy of excitement. Then, looking back at the caption, they found his third point absolutely brilliant—truly worthy of YAO!

Of course, there were also brainless haters.

[Would calling the police even help?]

Jian Yao rolled his eyes so hard they nearly disappeared, clicked his tongue in annoyance, and fired back.

[Jyao: I suggest you go find your mom—that would be more useful.]

[Isn’t the third point clearly targeting my main team? **]

[Jyao: What ‘your main team’? All I know is your main team has you as a deadweight teammate. If surrendering in-game could match the speed at which you jump to conclusions, the audience would thank their lucky stars.]

These idiots were ruining his good mood.

A vibration sounded. Jian Yao looked at the notification that popped up at the top of his phone.

[Your special follow @Wen Z posted: Interesting.]

Is he home?

[Antidote: Are you home?]

[Wzhe: I’m home.]

Both of them received each other’s messages at the same time. Wen Zhe replied further.

[Wzhe: As soon as I got home and opened my phone, your trending topic popped up, so I checked it out first.]

[Wzhe: Your third point is quite interesting.]

[Antidote: Right? I knew the overly eager ones would jump to conclusions, but I didn’t expect it to happen so fast.]

[Wzhe: Mm.]

[Antidote: But do they really think you’re an idiot? That you wouldn’t issue a statement if something like this happened?]

Jian Yao recalled the incident from a year ago when Wen Zhe had been thrust into the spotlight over a trending topic. Something about someone spreading rumors about his private life.

Back then, Wen Zhe had chosen to handle it with silence. When forced to address it after a match, he simply said he hadn’t paid attention to it.

That response only emboldened the person to spread even more inflammatory claims.

In the end, the club couldn’t stand it anymore and called in a lawyer, sending that person to a place where they’d have “food and clothing guaranteed.”

Seeing that Wen Zhe hadn’t replied, Jian Yao’s fingers moved on their own, sending the message he had typed in the chat box—

[Antidote: Oh, I forgot you are.]

[Wzhe: ?]

Crap, he accidentally sent what he was thinking.

Jian Yao facepalmed. What should he do now?

Then Wen Zhe picked up the thread—

[Wzhe: True, some things need to be addressed immediately.]

[Antidote: I feel like you’re the type who thinks, ‘If I didn’t do it, I don’t need to respond—believe it or not.’]

[Wzhe: Mm.]

[Wzhe: Otherwise, it’s too much trouble.]

[Antidote: But staying silent can cause other troubles too.]

[Antidote: Your thoughts and the final outcome of the situation should align.]

[Antidote: Otherwise, the blame you carry could last a lifetime.]

[Wzhe: You sure have a way with words when typing on your phone.]

Though Wen Zhe’s reply was playful, he had taken Jian Yao’s three sentences to heart.

He was someone who disliked trouble, never caring about how others saw him.

Just like that incident back then, he never expected things to turn out differently than he had imagined.

Perhaps he really should do as Jian Yao said and lay everything out in the open.

But would speaking up guarantee that things would unfold as he hoped?

Not necessarily…

Wen Zhe smiled self-deprecatingly, watching the dimmed screen light up again.

【Antidote: You really know how to talk the talk when it comes to you. If it were anyone else, I would’ve already cursed them out.】

【Wzhe: You really love sharing your inner thoughts, don’t you?】

【Wzhe: I don’t take advice either. Go ahead, curse at me and let me hear it.】

What kind of weird preference is this!

Jian Yao widened his eyes as a few more urgent messages popped up from the other side.

【Antidote: If you don’t handle this, even the King of Hell would need ten days to half a month just to check the Book of Life and Death.】

【Antidote: Don’t play dumb, don’t make me guess. We’re just internet friends—why are you acting all innocent?】

Jian Yao unleashed his signature move, typing furiously. When the other side sent a voice message, he clicked on it without hesitation—

“Alright, alright, I can’t handle this anymore, Teacher Jian Yao.”

Teacher Jian Yao…

The words echoed in his ears, and the temperature in his cheeks instantly rose.

Wen Zhe, completely unaware of the effect, lazily leaned back on the sofa and brought the phone closer to his mouth again: “That really hit the spot. Thank you, Teacher Jian Yao.”

Jian Yao quickly replied to end the conversation, then sat alone by the window, taking a deep breath.

“I know you’re not good at these things, so this time, I’ll speak up!”

That was what Jian Yao really wanted to say to Wen Zhe.

On the other side, Wen Zhe took a can of sparkling water from the fridge, poured it into a glass, and watched the bubbles fizz and foam as he pondered—

If the person he had just met wasn’t Jian Yao, if the one he took out for a late-night snack wasn’t Jian Yao, if the person caught in the photos wasn’t Jian Yao…

Then this matter wouldn’t have ended so easily.

SG, oh SG. You just finished playing against WG, and now you’re riding this wave of momentum. Wouldn’t it be better to quietly enjoy this brief moment of peace?

Wen Zhe opened his contacts, found a number that felt both familiar and distant, and dialed.

“Long time no see, Young Master. This is the first time you’ve taken the initiative to call me since you left. What can I do for you?”

“Long time no see. Help me look into the SG team’s cheating scandal. As soon as it broke out, their club bought up all the follow-up news and sealed the leaks quickly.”

“Understood. I’ll send the information to your email by 6 a.m.”

“Thanks for your hard work.”

“Not at all. It’s late, Young Master. Please get some rest.”

“Mm, goodbye.”

Wen Zhe hung up after the other person finished speaking. On the other end of the line, the man stood by the window, looking down at the silent, dark, lifeless night. He took a cigarette from his pocket and lit it.

Leaning back against the desk, he stared at his reflection in the window, as if remembering something. With a resigned sigh, he slowly exhaled a puff of smoke before extinguishing the half-smoked cigarette in the ashtray and turning to leave.

He was curious to see who had such a grand presence, worthy of Young Master Wen Zhe personally investigating.

Around 4 a.m., Wen Zhe stayed up all night playing games. It wasn’t exactly for fun. He just wanted to see if he could randomly get the “Guardian Spirit Mei” map again.

But unfortunately, this time, all the maps that appeared were very common ones, played by many people. They were essentially the same old thing with a different coat of paint—the same guardian spirit, yet tasked with fulfilling different wishes.

So, after what happened yesterday, this image was completely deleted.

The screen lit up, and Wen Zhe picked up his phone to look.

[You have received an email in your inbox.]

As expected of Lu Xuan, the processing speed was incredibly fast.

Wen Zhe browsed through the very detailed report sent by the other party and raised an eyebrow.

Explosive, absolutely explosive.

Wen Zhe tapped on the screen to reply: Release the information piece by piece.

This “bad apple”—are you going to protect him or not?

[Lu Xuan: Understood, young master. Rest early.]

Staying up until now and seeing the words “rest early” actually made him feel a bit sleepy.

Wen Zhe got up and went to the bedroom, pulling the curtains shut. Only the dim, heavy darkness made him feel comfortable.

Hopefully, today he could get a good night’s sleep.

Jian Yao woke up at 1 p.m. As usual, the first thing he did after waking up was check his phone for trending topics.

Still a bit groggy from just waking up, he rubbed his eyes and saw the top trending hashtag—

[SG Assassin Is a Real Assassin! —Explosive!]

There’s drama?!

Jian Yao quickly sat up, watching the real-time messages scrolling up one after another.

[Cheating is one thing, but backstabbing your teammates too? Check out the chat logs with the ex-girlfriend!]

[The SG team members are really unlucky to have such a troublemaker on their team.]

[He even said the support was like a dog he raised, what a piece of trash.]

Jian Yao quickly took a screenshot and sent it to Wen Zhe.

[Antidote: [Image]]

[Antidote: So sudden, I didn’t expect there’d be a follow-up to this.]

“Buzz—Buzz—”

Wen Zhe frowned with his eyes closed, reaching out to fumble for his phone. Being disturbed in the middle of sleep was really annoying…

He thought about ignoring it and going back to sleep, but his sleep quality wouldn’t allow it. Rubbing his hair, he opened his eyes and looked at his phone.

[Weimo: Antidote sent 2 messages.]

Jian Yao?

Leaning against the pillow and propping himself up slightly against the edge of the bed, he tapped to check the messages.

He had been too lenient, giving SG the spotlight.

Wen Zhe rubbed his temples, not wanting to type, so he held down the button and sent a voice message: “I didn’t expect it either.”

His voice was a bit hoarse from just waking up, and it reached Jian Yao’s ears.

Tsk, Jian Yao forced himself not to listen to it a second time.

Coming back to his senses, he cleared his throat and replied to Wen Zhe with a voice message: “You didn’t just wake up too, did you?”

Wait, no. Jian Yao quickly withdrew the message with his fast typing skills—he had to make it seem like he’d been awake for a while.

Just as he was about to send another message, Wen Zhe’s reply popped up.

[Wzhe: You too?]

Damn, his typing speed was still too slow. Jian Yao brought the phone to his mouth: “Yeah…”

After saying that, he hadn’t thought about what to say next, and his finger slipped, sending the voice message.

Wen Zhe saw the one-second voice message and tapped to listen—

Even though it was only a second long, it lingered in his mind for a full minute afterward.

Jian Yao, however, was completely unaware. Seeing that Wen Zhe hadn’t replied, he assumed he had ended the conversation and didn’t send another message, afraid that if he did and Wen Zhe didn’t reply, it would be even more awkward. Besides, Wen Zhe was probably busy preparing to go to the club for training anyway.

Don’t overthink it, don’t overthink it.

Jian Yao patted his cheeks, put down his phone, and went to the bathroom to freshen up, getting ready to start his stream.

Wen Zhe had just come out of the shower and glanced at his phone. There were no new messages, but he saw the notification that Jian Yao had started streaming on the platform. He gritted his teeth and chuckled softly.

This guy really has a carefree heart.

[Baby, you’re streaming so early today!]

[Yesterday’s trending topic was hilarious, baby, did you enjoy your midnight snack?]

[Seriously, I want to see YAO crossdress.]

[What are you talking about? I want to see it too!]

“Good afternoon, just woke up and streaming for a bit. Not sure if I’ll feel like streaming tonight,” Jian Yao glanced at the scrolling comments. “Cross-dressing as a woman? Not in this lifetime. Maybe in the next one, if there is one.”

【Wahhh, mercilessly rejected.】

【Use your head, anyone could tell YAO wouldn’t agree.】

【I’m cute and adorable, no brains needed.】

【Have you eaten yet, sweetie?】

“Not yet, not sure what to eat. Any recommendations?”

【Spicy hot pot!】

【Crossing-the-bridge rice noodles!】

【Here comes the regional food war, huh? I’m team sour and spicy noodles.】

“Considering my current state, I’m not really thinking about those…” Just the thought made Jian Yao feel greasy. “I want something light.”

【Then have some porridge.】

【Sweet porridge!】

【Salty porridge!!】

“Stop, stop, stop. Never mind, I won’t eat. If this keeps up and turns into regional discrimination, the stream will be gone.” Jian Yao manually put an end to the impending war.

【Ask Wen Zhe.】

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