Captain, I Beg You to Give Me an Official Status [E-sports] - Chapter 5

After finishing his stream, Sheng Huanian and his team’s shot-caller were called into the meeting room.

The assistant manager of Team Wing sat in his seat and said, “The league has decided that you two will represent us in the entertainment matches this Friday and Saturday. Here is the schedule. Take it and look it over yourself. We are going to the arena for rehearsals on Thursday morning, and the team leader will go with you.”

Sheng Huanian’s gaze fell on the paper. He quickly pulled it toward him, scanned it for a second, and looked up to ask, “Is every team sending two people?”

The assistant manager nodded. “Yes, all teams must participate. It seems that except for TK and 5Stars, who are attending with their full rosters, the remaining teams are sending two representatives.”

1. Full roster.

Sheng Huanian gripped a corner of the paper with his right hand and stood up abruptly. “Alright. Got it.”

After he turned to leave, the assistant manager felt somewhat surprised. He said to Xiao, who was still sitting there, “He agreed quite readily. Last time I asked him to attend a brand event, he fought me tooth and nail to avoid it.”

Xiao was looking down at the schedule and replied casually, “Maybe because the league is organizing this one.”

The assistant manager said, “As long as he is willing to go. He is a rookie, so keep an eye on him when you get to the arena. Do not let him make any mistakes.”

Xiao nodded. “Understood.”

Leaving the meeting room, Sheng Huanian returned to the training room. Even though he had turned off his stream, he had no intention of stopping his training. He remained in his seat until past 2:00 AM. The numbness spreading through his wrist finally forced him to stop before starting another game.

He was the only one left in the training room. The lights outside had long been turned off, leaving only the small lamps at the stairs emitting a warm orange glow.

Sheng Huanian did not intend to leave just yet. He leaned his head against the back of the chair and closed his eyes, planning to rest for ten minutes before playing two more rounds.

While his eyes were closed, the door was pushed open. Sheng Huanian immediately looked toward the entrance.

Xiao stood there in his pajamas with wet hair. Looking at the man who had been playing for so many hours, his eyes held a hint of pity. He leaned against the doorframe with one hand and said, “Stop playing. It is late. How many hours has it been? Go back and sleep.”

Sheng Huanian sat up straight and looked over calmly. “I am not tired. I will go back in a bit.”

Xiao sighed and took a step forward. “This is only your first season. Listen to me, do not train like this. No one can handle eight or nine hours of continuous play. Your hands simply cannot take it.”

Sheng Huanian turned his head back. Fatigue was clearly visible beneath his eyes, yet he sat there with stubborn persistence.

“Go back to sleep. If you want to train, do it tomorrow.” Seeing this reaction, Xiao took a deep breath, walked over, and shut off the computer in front of him. He looked down at Sheng Huanian and said, “Everyone else is on vacation, yet you are here training like a madman. Go to sleep now and get some rest these next two days. You have to wake up early for rehearsals on Thursday.”

With his computer shut off, Sheng Huanian stood up, picked up his phone from the desk, and replied in a low voice, “Fine. I am going back.”

During these few days when many players were on vacation, Sheng Huanian’s training time did not decrease at all. Every day, aside from eating and sleeping, he spent his entire time in the training room.

At 9:00 AM on Thursday morning, Sheng Huanian’s expression was incredibly poor as he was woken by his third alarm. He was someone with severe morning grumpiness. After swatting his phone onto the floor, the only shred of sober logic remaining told him that he had to get up, he had to go to rehearsals, and he had to go to the arena.

Having woken up late, Sheng Huanian did not have time to properly prepare. He rushed through a shower, threw on some clothes, put on a hat, and forced his eyelids open as he headed downstairs.

Upon arriving at the arena, Sheng Huanian and Xiao sat in the lounge listening to the staff’s arrangements.

“On Friday, the first entertainment match is a faction battle, 4v4. You two and six players from other teams will be divided into teams on the day of the event. A total of two rounds will be played. Following that is a solo competition involving all sixty of our players, also consisting of two rounds. Finally, we have the duo team battle. Thirty players will be split into fifteen teams, with one person controlling the mouse and the other controlling the keyboard.”

After explaining the arrangements for Friday, the staff member led the two of them to the arena stage. There, many players were already in position.

Sheng Huanian wore a black hat. When he looked up at the stage, he quickly spotted four people gathered in the right corner talking. When his gaze moved toward them, all four happened to be laughing.

Xu Ziqi was the tallest among the four and possessed the most striking appearance, so people generally noticed him first.

Sheng Huanian did as well.

Xu Ziqi wore a grey set of clothes. Because he had woken up early, even his usually well-kept hair had not been carefully styled, leaving a few strands sticking out at the side. His arm was draped over Core’s shoulder in a lazy and comfortable manner. He was talking to Core, saying, “When have you ever won a bet?”

Core pulled at his sleeve, refusing to back down. “I am definitely winning this time, okay? When you lose, just be ready to treat me to dinner.”

While they were talking, Sheng Huanian walked onto the stage and stood a few steps away in front of them.

Xu Ziqi felt his line of sight being blocked and looked up to see a black silhouette completely obscuring his view. He only took a brief look before quickly withdrawing his gaze to continue laughing and chatting with Core.

Nothing special happened during the rehearsal day. Staff members simply led the players through the live stream flow, their respective positions, and the schedule.

Sheng Huanian, the rising star who had just won FMVP, would participate in all three activities. As the most popular player in the league currently, Xu Ziqi would naturally play from start to finish.

The next afternoon at 3:00 PM, when Sheng Huanian pushed open the door to the makeup room, his gaze froze and his footsteps stopped at the entrance.

A staff member looked back and pointed to a seat in front. “Here.”

Sheng Huanian was looking at the person getting their makeup done in the seat next to his. As he walked calmly to his seat, he saw through the mirror that the person with closed eyes appeared to be asleep. They were very well-behaved, allowing the makeup artist to work freely on their face.

After sitting down, Sheng Huanian glanced to the side again. He took out his phone, and as he put it down, he stole another glance.

Fifteen minutes later, only Xu Ziqi’s hair remained unfinished. He was wearing headphones and looking at his phone, completely indifferent to who was in the same room as him.

Suddenly, a packaging bag appeared on the table in front of him.

Xu Ziqi looked up and saw a bag from a coffee brand. Immediately after, he looked to his side and saw Sheng Huanian. He was a little surprised and asked, “What is this?”

Sheng Huanian withdrew his hand. His upper body remained still as he continued to look at the mirror in front of him. “I bought too much. You eat it.”

Xu Ziqi’s gaze did not shift immediately. He scanned Sheng Huanian’s face as if sizing him up before opening the bag on the table. Inside were a cup of coffee and a sandwich.

Xu Ziqi turned and saw an identical bag on Sheng Huanian’s desk. He did not act overly polite. He looked at him with those ink-like eyes that always seemed to hold a hint of clear light and said, “Then, thank you.”

Sheng Huanian nodded, his voice very low. “Okay.”

Xu Ziqi had not eaten breakfast. Once his styling was finished, he took the bag back to the lounge. A few minutes after he entered, Paipai arrived as well.

Paipai looked at the sandwich in his hand. After sitting down, he reached out toward him. “Brother, where is mine?”

Xu Ziqi ate the sandwich while looking at his phone, replying quickly, “I did not buy it. I ran into the Wing rookie in the makeup room just now. He bought too much and gave it to me.”

He was still not used to using Sheng Huanian’s ID and felt it was a bit strange, so he just referred to him as the Wing rookie.

Paipai picked up the other half of the sandwich from the table and then looked at the cup of coffee, sounding a bit confused. “How could he buy too much of this?”

Xu Ziqi took a bite and said unclearly, “No idea.”

As they finished talking, the lounge door was pushed open.

Entering were the other two starting players for Team TK: the Assaulter, H, and the Flex player, XMode. Both men looked at the person sitting on the sofa simultaneously. A second later, they looked away together and sat on the sofa on the other side with total indifference.

Xu Ziqi only glanced up briefly. He neither gave them another look nor spoke a word.

Half an hour later, the staff notified them to bring their equipment onto the stage.

The TK players’ seats were arranged in the center of the arena. While Xu Ziqi was testing his keyboard, someone suddenly patted him on the back. He turned around to see Core passing behind him, making a childish face at him.

Xu Ziqi silently thought that Core was being boring and turned back to continue adjusting his equipment. To the left of their team sat the 5Stars players, and to the right were two players each from Team Wing and Team Vespera.

On the other side of the partition where Xu Ziqi sat, Sheng Huanian had already finished testing his keyboard and mouse and was performing in-game tests.

A player from Vespera stared intently at Sheng Huanian’s keyboard across the gap between them. Finally, he could not help but lean his head over to ask, “Hey, hey.”

Sheng Huanian turned to look at him.

“Who made that keyboard? It looks pretty nice. How does it feel?”

Sheng Huanian withdrew his gaze calmly, his voice slightly low. “It is custom-made.”

“Oh, alright then.” The player withdrew his gaze reluctantly, muttering in his heart, “So awkward. I really should not have spoken first.”

Sheng Huanian continued testing the game. He appeared focused, but his attention had already been quietly stolen by the person next to him.

He could see through his peripheral vision that Core was practically hanging onto the seated Xu Ziqi. He could also hear their faint conversation.

“Are you finished yet?”

Xu Ziqi controlled the mouse with one hand and tilted his head to look at him. “If you are finished, then go.”

Core remained leaning on his back. “I am waiting for you! Hurry up. Come to our lounge. I want to show you something.”

Soon, Xu Ziqi was dragged off the stage by Core.

After a few minutes of silence, Sheng Huanian walked off the stage alone and returned to the empty lounge.

Half an hour before the live stream began, Sheng Huanian went out to use the restroom. As he passed the corner stairwell, he glanced over and unexpectedly caught sight of the silhouette that had just disappeared. He quickly changed direction, softened his footsteps, and stopped by the door of the stairwell. He lowered his head slightly and moved his ear closer.

“I am waiting to go on stage.”

“Yes, I know. I will video call you when I get back.”

“I ate. I am not stupid. I know to eat when I am hungry. You eat well too. Do not just talk about me.”

“Okay. I will talk to you when I reach the base.”

“Alright, I have to go back. I am going on stage soon.”

Xu Ziqi hung up the video call.

As he pushed the door open to walk out, the corridor was just as it had been when he arrived: completely empty.