Chapter 21 Part 2

That feeling—being right on the verge of winning, only to get Backdoored? Way worse than losing a team fight. He had a complete mental break. “Wuwuwu I told you to just get the dragon first! You wouldn’t listen! You owe me stars!”

Once he was angry, he started babbling nonsense, his tone laced with a crying voice. “Are you even capable, yes or no?!”

The fans in Lin Linya’s stream were initially discussing Picky’s mistake earlier. But after he said that sentence, the conversation’s direction shifted, exploding with a barrage of messages.

【Though I feel sorry for my wife, I’m hard down there. I admit I’m dirty.】

【My wife is crying, asking me if I’m capable. Something I didn’t have before just grew in.】

【Damn, it’s just one lost Promotion Match. Stop crying, let me carry you. After I carry you, you can cry in bed, and let you know just how capable your Bro is.】

【The game doesn’t matter anymore, brothers. Right now, I’m watching this stream with my eyes closed.】

【None of you are allowed to listen! This is my wife! (fist) None of you are allowed to listen! This is my wife! (fist)】

Lin Linya’s eyes were reddening at the corners from fury. He looked up, taking deep breaths like a little frog while frantically fanning himself. But looking down at these comments made his vision go dark. “Are you all mental?!”

His current state was also a mess, like he’d been bullied. His plump, red lips were glossy, his slightly upturned eye corners carried an indescribable allure due to his emotions, a few strands of black hair stuck to his face.

When he scolded people, the saliva in his mouth lingered, making his trailing sounds sticky and gooey. His voice was like honey that could be spun into threads, making people want him to curse even more fiercely.

【Baby, stop cursing. Some of the more vulgar male fans are probably getting off on this.】

【Loses his Promotion Match and still rewards us. You really… I’m crying to death.】

【Poor baby, doesn’t even know how sexy he looks when he’s angry. Baby should be a businessman, not a student. Otherwise, how come I feel so… creditworthy just looking at you.】

The danmaku in Picky’s stream was all the same message, in perfect formation.

【Are you even capable, yes or no?】

【Are you even capable, yes or no?】

【Are you even capable, yes or no?】

【All else aside, that little streamer on the other side has something going for him. The sounds he makes are way too nice. Sorry, everyone, I’m going to go on a business trip next door.】

The moment Lin Linya spoke his first sentence, Song Yu was stunned.

To him, although losing that last game was frustrating, winning and losing in games was normal. You lose, you just win it back.

But that little streamer’s voice truly sounded pitiful. Beyond feeling soft-hearted, Song Yu felt some other inexplicable emotions.

It was the same feeling as those sleepless nights, when he’d unconsciously click on the sleep-aid videos he’d downloaded and saved. The same voice, it made his heart race as if he was sick.

He slowly furrowed his brow. The high school boy who usually looked down on everyone finally lowered his head. “That was my mistake just now… Sorry. I’ll pay you back the stars. I’ll carry you to win it back. Don’t cry anymore.”

He was like a henpecked husband who couldn’t lift his head in front of his wife, sullenly and silently enduring the anger. “If it feels better to curse me out, just curse me.”

【Another one. Hopeless. Take him away.】

【The last man this Stubborn was already acting as my Bao’s Mount.】

Being coaxed like this, Lin Linya got a little embarrassed by his own anger. He said, haltingly, “Really?”

Song Yu replied, dead serious, “Really.”

“Fine then,” Lin Linya let out a spoiled little huff.

Qiao Yu was still amazed at how quickly Lin Linya’s anger came and went. But after those two talked, he suddenly got this feeling like a third wheel in a couple’s quarrel…

The stifled Utility Player spoke up: “So, I’m starting the queue now?”

Song Yu wanted to hear Lin Linya talk more. But now being interrupted, Qiao Yu was an eyesore no matter how he looked at him.

With a sour face, he said, “Start it. And don’t play that crap Master of yours. Your Ultimate locks on and can’t even kill a squishy. Might as well go play with mud.”

Qiao Yu: “…Oh.”

This match, ELO finally gave Lin Linya a break. It matched him with normal teammates and opponents. Plus, Song Yu and Qiao Yu were indeed carrying hard, letting him coast through a match and win back the star he’d just lost.

Seeing the Promotion Match notification pop up on the results screen again made him want to throw up. So he opened NetEase Cloud and played a song called “Good Luck Comes” to pump himself up. “Let’s go! I can do this! A mere 25 Stars, I’m taking it down tonight!”

Entering the Draft Phase, Lin Linya was first pick, which instantly made him indecisive. “I pick first? What should I play?”

Since neither team’s heroes were revealed yet, Qiao Yu couldn’t give much advice either. He only said, “Play whatever you want. We’ll draft around your pick.”

Right then, Picky, who had been silent and quietly selecting, suddenly spoke up: “Pick the cat.”

In the last five seconds of the hero select countdown, Lin Linya frantically scrolled through his Support pool and fished out the cat. Only after locking it in did he start to regret it. “Feels a bit rash.”

“Stick close to me. We’ll win.”

Qiao Yu watched Song Yu select his hero and clicked his tongue in wonder. “Pulling out a Jungler like Ranger… Seems our Picky Bro is dead set on victory this game.”

Seeing Lin Linya looking completely lost, Qiao Yu hurriedly explained: “Because this hero is strong in this patch. Considered a T0 Jungler, pick rate is pretty high, but our little bro doesn’t like playing him.”

Lin Linya understood this much. He asked, “Why?”

Qiao Yu chuckled slyly, lowering his voice: “Why else? Not show-off enough. He just loves playing trash-tier heroes, then when he beats others down, he taunts them for having no hands.”

Lin Linya, who always played the game with a live-and-let-live attitude, was utterly shocked. He criticized Picky’s behavior: “Isn’t your personality way too awful?”

Song Yu: “…”

Did he not understand who the Hard Carry was this game or what?

Song Yu had played Glory for many years. He could basically play any hero a little. Once he grasped the tricks, every new hero released, after a couple of games, he could generally get the hang of it.

So even with a hero he didn’t normally touch, his play was very smooth. Plus, he had a Support sticking to him like glue to protect him.

Lin Linya was puzzled why the Jungler suddenly seemed like he was shot full of adrenaline.

Ranger, once farmed up, had high HP and high damage. Spirit Cat, when attached to him, sometimes wouldn’t fall off for over ten minutes. They were practically the perfect combo. The enemy played relatively conservatively at first, which allowed Ranger’s Gold to skyrocket.

In the Late Game, with unstoppable momentum, Ranger with the cat attached could easily fight one versus five.

After securing the dragon, Song Yu was taking Lin Linya to clear a side lane, preparing to push all three lanes’ minion waves and end the game in one go. Suddenly, five people jumped out of the brush.

They were recklessly trying to focus and kill just the two of them first.

All skills were dumped onto The Jungler. The Spirit Cat, knocked off Ranger, had a passive immunity effect and was hopping away. But then, the immunity state dropped, and it immediately turned around, jumping back onto Ranger to cast a shield.

Right at that moment, Song Yu’s Ultimate came off cooldown. The two escaped certain death.

Song Yu was stunned. He’d basically taken his hands off the keyboard just then, never expecting Lin Linya would turn back. He hesitated before speaking: “You…”

The red-haired high school boy, headphones on, quietly blushed at the ears. His heart, which had just calmed down, began pounding wildly again.

He took Lin Linya’s action as a signal of goodwill.

Was he not angry anymore? Otherwise, why wouldn’t he just abandon him? Why turn back to shield him? Did he even know—if his Ultimate hadn’t refreshed at that exact moment—both of them would have died?

Did he really trust him that much?

Qiao Yu was bored, waiting for his respawn timer. He’d panned his camera to watch the two of them and had also seen it. His teeth practically ached from sourness. He asked with a fake smile, “Yaya Baby, you didn’t ditch him. Was that love? Was that duty? I’m practically moved to tears here.”

Song Yu didn’t speak, but his ears secretly perked straight up. He stared intensely at the screen, imagining in his head what Lin Linya might say.

Truthfully, Lin Linya hadn’t thought about it much at all. He hadn’t expected the other two to react so strongly.

Disdainfully, he curled his lip. “What are you talking about? It’s none of that. This is my Promotion Match, hello?”

Song Yu: “…”

Right until the match ended, he didn’t say a single word. His face was cold. Only when the word “VICTORY” popped up, and he heard Lin Linya’s cheer, did his expression soften slightly.

Qiao Yu was also infected by the mood and couldn’t help but laugh. “Just ranking up one star makes you this happy?”

Lin Linya was contentedly admiring his Match History and profile page, looking left and right, finding it beautiful no matter how he looked at it. He even took many screenshots, planning to post them on WeChat Moments. “Of course I’m happy.”

He glanced at Picky, who was silent in the room. Then he puffed his cheeks at Qiao Yu and said, “It would be so great if I could reach Hundred Stars. I saw someone post their Hundred Stars badge on Moments before, it looked sooo good.”

He wasn’t counting on Qiao Yu to carry him to Hundred Stars. Sometimes, Qiao Yu’s KDA was even lower than his own. Picky was better than both of them, so these words were deliberately meant for him to hear.

The moment Song Yu heard Lin Linya wanted Qiao Yu to carry him to Hundred Stars, his heart bubbled with sour jealousy.

Hundred Stars, that was at least another hundred games together. Twenty minutes a game. He couldn’t even calculate how long the two of them could play together.

He sneered. “He can’t even get there himself.”

Qiao Yu, feeling wronged, was about to defend himself.

Lin Linya’s brows drooped down pitifully. His tone was also full of loss. “Then what to do? I can’t climb there by myself~ Oh well, guess I’ll just forget about it. It’s not like anyone wants to play with me anyway.”

Qiao Yu’s expression turned weird. He looked like he was about to say something but stopped.

Song Yu coughed. “I’m planning to push for Hundred Stars this season. We can play together.”

Lin Linya still feigned coyness for a few seconds, looking like he was agonizing over it. After quite a while, he finally said, somewhat reluctantly, “Really? Well, okay then.”

Song Yu let out a sigh of relief. He ruffled his messy red hair harshly, secretly resolving that he absolutely had to perform well. What if Lin Linya didn’t want to play with him anymore?

Qiao Yu: .

He shut his mouth completely this time.

…

【Starting a thread to rationally discuss tonight’s little streamer’s man-catching techniques… Never mind, I can’t even be rational. All I can say is, Baby, you’re a damn legend.】

【Acting pitiful, playing hard to get, crazy praising to feed a guy’s ego, turning back to protect him at the most dangerous moment. Those are my main points so far.】