Desire to Lure [Esports] - Chapter 7

Chapter 7

Following an irrefutable victory, Sheng Xu officially moved into the first-team practice room.

Ware finally couldn’t hold it in anymore. Squirming as if his whole body was itching, he leaned toward Sheng Xu and managed to squeeze out a few words: “That… the jungler… you invited… who was it… tell me… I’ll buy you dinner.”

By the time he finished the sentence, Ware’s face was beet red.

In his view, Yu Wenzhi’s final word had already signaled the acceptance of Sheng Xu. This meant Sheng Xu would soon be teaming up with them playing matches with them. If there was friction between people heading onto the same battlefield, it would only hurt their own records. Naturally, Ware no longer felt any rejection toward Sheng Xu.

At the end of the day, their mindset was different from Ever’s; Sheng Xu wasn’t there to replace them.

Sheng Xu raised an eyelid, his expression still sour.

Ware rubbed his hands together and gave a bitter smile. “Please, please. I’m seriously anxious, man. It felt like your team could have straight-up won the World Championship.”

Perhaps because Ware’s words and expression were so earnest, Sheng Xu couldn’t find it in himself to snap back. Instead, he stole a glance at Yu Wenzhi from the corner of his eye.

Yu Wenzhi’s gaze, however, remained fixed on his phone, diligently replying to messages. He only let out a faint curl of his lips into a smile after sensing Sheng Xu’s gaze.

Sheng Xu said impatiently, “Yan Tingyu.”

As soon as he said it, he felt a bit apprehensive, unsure if he had correctly interpreted Yu Wenzhi’s intentions.

He saw Yu Wenzhi look up slightly, his lips parted, eyes filled with the detached surprise of an outsider. “Oh, is that so?”

Sheng Xu: “…”

What a convincing act.

Ware noticed nothing, murmuring to himself, “Holy crap, it was him… No wonder I couldn’t pin him down. It really wasn’t my fault.”

Yan Tingyu was known as a tactical master, best at using the weak to defeat the strong. His shot-calling ability was peak tier, and he had recently been hired by DTG as captain with a massive salary. Since it was the captain of DTG, Ware didn’t have to worry about being replaced.

Seeing that Ware had asked, Maoyi couldn’t hold back either. “What about Nihao? Nihao? It hurts my soul to know such an excellent top laner exists in the world without me knowing. Brother Sheng, please ease my worries.”

Since one name was out, there was no need to hide the rest.

Sheng Xu: “ZZY.”

Maoyi looked up at the ceiling and sighed. “Damn, the excellence of foreigners truly wounds my heart. My generation still needs to work harder.”

Zechuan, being a veteran who had played in the World Championships for many years, was familiar with the styles of many players. After one game, he had already figured out most of it.

“The mid laner was Xu Ceming, and the support was Lika, right?”

All formidable enemies.

Sheng Xu: “Yeah.”

Ware: “Tsk tsk. Not gonna lie, your social circle is pretty legendary.”

He didn’t doubt it. After all, Sheng Xu had been playing for years and had accounts on the Korean and European servers. When playing in Challenger rank, the probability of running into these top-tier players was high; run into them enough times, add them as friends, and you become acquainted.

Maoyi: “Seriously. I don’t even know ZZY.”

The group chatted away about the match, with only Ever remaining silent. This was a classic case of “losing the bait and the fish”—he had used his own beating to give Sheng Xu a chance to earn everyone’s recognition. He wanted to make a scene, but Yu Wenzhi clearly didn’t want to dwell on it.

Yu Wenzhi checked the time, put down his phone, stood up, and said nonchalantly, “Yesterday is in the past. We still have to face them in the Mid-Season Invitational. Train hard. Sheng Xu, come with me to the review room.”

With that, Yu Wenzhi led the way out of the practice room.

Sheng Xu had no choice but to set his mouse aside and follow.

The weather in S-City was getting sweltering. Despite the air conditioning indoors, the sun shining in just after noon still felt oppressively hot.

Today, Yu Wenzhi wore a white form-fitting tank top underneath a cyan tencel shirt. The shirt was as light as a cloud; even the breeze from walking made it flutter. Through the thin silk-like material, one could clearly see the outline of the tank top, the slight ridge of his shoulder blades, and his lean, supple waist.

Yu Wenzhi walked leisurely with one hand in his pocket. His sleeves were clearly rolled up to expose his forearms, but the shirt was too slick; it kept sliding back down as he walked.

He seemed enveloped in a hazy, ambiguous aura.

Sheng Xu didn’t understand why he found a mere sun-protection shirt “ambiguous.” Perhaps it was just too sheer. He politely turned his face away.

Yu Wenzhi pushed open the door to the review room, flicked on the lights, skillfully turned on the LCD screen, plugged in a USB drive, and pulled up a video file sitting in the most prominent position.

Name: DTG vs TEA Spring Split Match 3.avi

Yu Wenzhi never could have predicted that one day he would be reviewing this specific game for someone from this perspective.

He opened the video, clicked pause, and used the toe of his shoe to kick a messily placed chair. “Sit.”

Sheng Xu watched as he bent over to fiddle with the computer, one hand braced on the desk. When he straightened up, his shirt accidentally got caught in his belt, bunching up and completely exposing his long, straight legs.

Sheng Xu lost his train of thought for a moment.

Noticing Sheng Xu wasn’t moving, Yu Wenzhi turned his head slightly, following Sheng Xu’s gaze toward his own waist and hips. Yu Wenzhi reached out to smooth the shirt flat, saying casually, “If you see it, just help me pull it straight.”

Sheng Xu’s Adam’s apple rolled violently. He contemplated how he might rewind time by one minute.

Yu Wenzhi, however, had already switched topics, teasing him intentionally. “Let’s review the match where you lost to Ever.”

Sheng Xu’s face darkened instantly, showing clear displeasure. When he was at DTG, he indeed couldn’t beat the “Tea Team,” but he felt it wasn’t his fault. But a loss was a loss. Even the way Sheng Xu sat in the chair radiated resentment and gloom.

Yu Wenzhi rummaged around the small podium for a bit but couldn’t find a laser pointer. He simply walked to the window, pushed it open, and plucked a willow branch from outside.

Stripping away the leaves, leaving only a thin, delicate vine, Yu Wenzhi weighed it in his hand and walked back to the screen.

Yu Wenzhi flicked his fingers, letting the little willow branch sway lazily against Sheng Xu’s chest. “We are all clear on your style, but since you’ve officially joined TEA, you have to be obedient from now on. Understand?”

Sheng Xu’s heart was thrown into total disarray by that willow branch. Upon hearing the word “obedient,” he bit down hard on the inside of his cheek. If anyone else dared to speak to him like that, he would have snapped long ago. But facing Yu Wenzhi, watching the willow strip shamelessly tapping his chest, he couldn’t find it in himself to get angry.

“Watch the game.” Yu Wenzhi immediately pulled the branch away and tapped the screen.

He dragged the video to the seven-minute mark—the moment when the advantage in the bot lane first began to show.

Sheng Xu remembered this part. They were playing a Caitlyn-Lux system; his wave management and tower-pushing speed were fast. But just as he wanted to push a wave of cannon minions quickly, Xu Cen retreated. Sheng Xu had called for the Jungler and Mid to gank Yu Wenzhi and Ever, but the three of them hesitated and didn’t come. A great opportunity was lost.

He still felt angry thinking about it.

Sheng Xu said stubbornly, “I wasn’t at fault here.”

Yu Wenzhi actually laughed out loud at that.

With one hand in his pocket and the other holding the willow branch, he looked down at Sheng Xu, appearing very much like a teacher looking at a stubborn student in class.

“As the AD, how many times did you die this game?” Yu Wenzhi’s tone became serious.

For years, League of Legends matches have revolved around the bot lane meta. The bot lane determines the ceiling, while other lanes determine the floor. Although officials have been consciously nerfing bot lane experience in recent years, it still doesn’t change the fact that the bot lane decides the outcome.

If the AD dies too much, they can’t stack experience, their combat strategy gets disrupted, and the game is basically unsalvageable. Therefore, top-level supports nowadays will sacrifice their own farm to help the AD gain experience. Yu Wenzhi did the same.

But in this game, even Yu Wenzhi had killed Sheng Xu several times.

Support kills AD.

Sheng Xu felt a bit embarrassed. He was too reckless; he did indeed die a lot. Yu Wenzhi was as cunning as a fox; he couldn’t catch him, couldn’t kill him, and kept eating skill shots. At the time, just seeing Yu Wenzhi’s ID gave him a headache. He never expected that today Yu Wenzhi would be standing in front of him, telling him why he lost.

“Eleven times.” Sheng Xu frowned, his head hanging low, palms braced on the chair. Despite his large frame, he looked like a guilty puppy.

Yu Wenzhi explained slowly, “The opportunities you thought you saw were intentionally left for you by TEA. We wanted you to disconnect from your support so you couldn’t apply pressure.”

“During the third wave, the trinket ward wasn’t placed, and the brush wasn’t contested. I don’t know what you were thinking at the time, but the map was pitch black.”

“When the minion waves meet, shouldn’t the experience go to the minions?”

At first, Sheng Xu wanted to argue a bit, but as he listened, he had to admit that his understanding of the game was not even in the same league as Yu Wenzhi’s. The points Yu Wenzhi highlighted step-by-step led to their total collapse across all lines and they were all his faults.

He accepted it.

Throughout this review, Yu Wenzhi didn’t mention the Top, Mid, or Jungle, nor did he mention DTG’s support, Xu Cen. They weren’t his responsibility. But the boy in front of him, who looked a bit dejected from the criticism he was the future of TEA.

“Understand?” Yu Wenzhi lifted the willow branch and gently tapped the back of Sheng Xu’s hand.

“Yeah.” Sheng Xu’s cheeks were burning. He pursed his lips hard, but then, unwilling to let go, he reached back and grabbed the willow branch, muttering, “If you were my support, I definitely would have…”

Yu Wenzhi smiled, saying in a calm, firm tone, “Well, I am your support now.”

Sheng Xu felt like his palm had been burned by the willow branch.

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