1
【Don’t bother coming for tryouts the day after tomorrow. Wolves have already found a rookie. I’ll let you know next time there’s an opportunity.】
Just as Yan Xiu extracted from a game of Top-Secret Aerospace, a WeChat message popped up on his computer.
The sender was named “Old Jiu,” whose avatar was very distinctive: a pure white background with a few large red words printed on it: Pros DM Me!!!
The monitor’s light was cold and harsh, illuminating a delicate, pale face. The young man, seemingly having not seen sunlight in a long time, had a complexion so pale and translucent it looked almost sickly. He stared at the WeChat page without replying.
Another message from Old Jiu arrived.
【Don’t get too down. Your skills speak for themselves. Several teams are swapping players next season. I’ll message you the second I hear anything.】
Yan Xiu replied with a “Thanks,” picking a cute cat-head emoji to send back.
He played a few more games, and by 6 PM, it was already getting dark outside. Yan Xiu told his client over the mic, “Got something, gotta go a bit early.”
The client happily settled the bill: “You’re insane, man. I’ll book you again next time.”
Yan Xiu’s voice was very soft: “Thank you, it was my pleasure.”
Delta Force was a three-player squad game. Besides the client, there was another game companion in the team. The companion joked, “God Show is the pillar of our Laifu Esports, absolutely cracked. If it weren’t for the boss’s financial power, I’d never get the chance to play with God Show.”
“His hourly rate is insane too, 500 an hour. But it’s worth it. I’ve never seen a companion game this cracked before.”
A twitch crossed Yan Xiu’s eyelid.
Sure enough, the client’s next line came: “If you’re this cracked, why not go pro?”
Good question.
Yan Xiu gave a formulaic answer: “I will, if the opportunity arises.”
The three exited the KOOK voice channel, and Yan Xiu went to the order group to report his session.
After reporting, the other companion started pleading with the admin girl: 【Sister Ning~~ when can I get a rate increase?】
Sister Ning was one of the managers at Laifu Esports. Regular companion orders didn’t require her attention, but she oversaw these high-rate, big-ticket sessions. Her reply was ice cold: 【God Show’s solo-vs-trios map clear extraction rate on Top-Secret Aerospace is 98%. Yours is 60%. When you hit 70%, I’ll raise your rate.】
Yan Xiu finished ordering takeout and glanced at the messages in the temporary order group. This companion was named “Pineapple,” a 200-yuan-rate companion, which was definitely a top rate at Laifu Esports.
It was his first time playing with Pineapple, who was a nice guy and talked a lot.
Pineapple: 【You’re actually comparing me to God Show?? Sister Ning, don’t insult God Show!】
Yan Xiu: 【Pure flattery, cringe boosting!】
Pineapple: 【No way!】
Yan Xiu: 【Correction, it’s 98.8%.】
Pineapple: 【…】
Pineapple: 【That’s fucking insane!!!】
Laifu Esports was the largest companion gaming club for Delta Force, with over 4000 companions under its wing. Its founder was the game’s biggest streamer, “Ushering Wealth,” known in the community as “Brother Cai.” It was rumored that Laifu Esports’ annual net revenue reached into the hundreds of millions, a behemoth unparalleled across all FPS and MOBA titles online.
As a top-tier companion at the 200 rate, Pineapple was also a minor streamer, boasting 30,000 followers on TikTok and a few hundred viewers per stream.
But compared to him, Laifu-God Show was the stuff of legend.
Yan Xiu, Order ID: Show, Game ID: Onlyshow.
Show.
Aptly named. Godly, chaotic, the showstopper blessed by the heavens.
Among the 4000 companions at Laifu Esports, everyone knew the “98.8%” solo-vs-trios map clear extraction rate like the back of their hand.
Solo against trios, slaughtering the entire map, clearing it completely, and extracting.
A staggering 98.8% success rate!
Pineapple stared at the flickering “98.8” on his phone screen, feeling his scalp tingle: 【If I had a 90% extraction rate, I could take my pick of any pro Tier-1 team. With a terrifying extraction rate like 98.8, I doubt many pro players could do it either… well, God D definitely can.】
Sister Ning: 【Oh? You dare compare yourself to Danger?】 Her tone was menacing.
Pineapple: 【How would I dare qaq!!!】
Sister Ning: 【Didn’t Show use to play pro before, IIRC? Why’d you stop?】
Yan Xiu was extremely thin. His hands resting on the black keyboard were bony, knuckles slender, fingertips tinged pink, their paleness starkly contrasting against the black keycaps. He chewed on a just-delivered hamburger, one-handedly tapping the keyboard: 【Had a fallout with someone, so I stopped.】
~
By the time Yan Xiu finished another order session that night, it was already 2 AM.
A companion’s routine often had terrible hours, and he usually stopped taking orders by now, ready to wash up and sleep. But tonight was different.
“Buzz— Buzz—”
His WeChat phone rang, flashing “Brother Cai” on the screen.
Yan Xiu answered: “Brother Cai, what’s up?”
The boisterous and heroic voice of Delta Force’s number one streamer, “Ushering Wealth,” boomed from the receiver: “Big business, Little Xiu. Come take an order, quick.”
“I was just about to rest, Brother Cai.”
“Don’t, man, help your bro out. I’ll pay you out of my own pocket, 2000 an hour. This client is a top donor in my stream, just started playing Delta two days ago, and he’s already gifted me over 30 Ws (300,000 CNY). I played with him all night, but my skills are rusted, couldn’t give the boss a satisfying carry.”
Ushering Wealth was Delta Force’s biggest streamer, having risen to fame on skill in his early days. But as he aged, his mechanics declined. His streams now focused more on entertainment, with explosive comedic effect, drawing a massive fanbase.
Before Yan Xiu could respond, Brother Cai added: “I know you sleep early every day. Let’s make it 5000 an hour, just don’t sleep, come save the day.”
Ushering Wealth had been a mentor to Yan Xiu, and his treatment at Laifu Esports had always been top-tier.
Yan Xiu: “The usual 500 rate is fine. Just send the KOOK channel, Brother Cai.”
Ushering Wealth: “Don’t worry, your bro won’t shortchange you. Just make sure you take good care of the boss. I’m counting on you, Little Xiu.”
After hanging up, Yan Xiu followed the KOOK link Brother Cai provided and entered the boss’s exclusive voice channel.
He typed a message on WeChat: 【Brother Cai, who’s the other companion?】
Brother Cai: 【This boss is a big shot. The other player is a pro gamer he called up himself, OLG’s Qingbao.】
Yan Xiu’s eyelid twitched again.
Elite esports club “OLG Esports,” since joining the DFL Delta Force Pro League in 2026, had swept championships across the board. Over three years, they secured 4 League Championships, 2 Global FPS All-Star Championships, and countless runner-up and third-place finishes.
Qingbao was a member of the OLG First Team. He specialized in the Recon Role, providing enemy intel for teammates, famous for his signature operators like Luna and Mai Xiaowen.
OLG-Qingbao’s fame was nowhere near OLG-Danger’s, but he was still a Tier-1 player in the DFL.
For a current top-tier pro to be doing a companion game for a client meant this boss either had personal connections or possessed a super-universe-level financial power.
Yan Xiu dared not slack off and put on his headphones.
A deep, powerful male voice sounded in KOOK, clearly belonging to someone at least in their mid-thirties: “So you’re the ‘Show’ Ushering Wealth mentioned? He says you’re crazy good, can wipe the whole map.”
This was the boss.
Yan Xiu: “Hello, boss. Just call me Little Xiu. Not that good, Brother Cai exaggerated.”
“Haha, waiting for you to carry us to victory.”
With a pro gamer present, Yan Xiu said: “With God Qing here, it’s guaranteed annihilation.”
Qingbao spoke up at this moment: “I’ve heard of you too. Your KD is terrifying. Ushering Wealth just mentioned your solo-vs-trios Top-Secret Aerospace map clear rate is 98.”
As these words fell, faintly, Yan Xiu thought he heard a very subtle male voice from Qingbao’s headset side, tinged with slight surprise: “98?”
The voice was too soft. Even with Yan Xiu’s sharp hearing, he only vaguely sensed someone had spoken. The boss on the other end didn’t hear anything at all.
But someone had indeed asked.
Qingbao answered that person: “Yeah, 98%. His KD is as high as 8.9. Ushering Wealth’s been bragging for a while.”
Boss: “Alright, shall we start?”
Qingbao: “Let’s go, go, go! Bro, we’ll wipe the map, you can have all the loot, I’ll make sure you touch ten Hearts of Africa!”
Yan Xiu wasn’t good with words, so he simply chimed in: “Let’s go.”
Playing with a top-tier Recon Role player like Qingbao was paradise for any Entry Fragger.
Yan Xiu could play both the first and second fragger roles, but with a top-tier Recon like Qingbao available, it was a given to use him.
Yan Xiu instantly picked the operator “Vyron,” coordinating with Qingbao’s “Luna.” They two-versus-threed, wiping one team, two teams… four teams. On the entire Aerospace map, there were six squads total. Aside from one rat team that got killed by someone else, they slaughtered all four remaining teams.
Qingbao’s intel was pinpoint precise, timely and rapid. The instant intel was given, Yan Xiu would land a headshot kill.
During the games Ushering Wealth played with the boss, the boss had never experienced such top-tier enjoyment. He didn’t have to do anything, just lay prone on the ground. When Yan Xiu said, “Boss, they’re all dead,” he’d crawl up to loot bodies and open crates, thrilled beyond words.
Qingbao was also enjoying himself immensely: “You’re so cracked, God Show. Worthy of the 98% map clear rate.”
From Show, to Little Xiu, to now God Show.
Qingbao was having a blast, feeling like he was right on the DFL stage, and the person he was coordinating with wasn’t Laifu Esports-Show, but his old partner, OLG-Danger, Bai Wei.
Thinking this, Qingbao muted his mic and couldn’t help but say to his teammate, who was casually doing a solo-vs-trios beside him: “This Show is seriously cracked.”
Bai Wei, controlling Vyron, used Jet Boost, landing a headshot kill on a Red Wolf. Then, with an extreme position switch, he instantly killed the last surviving Luna on that team. He glanced sideways at Qingbao’s screen, his gaze lingering for a moment on the ID “Onlyshow” in the bottom left corner.
Bai Wei leaned back: “I know him.”
Qingbao was shocked: “You know him? He’s actually this famous, even catching God D’s attention?”
Lazily leaning against his chair, Bai Wei noted in his own map that only one rat team remained, no real threat. He recalled: “A year ago, he started for BOX once, but only played one match.”
“Did he play terribly, which is why he was benched after one match?”
“He played pretty cracked, I think. Their map that round was Bakesh. Both his teammates were dead. He played Vyron, sniping from the tower top, solo-killed two teams. But the reason he got benched is unknown.” The last rat team let slip a few footsteps. Bai Wei raised an eyebrow slightly, let out a soft “hup,” put his headphones back on, and ignored his teammate.
Pleasant gaming time always passed quickly, and it was already 4 AM in the blink of an eye.
Yan Xiu should have been asleep long ago by this time.
Qingbao was incredibly strong, and working with him was very easy. But this peculiar ease made Yan Xiu start to feel drowsy—the game’s difficulty was too low, like slaughtering dogs.
Ushering Wealth: 【Help your bro out, play well, Little Xiu!】
Yan Xiu: 【Don’t worry, Brother Cai.】
If the boss doesn’t sleep, I don’t sleep. I’m an attentive little treasure.
They started another game, in the loading queue.
Suddenly:
Qingbao: “Whoa, fuck, my stomach hurts.”
Boss: “Ah, what do we do? Can you still play?”
Yan Xiu: “You okay, God Qing?”
Qingbao: “Must’ve been that iced Coke I drank earlier. Yeah, I’m fine, but I just can’t hold it anymore, really gonna crap my pants!”
Boss: “What do we do? We just loaded into the game.”
Unlike many FPS games, Delta Force doesn’t have a feature to freely quit and just lose ranking points.
There’s no shrinking circle mechanic like in other FPS games either. Players enter a match, and the system assigns random spawn points. Players can search for loot in every room and outdoor area on the map. These loot items are purely for value—not equipment like guns, helmets, or armor. Players must spend in-game currency before each match to buy their gear and bring it into the match.
Therefore, if a player dies in the game, all the gear they bought with their own money gets taken by the enemy.
To exit a match, you must also go to a designated extraction point. If you voluntarily quit the game, you lose all the equipment you purchased for that match.
The match had just started, and it was Top-Secret difficulty. Yan Xiu could wipe the map solo, but he couldn’t guarantee the boss’s safety. The boss’s bot-like movement could easily get him taken down by some random cold shot from an unknown corner.
Just as Yan Xiu was about to say, “It’s fine, go to the bathroom first,” he heard Qingbao say: “I’ll get my teammate to sub in for me.”
Yan Xiu paused.
Teammate?
Qingbao muted his mic, clenching his butt as he got up from his chair. He clutched his stomach, covered in sweat: “God D, please, sub in for me!”
Bai Wei had just shut down his computer, ready to head upstairs to sleep: “None of my business.”
Qingbao was gritting his teeth from holding it in: “This boss is insanely loaded, only been playing Delta for two days, and he’s already gifted me 300,000! You gotta help me out, God D!!!”
300,000 gifted in two days?
No wonder Qin Baotian hadn’t even gone to eat dinner tonight, secretly holed up here carrying the boss.
Bai Wei spoke deliberately: “What’s in it for me?”
Qingbao: “I’ll be God D’s fucking dog, anything!”
Bai Wei chuckled. He was incredibly good-looking. As the only true superstar player in the DFL, aside from his impeccable technical skill, this face—enough to be an idol star—was a major factor.
Even as a teammate of three years, with stomach pains that could cause imminent disaster, Qin Baotian couldn’t help but sigh inwardly: If I had that face, my annual income could definitely double again.
Qingbao: “Super invincible, world’s most handsome man, God D, please!!!”
The handsome man waved his hand magnanimously: “Go to the bathroom.”
“Bowing down to God D!”
In the KOOK voice channel, Yan Xiu was still wondering who this teammate Qingbao mentioned could be.
The OLG First Team had four members total. Apart from one Substitute, only Danger and Rose remained. Rose was slightly older, 28 this year. Rumors had it he even drank goji berry water during matches, his daily routine incredibly strict. He was probably already fast asleep by now.
Was it the substitute?
Or… Danger?
“He’s gone to the bathroom. I’ll sub in for him for one round.”
The light, slightly husky male voice had a lilting, casual edge. Before the boss or Yan Xiu could speak, he added: “We’ll go double Vyron, is that okay… Show?”
A few seconds passed before Yan Xiu snapped back to attention.
Yan Xiu: “Whatever God D says is fine.”
