The Picked-Up Omega is Both Delicate and Flirtatious - Chapter 5

Liang Ling quickly brought the dishes over. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Lu Ming chewing on the end of his pen in a daze, his hand still fiddling with something under the table.

“Stop playing and write quickly. We still have to go to the cram school tomorrow morning.” Liang Ling helplessly patted Lu Ming’s head.

Lu Ming raised his head, smiled honestly at him, and said mysteriously, “No rush, I will just copy from my classmate tomorrow. Brother Liang, come over and take a look quickly. Leaf God is live streaming.”

Leaf God was an esports player for the currently popular MOBA game “Phantom” and also the captain of the SK team. He was famous for playing the jungler hero Gilo, consistently dominating the top of the national server. Every time he started a broadcast, his streaming room was packed, and he was enthusiastically adored by jungle players.

“Look at this, Leaf God’s game sense is insane. The bush he camped in after a gank is somewhere a lot of high-level players would not even think of. People everywhere are saying he is even more terrifying than the conscious AI bots now,” Lu Ming introduced his idol to him with smug pride.

Liang Ling glanced at the screen indifferently. On it, the youth with a gentle smile and outstanding looks was explaining his own train of thought while cracking a few jokes to enhance the show’s effect. In less than a few minutes, the viewership had already reached over twenty million.

“What is his name?” Liang Ling turned his head and asked Lu Ming.

Lu Ming opened his mouth wide in shock, “Brother, you play games so well, have you never heard of his name before? Ye Wanqing, the young master of the esports powerhouse SK, and also the team captain. He has represented the country in many world tournaments.”

Liang Ling had only transmigrated into this world a little over a month ago. Where on earth would he know about any esports powerhouse young masters? He shook his head and said, “Sorry, I really have not heard of him.”

Lu Ming was a bit disappointed, but in the next second, he regained his spirit, eagerly leaning close to his side with a smile, “Hey, Brother Liang, you should follow him. Aren’t you also a jungle player? He regularly shares some strategies, item builds, and things like that. Learn from him to get into the top ten of the ladder challenge, and who knows, maybe an esports team will scout you to go pro. What is the future in just making two thousand a month at my dad’s crappy little restaurant?”

Liang Ling was slightly stunned, feeling somewhat moved by what he said. After a month in City A, he deeply understood the hardships of young people struggling here. Without a prominent background, shockingly high housing prices, and rising living costs, any one of these was enough to bend the spine of every working adult. With his current income, even if he worked for several more decades, it would be impossible to afford a single toilet in City A.

“Going pro, can you make a lot of money?” Liang Ling asked hesitatingly.

Lu Ming nodded at him proudly, “Of course! Let alone a six-figure monthly salary, just casually broadcasting and receiving some gifts would be enough for you to earn a whole year’s worth. Brother, your skills are so good, do you really not have any thoughts in this direction?”

Liang Ling looked at him and chuckled softly, “But to become a professional player, it must be very difficult, right? No matter how hard ordinary people practice, they still cannot rival players with innate talent.”

Lu Ming was choked by his words and scratched his head embarrassedly. “You cannot say it like that. Didn’t that Einstein fellow say that genius is one percent inspiration and ninety-nine percent perspiration? That means hard work is more important than talent.”

Liang Ling calmly pushed away Lu Ming’s hand that was draped over his shoulder, stood up to help him open his Chinese homework, and said, “I tell you to study hard, but you refuse to listen. First of all, that quote was said by Edison. Secondly, the second half of that quote is that the one percent inspiration is often more important than the ninety-nine percent perspiration. Therefore, there is no such thing as a free lunch dropping from the sky. Walk every step of your way down-to-earth.”

Lu Ming was completely wilted after being lectured by him, picked up his pen dejectedly, and said with discouragement, “Brother, are you really twenty-two? Your mindset is even more old-fashioned than my dad’s.”

Liang Ling knocked on his forehead and smiled, “Alright, finish your food and get to writing quickly. Once you finish your homework later, I will accompany you to play games.”

Hearing this, Lu Ming immediately picked up his bowl happily and shoveled food into his mouth, saying indistinctly, “Then it is a deal. Let us go play at that newly opened internet café nearby. The internet at this crappy little restaurant is way too bad.”

Liang Ling smiled as he looked at him and said indifferently, “Fine, I will listen to you.”

Lu Ming’s homework was done with extreme perfunctoriness. With a patchwork effort of doing three percent himself, copying four percent from the internet, and asking classmates for three percent, he managed to finish it anyway, and immediately dragged Liang Ling toward the internet café.

Liang Ling stumbled a few steps as he was pulled along and asked breathlessly, “Hey, I do not have an ID card, and you are underage, how can we enter an internet café?”

Lu Ming turned his head and blinked at him with a smile, saying, “Do not worry, my good buddy is a grade-repeater, and he is already eighteen. I have already arranged it with him beforehand to borrow his ID card for registration, no worries.”

Liang Ling was truly left speechless and amused by these kids.

This newly opened internet café was called “Night.” Because of its nice interior design and very affordable prices, it was deeply favored by surrounding college students and high schoolers who sneaked out to go online. Liang Ling and Lu Ming registered and went inside, opened a double-seat booth, and ordered some cheap snacks.

“Brother, hurry and log on. In a couple of hours, my dad will be back,” Lu Ming took a deep gulp of cola and urged him.

Liang Ling nodded, took out his phone to log into “Phantom,” and the two of them quickly matched successfully and started duo-queuing.

It had to be said that while playing games, Liang Ling felt like he possessed the vitality of a young person. Although he had never touched this kind of competitive game back in the Empire, perhaps due to innate talent, both his operation and game sense were exceptionally good. After Lu Ming taught him some basic rules, he quickly got the hang of it, easily cruising all the way to the Glory rank. Even when running into professional players and streamers, he did not cower at all, emerging as a dark horse in the ladder challenge. Some gaming studios even sent him invitation letters asking if he wanted to be a booster.

“Oh crap, Brother save me! This old fox is camping me in the bush!” Lu Ming was playing the mid-lane when he was ganked by the enemy jungler, scrambling all the way over to Liang Ling’s side. Liang Ling rushed over from the river and easily saved him, prompting the little punk to be endlessly grateful.

“Brother, you are my only brother! Thanks for saving my life, this younger brother has no way to repay you other than offering myself!”

Liang Ling laughed and scolded him, “Alright, behave a little. Go get the vision in the Fog Forest set up, I am about to unleash the Moonlight Spirit King. Just manage the minion waves and we can push in one wave.”

“Alright alright, I will listen to the Jungle King.” Lu Ming hummed and acted spoiled, flashing a cheeky smile at him.

Liang Ling helplessly tapped his head, crying and laughing at the same time.

“Captain, why did you want to come here today?”

At the front desk, two young men wearing black face masks and duckbill caps walked in side by side. One of them ordered two bottles of sparkling wine and handed them with a smile to the other man: “Captain, want a drink? It clears fatigue and relieves stress.”

Ye Wanqing gave him a blank, expressionless look, “Lin Chen, I have told you many times, if you want to maintain good condition on the game stage, you must not touch these alcohol-containing things at all.”

Lin Chen asked for a boring response, shrugged with a smile, and said helplessly, “What kind of alcohol is this? At best it is a soft drink. You are just too lacking in zest for life, three sentences and you never leave the topic of matches.”

Ye Wanqing ignored him and slightly averted his face.

“Hey, so why did you bring me here anyway?” Lin Chen took a sip of the drink and asked curiously.

Ye Wanqing walked inside and looked around. It was not the bustling time yet, so there were only a sparse few people inside. As he looked around, he replied, “The league is going to hold an Elite Cup among universities soon, and the match location has been set here. I came to take a look in advance and familiarize myself with the match environment.”

“Oh, just for this?” Lin Chen said indifferently, feeling somewhat exasperated by his lack of ambition. “Captain, it is not that I am criticizing you, but for these offline exhibition matches and stuff, there is not even much money involved. Why are you so enthusiastic about participating every time? With that time, wouldn’t it be better to stream a bit more?”

Ye Wanqing shook his head and said indifferently, “I have already promised the fans, I cannot break my word.”

Hearing this, Lin Chen sighed, “You just spoil the fans too much. They are going to take advantage of it more and more in the future, and you will not even have tears left when that happens.”

Ye Wanqing smiled and did not answer.

Suddenly, he saw two boys playing a game over at the double-seat booth. One of them was kneeling on the seat, shouting excitedly at the other, “Brother, watch out! Stone Ghost is bringing Katerina to gank you!”

His voice was very loud, causing several other people playing games nearby to click their tongues in annoyance and glare at him discontentedly.

Phantom?

Ye Wanqing’s eyes lit up. Could these be college students participating in the Elite Cup who were practicing?

As the saying goes, know yourself and know your enemy, and you will never be defeated in a hundred battles. Ye Wanqing was also very curious about what the skill level of these casual players actually was, so he quietly crept over and stood about half a meter behind them to peek.

Hmm, and playing the jungle position, using his own signature hero Gilo as well. The operation is actually quite flashy.

With another perfect prediction, the boy crouching beside him instantly blew up, shouting recklessly without caring about anything else: “Oh crap, Brother, awesome! How did you know he would walk out from here after ganking the top lane? This game sense is insane, totally not losing to Leaf God at all!”

Hearing him say that, Ye Wanqing’s competitive drive as a professional player was instantly stirred up. He slightly stretched out his neck to look more closely, but suddenly caught a glimpse of the gamer’s direct face.

Even someone like Ye Wanqing, who was of mixed-race descent and possessed superior looks, couldn’t help but feel a slight pang of amazement for the person before him: a carved, fair, and exquisite face paired with the youth’s startlingly dark eyebrows, the corners of his eyes slightly upturned, giving calm and collected orders in the voice channel. The whole person seemed to exude the aura of a born leader.

“One wave, one wave! Brother, awesome! Win one more game, and you will enter the top 100 of the ladder challenge!” Lu Ming shouted excitedly, almost knocking over the half-drunk can of cola.

Ye Wanqing quietly gazed at the silent and introverted man, watching him slightly curve his lips into a smile in response to the boy’s enthusiasm.

What a rare and talented esports player.

Ye Wanqing chuckled softly, causing the two people in front of him to turn around in surprise. He was not embarrassed either; stepping forward calmly, he extended a hand and said, “Hello, I am the owner of Rebirth Studio. Seeing your operation just now was truly amazing, and our studio happens to be recruiting boosters right now. I wonder if you might be interested in learning more about it?”