Captain, I Beg You to Give Me an Official Status [E-sports] - Chapter 3

Xu Ziqi’s knowledge of this man was still limited to the match between his face and his ID.

Lifetaker.

Not only was the ID domineering, but the man himself gave off the same impression.

Xu Ziqi stood by the door and glanced around. After confirming that the man was indeed speaking to him, he stepped down the stairs and stood before him. “Are you asking me?”

Sheng Huanian was half a head taller than him. At this moment, his eyes were slightly lowered and his hands rested at his sides. He replied quickly, “Yes, I am talking to you.”

Xu Ziqi’s mind raced as he asked in confusion, “What did you just ask?”

Sheng Huanian looked down, his gaze landing on Xu Ziqi’s exposed neck. The skin there was a beautiful shade of pink, which made one’s heart itch.

“Can I ask you something?”

Xu Ziqi looked up at him. “What is it?”

After a pause of about a second, Sheng Huanian spoke. “Are you still planning to transfer?”

“Huh?” Xu Ziqi thought he had misheard. After a moment of confusion, he looked up and met a very serious face. “Why are you asking me that?”

Sheng Huanian did not reply; he only stared at him. Although his gaze was not intentional, it remained sharp and piercing.

Xu Ziqi tilted his head slightly. Facing someone he could hardly call an acquaintance, only one possibility surfaced in his mind. Standing close to Sheng Huanian, he tentatively voiced his guess. “Fishing for information?”

As soon as he said it, Xu Ziqi felt there was nothing about him worth investigating. However, Sheng Huanian was a member of Team Wing and had never spoken to him before. Therefore, this sudden question led Xu Ziqi to that single conclusion.

Sheng Huanian finally raised his eyes to meet Xu Ziqi’s gaze. He said in a low voice, “No. It is just something I personally want to know.”

Xu Ziqi could not figure it out. Before he could speak, several people walked out from behind him.

Seeing someone from Team Wing standing with Xu Ziqi, Core immediately stepped forward and lightly nudged Xu Ziqi’s arm with his elbow. “What is going on now?”

Xu Ziqi saw Core’s expression and knew he had misunderstood. He quickly said, “It is nothing. We are just talking.”

Core turned to look at the newcomer. Seeing that face reminded him of how his team had been ruthlessly outplayed by this man on the field just a few hours ago. He scrutinized Sheng Huanian for a moment without saying anything, then grabbed Xu Ziqi’s sleeve. “Let’s go. The car is here.”

Xu Ziqi turned to leave.

Behind him, Sheng Huanian spoke up, his voice slightly louder. “Are you transferring?”

Xu Ziqi stopped and looked back slightly. “Most likely not.”

Sheng Huanian looked at him and nodded quickly without saying another word.

Xu Ziqi found it strange. He gave him one more look before walking in the other direction.

Core pulled him along and asked, “Transfer what?”

Xu Ziqi said directly, “He asked me if I was transferring.”

“What? Why would he ask you that? You two are not close, right?”

“We have only met on the field,” Xu Ziqi said in a low voice. “I do not know why he asked me that either.”

Core had a similar thought. “Trying to scout information? But asking you is basically pointless, right? It is not like you would ever go back to Wing.”

Xu Ziqi said tonelessly, “I would not go back even if I retired.”

When they reached the base, the lights in the training room were already off.

Xu Ziqi’s room was at the end of the second floor. After speaking with Paipai at the stairs, he went straight to his room to shower. The few minutes of cold wind earlier had mostly sobered him up. After showering, he lay on the bed and saw the schedule for next week’s exhibition match sent by the manager, Qiqi.

He did not hate these mandatory events; he always quietly followed the arrangements and did what he was supposed to do.

It was late at night again. When things grew quiet, Xu Ziqi would browse Weibo or the tournament platforms before sleeping. No matter the platform, his ID was always the most discussed topic.

“It is a shame about Blade-Wielder. I do not know if it is because of incompatible teammates or what, but why is he playing worse and worse?”

“It has long been no secret that there is internal conflict in TK. They have split into little cliques. It would be a miracle if they produced results.”

“He should just retire. At least people still remember his honors now. Do not wait until his reputation is completely ruined.”

“He is truly bad. He was only ever average; his fans just hyped him up.”

“Can ZD still transfer? It feels like he does not fit with his current TK teammates.”

“How could he transfer? He has only been at TK for one season. Not even a tenth of his massive transfer fee has been recouped. Would TK let him go? Besides, what other team could afford him?”

“Antis should stop talking nonsense. You can mock him for not having results now, but you cannot erase his past honors. Five professional league championships, three FMVPs, two World Championships, one World FMVP, and countless weekly championships. He has been playing since he was fifteen. What right do you have to say he relies on fans? He earned everything himself.”

Xu Ziqi did not look for long. As he closed his eyes, that unanswered question surfaced in his mind.

Is it finally time to retire?

He thought to himself for a long time without falling asleep. Although he still had doubts, the decisions he had made represented his true inner answer.

If he really wanted to retire and no longer loved the arena, Xu Ziqi would not have fallen out with Team Wing during the last transfer window, paid a massive penalty for breach of contract, or found the best lawyers in the industry to help him leave a place that only viewed him as a profitable streamer.

Therefore, he would still do everything he could.

As for the outcome, Xu Ziqi did not have the power to predict it.

Next Friday and Saturday were the league’s entertainment matches. Tickets were sold as usual, and these two days were always harder to snag than regular match days. Within half a minute of the tickets going on sale, every seat was sold out.

Generally, few players stream right after the Grand Finals, but those on teams with poor coordination or unsatisfactory results do not have much time. Once the two-week transfer window and off-season end, the 2025 Spring Split will begin in February.

TK players have a required number of streaming hours. It was already the thirty-first of the month, and Xu Ziqi was still short four hours.

At 6:00 PM, Xu Ziqi started a stream in the training room. He originally intended to duo with Paipai to gain points, but as soon as he entered the game, he received a faction battle invitation from Core.

Faction battles are a common training method for professional players. In this 4v4 mode, players can vote on maps, and the first side to reach the target score wins.

Xu Ziqi did not enter the room immediately. Instead, he asked in a private message.

1. Blade-Wielder: How many are you missing? 5Stars. Core: Missing seven. Come keep me company. TK. Blade-Wielder: Invite me.

After entering the room where Core was alone, Xu Ziqi invited Paipai and several other professional players who were online. Usually, faction battle rooms fill up quickly, but perhaps because many players were resting today, they were still short two spots after three minutes.

Core, who was on the same side as Xu Ziqi, turned on his mic. “Invite someone. Where are your connections?”

Xu Ziqi closed his friend list. “No one else is online.”

“Sigh.” Core turned on the “all” mic and shouted to the two people on the other side, “You guys invite someone. Hurry up.”

Ten seconds later, people joined.

Wing. Xiao entered the room. Two seconds later, Wing. Pact entered. Two seconds after that, Wing. Pact left the room.

The viewers in Xu Ziqi’s stream were not surprised. Similar situations had happened many times over the past few months. If the ID “Blade-Wielder” was in a room, those two players from Team Wing would never stay. This was something many professional players knew.

Only their team’s new shot-caller, Xiao, was still confused. He turned and asked, “What is going on? Are we not playing?”

Pact, who was not streaming, spoke without filter. “I am not playing with him.”

On the other side, Sheng Huanian, who was sitting by the window, exited his ranked match directly. He turned to his shot-caller and said, “Brother Xiao, invite me.”

Sheng Huanian was currently streaming. His viewer count at that moment was equal to Xu Ziqi’s. His performance in the Grand Finals had attracted many fans, and his face, which looked perfect even on the big screen, had earned him many loyal followers.

“Huh? He loves faction battles that much?”

“No! You just quit your top-ten promotion match!”

“He just quit? It was almost the final circle! I bet on him winning the promotion. What happens to my points?”

Having successfully entered the room and taken the last spot, Sheng Huanian fixed his gaze on the left side of the screen. He said in a low voice, “This match is void.”

His viewers could only accept it. Since the people betting on his promotion were all doting fans, they naturally did not blame him.

As soon as the man with the ID “Lifetaker” entered the room, Core said over the “all” mic, “Starting now!”

Without waiting for anyone to reply, he immediately pressed start, fearing that any of the players might run away.

Entering the preparation phase, Core said while selecting a map, “Ancient City! Let’s go there for a gunfight.”

The four people on this side were very united, all selecting the Ancient City map.

Paipai adjusted his weapons. “This is a shotgun map. I have a DBS and an S12K. That is how confident I am!”

Xu Ziqi was picking up items. He took an M416 and a DBS, which was a fairly standard configuration for this map.

Core suddenly said, “The Shotgun King is on the other side. Oh, if I had known, I would have gone to the other side.”

Xu Ziqi smiled. “What? Who are you looking down on?”

“It is not that I am looking down on anyone. It is just that the other side is too terrifying. There is nothing wrong with wanting to be carried by a pro, right?”

Xu Ziqi had finished his adjustments. His character stood in place, quietly waiting for the match to start. He could see the four characters on the other side and their weapon configurations.

Over there, one of the masked characters was holding an M416 with a special skin. it was the skin Xu Ziqi had received when he won his first FMVP.

The viewers were always sharp-eyed and noticed it even before Xu Ziqi did.

“Huh? A professional player is actually using that skin? Even when the owner himself dislikes the feel of it, someone is still willing to use it?”

“The three FMVP gun skins all look good, but the feel of this M4 is incredibly bad! It is such a popular weapon; it is truly a shame.”

“Lifetaker always uses this FMVP skin for his M4. He uses it in matches too. The commentators have mentioned it many times.”

The feel of this skin was truly average, so Xu Ziqi did not use it himself. Only some players or his fans who found the skin handsome would buy and equip it. It was rare for a professional player to use this skin on the field.

But at this moment, the masked person was indeed equipped with the purple skin bearing Xu Ziqi’s signature.

Paipai noticed it too and sounded surprised. “Who is that? They are using your FMVP skin. Is it that trainee?”

There was a trainee on the other side whom Core had invited randomly.

Xu Ziqi was not curious. His hands were adjusting the position of the keyboard. As the countdown began, his right hand moved to the mouse. “I do not know. Probably.”