Chapter 20

Qiao Yu had finally found someone who could tolerate his chatter. Every time he started streaming, he’d pull Lin Linya into a game. The two had also added each other privately, and through time, had become good friends.

Once, while waiting for the game to match them with teammates, Qiao Yu suddenly asked, “Yaya Baby, I remember we’re in the same group, how come I’ve never seen you during in-house matches?”

A giant question mark popped up over Lin Linya’s head. Another new term had entered his gaming dictionary. A bit confused, he asked, “What’s an in-house match?”

“Oh, you just got here, it’s normal not to know,” Qiao Yu rubbed the back of his head. “It’s a group activity. Every Friday night, someone in the group creates a custom 5v5 room. It’s all people from the group, just playing for fun.”

Fans on both sides were already used to the two of them queuing together. This was the first time they heard that both had been in the same group chat for a while.

【?? If I remember correctly, the group Little Yu is talking about was made by the earliest game streamers on Wolf Fang Platform. It’s all skill streamers from the game section.】

【LMAO, how did our Bao even sneak in there.】

【How is our baby not a skill streamer? Sometimes catching men can be considered a skill.】

【Baby, absolutely don’t play in-houses with them. They all talk nice but show no mercy when the game starts. That intensity isn’t something a little kitten like you can handle.】

Today happened to be Friday night. Since Lin Linya had put the group chat on Do Not Disturb, he hadn’t noticed anything. Opening the group chat messages, sure enough, there were several custom room links.

Qiao Yu had the most tricks up his sleeve, and it was no wonder his stream was so popular; he loved to stir up trouble.

He egged Lin Linya on, “How about we do something fun tonight? You play on my account, I’ll log into yours. We’ll join an in-house, see how they react. They all know me, so it’s getting boring.”

Lin Linya hesitated. His danmaku was full of people telling him to run away. “Nah, you go play. I want to play some casual games by myself for a bit.”

Teammates and enemies who were too strong would ruin the gaming experience. Plus, he remembered that Picky was also in that group. Running into him again would be too unlucky.

Qiao Yu knew he was shy. He thought for a moment and agreed, “Then, can I borrow your account for the in-house? My account has lots of skins. You can use it for casual matches.”

Lin Linya had started the game late and was missing many limited-edition skins. He couldn’t buy the ones he liked and had long been eyeing Qiao Yu’s account with over 300 skins. So, he agreed, “Okay.”

Casual Mode didn’t make you lose stars, didn’t affect hero win rates, and teammates wouldn’t scold him for playing poorly with a hero he was practicing. He could play however he wanted. When Lin Linya played alone, his favorite mode was Casual.

He logged into Qiao Yu’s account and played a few casual matches. Suddenly, he received a team invite from his own account.

After clicking accept, the game started almost instantly before he could look at anything. It was only on the loading screen that he realized it was a custom 5v5 room.

Qiao Yu was frantically messaging him, 【AAAAHHH sorry, we were missing a Support on our side, so I pulled you in. Forgot to ask you first.】

【If you’re shy, don’t turn on the mic. Just play normally. We’ll drop after this one match. But act a little cocky later, don’t let them see it’s not me on the account.】

Lin Linya was a bit reluctant, but he couldn’t say much about it.

After he exited the chat and returned to the game, it had already entered the Draft Phase. Besides him, who hadn’t turned on his mic, and Qiao Yu, who was on his account, the other three were already chatting enthusiastically.

The other three were also streamers from Wolf Fang Platform. Even though they didn’t use face cams, their voices were quite pleasant, so they had many female fans.

One of them, playing Marksman, was very familiar with Qiao Yu. “Huh?” he said, before asking, “Little Yu, just realized you’re here too. Why no mic today? What’s with the Cold and Aloof act? Turn it on.”

Lin Linya could only type that his throat wasn’t feeling well today.

“Fine, fine,” Shooter Bro thought it was just weird. But when it was time to select heroes, he got even more confused. “Why aren’t you playing Mid Laner? I was waiting for you to give me the lane minions. And you’re playing a Soft Support.”

Half-jokingly, he added, “Did you fall for me? Want to sweet Duo Queue with me?”

His stream’s uninformed fans were also joking around. 【Silent Little Yu is kind of cute. Usually, he’s cursing people out as a Mid Laner. How come he suddenly switched personalities to play Spirit Cat?】

【My raging, chatterbox Mid Lane Bro seems like he’s been body-snatched.】

【Not hearing Little Yu’s voice is really hard to get used to.】

【+1 on hard to get used to.】

Seeing him not talk back, Shooter Bro didn’t know what got into him. As if addicted, he couldn’t help but tease him, “Call me ‘Good Big Bro,’ and I’ll let you live like an emperor in the Farm Lane from now on. Why bother sitting in prison in Mid Lane?”

Lin Linya was playing Spirit Cat because Qiao Yu’s account had a skin he didn’t own but really liked, so he wanted to try it. When the Marksman was talking to him, his fingers curled up nervously.

But he also knew if he stayed silent, he’d be found out. He could only weakly ask, 【Really?】

Seeing those words, the Marksman raised an eyebrow and laughed, scolding, “What the hell is up with you today? You’re being weirdly…” Weirdly cute.

But then he remembered it was his buddy he bickered with every day, so he swallowed his words. Instead, he put on a face of disgust, “Have you been reading some novel? Get lost, don’t come here to gross me out.”

Lin Linya immediately didn’t dare to say another word.

Right at the start of the game, he followed behind the Mid Laner to help clear the wave. That’s when the others noticed their Mid Laner was a stranger. “Who’s this ‘Yaya Can’t Win’?”

The Jungler chimed in, “Seems like the girl Bro Chu invited to the group before.”

Lin Linya wanted to retort that he wasn’t a girl, but remembering he was on Qiao Yu’s account, he could only shut his mouth gloomily again.

Maybe Qiao Yu sensed his speechlessness and typed two words for him on his account in the All Chat: 【Male.】

Once he said he was a guy, the others lost interest and refocused on the game. The Marksman went to the lane to clear minions. Right after killing the first one, he said, “This enemy Marksman has some mechanics. Who’s playing him?”

“He’s freezing my minion wave hard. But it’s fine, my hero counters his. Watch Bro get First Blood… Whoa!”

Before he could finish, the announcer sounded. The enemy Marksman had used Skill 1 + Flash Combo to take his head.

Along with the announcer came the Jungler’s gloating voice, “The enemy Marksman is Picky. Though I don’t know why he switched from Jungler to Marksman role.”

“I know this one,” said the Clash Laner suddenly. “He said recently he can’t figure out Jungling anymore, so he switched to Marksman.”

Their own Shooter Bro replied, “His Marksman play is decent. Suggests he should switch careers. But still a bit worse than me. I was careless just now. Watch me beat him down later.”

The moment Lin Linya heard that name, the image of a certain red-haired, scowling High School Boy with a sour face, cursing people out, popped into his head. He wilted instantly.

All he could do was send Qiao Yu a huffy message, 【You didn’t tell me he was here!】

Both Lin Linya and Qiao Yu knew exactly who “he” referred to. Qiao Yu had no idea why those two had bad blood, but whenever Picky was around, Lin Linya avoided him like a snake.

So even Qiao Yu didn’t really play with Picky much anymore.

He hurriedly explained, trying to salvage his plummeting credibility in the eyes of his doll, 【I really didn’t know it was him. Didn’t recognize him, he changed his avatar and ID.】

【Hmph!!!】

The Mid Laner under the ID ‘Yaya Can’t Win’ cleared a minion wave and started heading toward the Farm Lane. He was holding onto a sliver of hope. Although Picky was no longer visible on the minimap, he remembered his HP was critically low.

He might be in some brush, using Recall. Going over now might even net him a kill.

He wanted to be a rat, and also get some revenge for Lin Linya. Sneakily, he crept to the brush next to the Farm Lane. Just then, the Scuttle Crab, dragging its little Gold Pouch behind it, walked into the same bush.

Alarms instantly went off in his head. Someone’s in the brush!

The Marksman with only a sliver of HP left should have been under the enemy’s Defense Turret. Instead, he was here, counter-ambushing the Mid Laner who came for Backup. Skill 1 and Skill 2 linked for Burst damage, emptying Armando’s HP instantly.

Qiao Yu screamed, “AAAHHHH HELP! I’m gonna die! Picky, you damn Rat!”

But for some reason, when Qiao Yu had just a pixel of health left, the enemy Marksman seemed to freeze like his internet lagged, forcibly stopping his Auto Attacks. He even took two steps back as if malfunctioning.

Qiao Yu’s own minion just happened to walk nearby, hitting Picky and killing him. The final kill went to Qiao Yu.

Qiao Yu was practically laughing his head off.

He was about to taunt Picky, asking if his cousin had accidentally logged onto his account again. But his hands, flying across the keyboard, suddenly stopped. He sniffed a hint of something wrong.

Qiao Yu: “…”

He quickly glanced at the little Spirit Cat bouncing around carefree behind the Marksman and didn’t dare say a word. He scrambled back to his Mid Lane.

The enemy Support was a Mecha, a hero strong in team fights, whose gameplay was to follow the Mid Laner and set the pace. So when Lin Linya followed their own Marksman, it was a 2v1, quickly gaining an advantage.

Their Shooter Bro was the grudge-holding type. “Kitty, use Disrupt. I’m going to tower-dive him.”

Spirit Cat frantically threw out a control skill. Combined with the Disrupt spell, Picky was chain-CC’d, a lamb to the slaughter under his tower.

After he died and lay on the ground, Shooter Bro even brought Lin Linya over to his corpse to perform a Recall Taunt. “That all you got, little Picky? Today, Big Bro will teach you how to play Marksman properly.”

“The Farm Lane waters are too deep for you, Bro. I suggest you go back to Jungling.”

Picky replied: 【.】

He then typed, one word at a time: 【You. Guys. Are. Dead.】

Shooter Bro continued his suicidal taunting. 【Oh my, I’m so scared~ How come you’re lying on the ground all alone? Isn’t the Canyon floor cold, little bro?】

Although Lin Linya felt secretly thrilled inside, he wanted to advise him not to be too cocky. After all, the other side wasn’t easy to provoke.

Revenge came fast. Their Marksman had overextended. They didn’t expect the enemy Jungler and Mid Laner to have faked vision in the jungle. In reality, they had all come to gank them.

The Jungler threw his Ultimate, and Lin Linya’s Shield shattered instantly.

Once knocked off, Lin Linya let out a wail, “Ahh! Why are they all chasing me, a Support?!”

The enemy Marksman Kiki’s skills and Auto Attacks all landed precisely on the Support, Spirit Cat. The poor little kitten was instantly surrounded by three huge men!

Their Shooter Bro decisively used Flash, scrambling back under the tower for his life. Lin Linya felt the blatant targeting!

【LMAO, the entertainment value in tonight’s in-house is off the charts.】

【Why is watching them play in-houses so fun? Suggest trying the Traitor mode next time.】

【Please no Traitor mode. Even if our Yaya Baby wasn’t the traitor, he’d still get voted out eventually for playing so poorly.】

【Saying it so boldly, you got a death wish? Emergency mouth-shut! Don’t make our baby cry from anger.】

【The internet is virtual, but the damage my Bao takes is real. The enemy claimed they were targeting Little Yu, but the one being bullied is my baby. I’m really dying of laughter, I’m such a real mom.】

Shooter Bro couldn’t stop laughing. “Hey, don’t go overboard. You hit Little Yu? Then you can’t hit me, okay?”

Since everyone in this in-house match knew each other, the game was very wild and fun. Only Lin Linya was sulking, because it seemed the enemy was deliberately bullying him. Especially that Marksman Kiki!

Just a single glance at him in the middle of the team fight, and it was like he had a GPS tracker on Lin Linya’s Spirit Cat, pinpointing his location perfectly and sending him back to the Fountain to respawn.

When their own Nexus exploded, Lin Linya’s lips were pouting up to the sky.

The enemy Picky even timed it right as their Nexus shattered, coldly sending: 【Your Support is not that great. You might want to change them.】

【Of course, I didn’t say the rest of you played well either.】

It was peak arrogance.

On the KDA results screen, Kiki took the match MVP with a high score of 13.6 as a Gold Medal ADC. Shooter Bro was grinding his teeth in anger, “Damn it, he gets to act all cool! Was this guy a failed Marksman who switched to Jungling before or something?”

As soon as Qiao Yu left the room, his WeChat exploded with a barrage of messages.

It was their side’s Shooter Bro: 【Who was playing your account just now? Quickly, send me their contact.】

Qiao Yu: 【?】

Shooter Bro sneered a few times. 【Don’t play dumb. You think I don’t know you?】

【The guy who’d rather die than play Support suddenly plays Spirit Cat? Throat feeling bad, so no mic? You? The guy who’d bark into the mic even if his vocal cords were severed?】

Qiao Yu was both annoyed and amused. 【Motherf—…】

Qiao Yu had no time for him. He was anxious to go back and comfort his doll. After applying for a video chat, the call connected, and sure enough, that pretty little face was covered in unhappiness.

Lin Linya interrogated him, “So this was your plan when you made me play your account? Knowing you’d be targeted?”

Qiao Yu laughed awkwardly. “They’re the jerks, it’s not my fault! Don’t be mad. Sing something later, and Bro will send you Carnivals and Sports Cars.”

He suddenly cursed, “Whoa, has Picky gone crazy? Why is he spamming so many team invites?”

Lin Linya thought it was strange too, but he reminded him, “You’re still on my account right now.”

Qiao Yu thought for a moment. Picky’s sudden weird behavior had to have a reason. “I’ll let him in, see what he wants.”

Lin Linya gave a “hmph,” neither agreeing nor refusing.

Qiao Yu was a man who knew people inside out. He immediately grasped Lin Linya’s little personality—he was the type to be pampered and spoiled, wanting the other person to apologize first, but deliberately refusing to say so.

On his own accord, Qiao Yu clicked accept. Instantly, another person appeared in the team room.

Picky didn’t speak. Qiao Yu cleared his throat. “Good evening, little bro. Nice Kiki play earlier.”

Song Yu was silent for a few seconds before asking, “Was that you playing Mid earlier? And the Support was…”

Hearing this, Lin Linya felt both wronged and angry. He let out a loud “Hmph!”

Thinking about how he’d targeted the Support like a mad dog, Song Yu went: “…”

The Stubborn high schooler absolutely refused to admit he’d been maliciously retaliating against Qiao Yu for always Duo Queuing with Lin Linya lately. Now realizing he’d targeted the wrong person, he wanted to apologize.

But it was like his mouth was sealed shut. The words wouldn’t come out.

Lin Linya said in a sarcastic, mocking tone, “‘Your Support isn’t that great, better switch them out quickly. Of course, I didn’t say the rest of you played very well either.'”

His voice was very soft. Even though he was angry, his tone was practically coquettish.

Song Yu coughed heavily. When he opened his mouth, his voice was hoarse, with undeniable panic. “What I meant was… your Marksman is not that great. You following him won’t win. Better to switch.”

“…You saw it yourself earlier. I’m better than him.”