Captain, I Beg You to Give Me an Official Status [E-sports] - Chapter 1

December 29, 2024, marked the final day of the DOC (Duel of Champions) Professional League Winter Grand Finals.

At 6:00 PM, the “902902 Wantao” live stream went online exactly on time. Its popularity surged, and within five minutes, it reached the center of the platform’s homepage recommendations.

Xu Ziqi, a current star player in the DOC Professional League with the ID “Blade-Wielder,” could not avoid the league’s mandatory spectating task, no matter how reluctant he felt. The Grand Finals lasted three days, and skipping the first two days of streaming had already been a privilege granted to him.

Currently, in a room with over fifty thousand viewers, the chat flowed like a river. Despite the speed, the same phrases flickered past his eyes repeatedly. Having already adjusted his camera, Xu Ziqi found it impossible to ignore them.

“It must feel great to spectate from home since you could not make it to the finals, huh?”

“You finished ruining Team Wing and moved on to ruin TK. Better find your next victim fast; I do not want to see you in the Spring Split!”

“He is so bad, yet his fans have the nerve to call him the Sniper King. I think ‘Turtle King’ suits him better.”

Xu Ziqi sat in his gaming chair, his hair still damp from a recent wash. He glanced indifferently at the screen. A faint curl touched the corners of his lips as he spoke in a low, calm voice. “Say whatever you want. I really did not play well this season.”

Xu Ziqi was only 22 years old, but he had been competing on this stage for seven long years. His experiences had made him numb to such insults, or even worse verbal abuse. These words could not hurt him; at least, the man on camera showed no sign of being affected.

The match began quickly. Xu Ziqi had not paid much attention to the first two days, so he looked at the real-time leaderboard on the right first.

“A twenty-point gap. It feels like there is not much suspense left for today.”

Currently, Team 5Stars held the top spot, leading the second-place Team Vespera by twenty points.

Xu Ziqi leaned back, lounging lazily in his gaming chair. “Stars is stable. They only need about thirty more points to seal it.”

“Hard to say, hard to say. Second and third place are both very aggressive.”

“Jinx it! The streamer must jinx them for us!”

“Wing gained sixty points yesterday; they are terrifying. If they push a bit harder today, there really is hope.”

As the former shot-caller for Team Wing, Xu Ziqi did not avoid the topic when he saw that comment. He admitted frankly, “Thirty-one points is not impossible to catch up on. If they can have another breakout performance, it is possible.”

Just then, the broadcast camera switched to Team Wing, and the crowd’s cheers erupted instantly. In the top-left corner of the large screen, four small boxes showed the young players. They were all focused on their controls, with their heart rates displayed in the bottom-right of each box.

Xu Ziqi remained lazy. Even though he was looking at the screen, he did not seem particularly focused. After two rounds ended, the viewers had lost count of how many times he had yawned.

During the preparation phase of the third round, Xu Ziqi glanced to his side. When his hand returned, he was draped in a grey-white soft blanket. He adjusted himself into a comfortable position, took off his headset, stretched his legs, and closed his eyes.

“I am tired. I am going to sleep for a bit. You guys help yourselves,” he said.

He knew the viewers would complain, but it did not matter since he would not see it anyway.

“How can you fall asleep during such an intense match?”

“Go ahead and sleep. We can manage on our own.”

“So cute. My baby’s skin is truly amazing!”

“You cannot even make it to the finals, yet you can sleep? Your heart is too big. Can you just transfer next season and stop ruining TK?”

“Get out! Can the antis please go back to the main stream?!”

A battle in the chat broke out once again, as fierce as the match on the field.

Sleeping deeply, Xu Ziqi turned to his side. His face was small and narrow, his skin very pale, and the corners of his eyes were tinged with a slight red. His black hair fell softly over his forehead, making him look more vulnerable than when he was awake.

The third round ended. With a victory and ten elimination points, 5Stars had basically locked in the Winter Championship.

During the intermission, the players of Team Wing were in their lounge adjusting their states. Having only earned twelve points in the first half, they were performing poorly and had dropped from third to fifth place.

The player sitting by the door with the ID “Lifetaker” was very quiet. He had not said a word since leaving the stage. Dressed in a black team uniform and seemingly existing in a different space, no one wanted to disturb him.

As it drew closer to their turn to go back on stage, the Wing shot-caller stood up and looked over. He saw the young man in the corner staring intently at a live stream on his phone. Without thinking much, he patted the focused player’s shoulder. “Let’s go. Time to head out.”

Sheng Huanian’s gaze was locked on the bottom-right corner of his screen. He waited two seconds before swiping to exit the app and joining his teammates.

On the other side, Xu Ziqi was sleeping soundly under the watch of over a hundred thousand viewers.

“Is he awake?”

The person with closed eyes only rolled over.

“Fine. It looks like he is truly exhausted. Let him sleep.”

The second half of the matches began. Wave after wave of brilliant plays ignited the atmosphere in both the arena and the stream.

Outside Xu Ziqi’s room, two players live-streaming in the first-floor training room were shouting in amazement.

Paipai, the TK Team Assaulter, was at an age where he was easily excited. Seeing a perfect zero-for-four team fight, he could not help but slam the table. He shouted excitedly, “Incredible! That shotgun play was insane!”

The chat quickly warned him: “Your captain is sleeping. If you keep shouting like that, you are going to get beaten up later.”

“Your brother is going to be woken up by your screaming sooner or later.”

“Is the door open? Keep it down; there is a sleeping beauty upstairs.”

Paipai saw the comments and stood up immediately. “What? He is actually sleeping through such a spectacular match?”

After saying that, the highly energetic Paipai left his own stream and appeared in Xu Ziqi’s stream ten seconds later.

He patted the sleeping man’s shoulder twice and shouted, “Wake up, wake up! How can you sleep during the Grand Finals?”

Xu Ziqi opened his eyes quickly. Seeing the person standing beside him, he did not get angry about being woken up. He only frowned slightly and asked helplessly, “What are you doing?”

Paipai pointed at the match playing on the computer. “That was so exciting just now. Look.”

Xu Ziqi reached back to adjust his gaming chair, sat up straight, and looked at the final circle on the screen. He quickly assessed the situation and said in a low voice, “Wing is going to win this one.”

“Yeah! They just won two consecutive fights and forced their way in. That newcomer Assaulter got six kills by himself. Those shotgun flicks were so smooth.”

Xu Ziqi watched seriously.

The camera focused on Team Wing again. The three remaining players looked extremely focused, unwilling to lose the chance for victory due to a small mistake.

“Pact’s heart rate is at 160. Someone call an ambulance!”

“The shot-caller was sacrificed for power; these three young Assaulters are truly fierce.”

“Lifetaker’s market value has skyrocketed in just one season. That DBS play was masterful. He truly is the King of Duels.”

The situation on the field changed in an instant.

Half a minute later, Team Wing, which originally had the kill advantage, was caught in a pincer movement. They fell one by one, becoming the first of the three remaining teams to be eliminated.

Paipai let out three consecutive gasps, eventually becoming speechless. “They could have just controlled the circle! Why did they go out?”

Xu Ziqi rested one hand on the desk, his emotions stable. “Munan’s positioning was perfect, and Wing did not notice him at all. They probably did not want to wait for the circle to shift and risk being pushed out, so they tried to proactively attack Vespera since they had fewer people. The logic was fine; they just did not notice the person in the shack and got ambushed.”

“What a shame. If they had won that round, they really would have had a chance at the championship.”

“Wing could have had over twenty points! That ambush was too much. It is ruined, all ruined.”

When Team Wing was eliminated, their players appeared briefly on screen. Lifetaker, whose heart rate had been steady around 100, visibly froze for a second upon elimination, and his heart rate spiked.

Xu Ziqi noticed this and saw his brilliant stats. “Six kills. He should be at the top of the elimination leaderboard, right?”

At the end of the round, the top of the leaderboard changed. It was indeed Lifetaker, who had just earned the MVP of that match.

“Incredible. He is so young, and his aim is so solid.”

“His ID is as cool as he is. Wing’s close-quarters combat is carried entirely by him. The other three are just average in close range.”

“If he wins FMVP and transfers, his value will probably quadruple, right?”

“How could he transfer? He just joined Wing this season. Why would he leave? With more time to gel, this roster will definitely be a force to be reckoned with.”

Paipai had already returned to his own stream. Xu Ziqi continued streaming alone in his room. He liked the quiet and often streamed from his own room outside of training hours.

There were only two matches left, but it seemed there was not much suspense left for the Championship or the FMVP.

Xu Ziqi’s food delivery arrived. He ate his noodles while watching the match, occasionally analyzing the field for the chat.

In the final match, even though the outcome seemed decided to outsiders, the players on the field fought with everything they had for victory.

The match began. Due to the flight path, two teams landed together and sparked an unexpected team fight that caught the audience by surprise.

The camera switched to a first-person perspective. Someone who picked up an MK20 immediately upon landing reacted with lightning speed, killing and finishing off an opponent before they could even touch a gun.

The commentator’s voice was loud: “Lifetaker landed first and secured a point, giving his team an early advantage!”

The other commentator, having a sharp eye, noticed the skin on the gun and said with a smile, “The MK20 he is using is equipped with the FMVP skin. It is the championship skin earned by Blade-Wielder in the 2023 Spring Split. It was released two months ago, and the feel of it is still excellent!”

“Streamer, they are advertising for you.”

“I have to say, this skin is truly handsome. It is just that not many people use this gun.”

The silver-glowing gun performed exceptionally in that player’s hands. By the end of the fight, Lifetaker had used it to secure two kills.

Ultimately, while Team Wing won the fight, only two members remained. It would be difficult for them to earn a high ranking in this round.

Xu Ziqi looked at the leaderboard and said softly, “Wing is just a bit unstable. It would be better if they were more consistent.”

“Yeah. It is either a breakout or an evaporation. The fans are very frustrated.”

“If only they had played better on the first day, it would not be like this. The first day was a total blackout for me.”

“The skill is there. They just need more time to sync up.”

Among the comments, many people were using various excuses to shift the focus back onto Xu Ziqi.

“You should think about why they can reach the top five right after you left Wing.”

“Not stable? It is certainly more stable than when you were there. Being consistently at the bottom is a type of stability, I suppose.”

“You should think about how you are going to play next season. Stop spectating, okay? If you do not want to play, just become a full-time streamer and stop taking up a spot.”

Xu Ziqi watched the scrolling chat until his eyes landed on one particularly piercing comment.

“It has been almost two years without any results. When exactly are you going to retire?”

His gaze darkened. As he looked away, he whispered, “I will definitely retire the day you die.”