Chapter 16

Delta Force’s new season knife skin, Polaris, was priced individually at 4800 Delta Coins. The bundle was 5200 Delta Coins—exactly 520.

The heart that had leaped into Yan Xiu’s throat settled back down. He pressed his lips together. “No need, God D…” Perhaps from solo queuing too long in the training room, not speaking much, his voice was a bit hoarse.

Bai Wei fixed his gaze on him for a few seconds, then tapped on his phone a few more times.

[V transferred 1200 yuan to you]

[V transferred 1100 yuan to you]

[V…]

“Red Wolf’s, Mai Xiaowen’s, Luna’s…” Bai Wei finished the transfers and put his phone back in his pocket.

Yan Xiu’s tone grew a bit anxious. “No need to gift me skins, God D. They’re all the same…”

But Bai Wei cut him off, asking with a smile, “What’s your luck like with opening crates?”

“Huh?” Yan Xiu realized Bai Wei was transferring money based on the hard pity price for the crates. He replied, “I only opened crates twice back in middle school, when I played King of Glory. It was okay. Never hit pity.”

“I see.” Bai Wei walked down the stairs, stopping two steps below Yan Xiu. He suddenly turned back. “Want a late-night snack? Open the crates, let me see?”

Yan Xiu’s lips moved. By the time he realized it, he was already following downstairs.

Bai Wei walked ahead. It was so late, the entire villa’s lights were out, shrouded in pitch-black silence. Only the night lights at each stair landing remained on.

On the white tile floor, his shadow was stretched long and thin. He walked to the front door, opened it, bent down, and picked up the food delivery.

Turning back, Yan Xiu stood silently at the corner of the first-floor staircase, his light, clear eyes looking at him.

Bai Wei’s Adam’s apple bobbed.

Actually, the age difference between him and Yan Xiu wasn’t big—only three years. But in the esports industry, every single year felt like a mountain between them.

For a DFL rookie, if they didn’t produce a decent result before 19, basically by 20, it was time to retire.

No one is forever 18, but there is always someone who is 18.

The two returned to the first team’s training room. Bai Wei sat in Rose’s chair, watching Yan Xiu boot up the computer and launch the game.

As soon as he logged in, someone named “Juewei Pineapple” sent a private message. [Didn’t you just log off, God Show? Why back online so soon?]

Bai Wei had just opened the takeout box of rice noodle rolls. It was quite fiddly. Seeing the private message, he raised an eyebrow. Yan Xiu had already begun explaining, “My friend. Met him back when I was a companion at Laifu Esports.”

[Onlyshow: Came on to pull a skin.]

[Juewei Pineapple: Didn’t you say you don’t like skins? Called them flashy and useless. I was going to gift you one for Qixi, but you didn’t want it.]

Yan Xiu: “…”

He glanced at Bai Wei from the corner of his eye.

Expressionlessly, Yan Xiu typed. [I was being polite. Nobody dislikes skins.]

[You should’ve said so earlier. I’ll gift it to you. Wait there.]

[Don’t! I already loaded the currency.]

[Alright, then. I’ll gift you Mai Xiaowen’s new skin next month. Won’t give Tencent extra money.]

Yan Xiu started scanning the QR code to top up. His bank card balance was only three digits. He couldn’t avoid accepting Bai Wei’s WeChat transfer.

“This Pineapple, is he that friend you mentioned last time who wanted an autograph?” Bai Wei’s voice was casual.

Yan Xiu nodded. “That’s him.”

After topping up the Delta Coins, Yan Xiu asked, “Which one first, God D?”

Bai Wei: “Which one do you want?”

Yan Xiu opened the in-game store.

All red-quality skins in Delta Force, whether gun skins or character skins, were permanently purchasable, no time limits.

Yan Xiu’s store was practically empty. Over ninety percent of the skins were in a buyable state. He’d only bought a couple of knife skins that were good and offered damage bonuses. As for operator skins with zero stat bonuses, he’d bought almost none.

The mouse scrolled past the red-quality skins. Yan Xiu was pondering which skin to pull first when suddenly the page scrolled to the OLG championship-exclusive Vyron FMVP skin. A prominent “Owned” label flickered across the screen.

Yan Xiu subconsciously looked towards Bai Wei.

Bai Wei had no reaction.

Ultimately, Yan Xiu decided to pull Luna’s red skin first.

In the dim training room, the click-click of the mouse sounded softly. Seven or eight red-quality skins in total. Except for Mai Xiaowen’s, which hit pity, for the others, Yan Xiu only pulled a few times before getting the skin.

While topping up, Yan Xiu had been cautious, not loading all the money Bai Wei transferred onto his account. He topped up bit by bit. After buying all the skins, surprisingly, there was quite a bit left over.

Yan Xiu transferred the excess money back.

“God D, transferred the money back to you.”

Bai Wei didn’t refuse. He accepted the transfer and sighed with genuine feeling. “Your luck is really good.”

Yan Xiu was a bit embarrassed. “It’s okay.”

“My luck is even better.”

Yan Xiu looked at him, puzzled.

Bai Wei smiled, closing the takeout box. Yan Xiu wasn’t eating, and he couldn’t finish the extra portion he’d ordered either. Might as well toss it.

“Gifting someone a skin and still getting a refund.” The end of Bai Wei’s sentence lifted slightly. A smile touched his lips and eyes. He seemed to recall something. “My luck’s always been good. Know what the DFL single-player, single-match red item record is?”

Unexpectedly, Yan Xiu blurted it out. “A single match: one Roaming, one Mandel Supercomputer, one Blue Room Server Card, and a bottle of Champagne. You got that in the second round of the elimination stage during the Autumn Split the year before last.”

Bai Wei’s gaze lingered on him for a moment before he finally said, “See, my luck’s good. Always get what I want.” As he spoke, he laughed again.

Yan Xiu had no clue what he meant and just shut down his computer in a daze.

After Bai Wei tossed the trash into the kitchen bin, they went upstairs together.

Right out of the fifth-floor staircase was Rose and Yan Xiu’s room. Yan Xiu stopped, lowered his head, and said, “I’ll head back first then, God D.”

Bai Wei could only see the dark crown of his head, but he was in a good mood. “Good night.”

Yan Xiu couldn’t help but look up. “Good night.”

Watching Yan Xiu tiptoe quietly into his room, Bai Wei couldn’t resist. He took out his phone and, with great difficulty keeping a low profile, started furiously typing a WeChat message to CatClaw.

The next day at noon, all of OLG’s major official accounts released the Autumn Split first-team roster photos.

Yan Xiu hadn’t been able to sleep all night. He’d lain in bed staring wide-eyed for two hours before finally blacking out at some unknown time. By the time he woke, it was already 3 PM.

He groggily opened his eyes. Rose, the conceptual god of health maintenance, was no longer in the room. His phone buzzed non-stop. Yan Xiu unlocked it. The WeChat bombardment was on par with the official announcement last week that he’d joined OLG—everything was blowing up.

[Ushering Wealth: Holy crap, crap, crap??? Little bro, you look like this and didn’t say so earlier? If you’d started streaming earlier, your old brother here would’ve carried you. The two of us duoing—what’s there to worry about no traffic? It’s all money, my own dear little bro!!!]

[Pineapple: I’m done for, God Show. Looking at your photo, I’ve turned gay. My family has had a single male heir for seven generations! So handsome, God Show. From now on, you’re my second oshi. Aside from God D, I solo-stan you!]

[Sister Qiqi: When are you streaming? I wanna send you fireworks, handsome… no, God Show [Stinger simping sticker]]

[Boss Ling: ??? How are you even a few points more handsome than me??]

Only then did Yan Xiu understand what had happened.

He replied to messages one by one, sending a particularly earnest response to Brother Cai. [Before, my streaming contract was always held by BOX. I couldn’t stream, so I could only do companion work. Sorry, Brother Cai. Now that I’ve signed to OLG, I can stream. I’ll start next week.]

Ushering Wealth: [No worries. When you’re free, let’s duo sometime, my good little bro.]

[Okay, Brother Cai. Hit me up any time [Cat Wink sticker]]

Once Yan Xiu went downstairs, he was immediately called to the manager’s office by CatClaw.

CatClaw’s expression was very complicated. First, he scrutinized Yan Xiu from head to toe three times. Then, he was both so happy he couldn’t suppress his grin and so troubled his brows furrowed tightly. “The team’s PR released your roster photo early at noon today. Did you see?”

Upon waking and replying to his messages, Yan Xiu had searched the official account’s new post. He nodded. “I saw.”

“Released it early. Originally planned for Sunday. The Autumn Split opening ceremony is next week. Most teams release them over the weekend. Your recent drama was too intense, so we just released it. It’s not your fault. Same thing happened when Little Gun came last year, though your situation is a bit bigger.”

Yan Xiu knew about his recent issues and remained silent. CatClaw continued, “Little Gun had shown his face in college tournaments before and got results. That’s why the doubts about him weren’t this big. For pro players, you still have to prove yourself through results. For now, just focus and ignore the online drama.”

“I know.” Yan Xiu’s voice was very calm.

CatClaw asked, “Have you ever been in a relationship before?”

Yan Xiu was stunned for several seconds, then replied, “No. Does dating affect anything?”

“…Never, not even once?”

Yan Xiu answered honestly, “Back in school, all I liked was playing games.”

CatClaw himself had once been a gaming addict. He understood the mentality of these pro players well. But the look he gave Yan Xiu grew even more complicated. Too bad he was just an ordinary straight guy. He couldn’t tell at all whether the new member liked men or women. Maybe, as some shameless Shanghai young master had said, whether it was a man or a woman wasn’t important—what mattered was who the target of comparison was.

But how could that young master be so confident?

CatClaw found a neutral way to phrase it. “Do you have any pro players in the DFL you like?”

Yan Xiu stiffened for a second, then said, “God D is very impressive. My friend and I both really li… admire him.”

CatClaw: “…”

That young master really was confident enough.

Yan Xiu added, “ZMJ is also very impressive, but I’m not saying he’s better than God D. He’s definitely not as strong as God D.” Realizing he was speaking ill of someone behind their back, he quickly added, “I’m OLG’s. My heart is definitely with OLG.”

CatClaw waved his hand. “The Wolves are indeed fierce. Lin Sihong retired, replaced by a rookie. Their only weakness has been shored up. The Autumn Split’s momentum for them is very strong.”

Yan Xiu’s loyalty was steadfast. “OLG’s momentum is even stronger.”

Over the next few days, all the major teams released their roster photos one after another. The day before the Autumn Split opening, the DFL official account released the final promotional video.

The DFL Pro League had eighteen teams. Each team’s starting lineup had three players, plus substitutes—well over seventy or eighty pro players. The league invited the top fifteen in the TikTok popularity vote to shoot the Autumn Split promo.

Rose ranked eleventh. Qin Baotian ranked sixth.

The Autumn Split was about to start. Qin Baotian, using the last slivers of free time to catch up on his streaming hours, watched the promo with his fans.

“This video was shot two months ago. Everyone filmed separately. I only filmed for one morning.”

“Danger went out to shoot an ad. He’ll be back tonight.”

“The new guy sits opposite me. Even if I turned on my camera, you wouldn’t see him.”

“Holy crap, thanks for the 30 fireworks, Brother Shan! Brother Shan wants me to turn on the camera? Gotta do it, then. I’ll turn it on right now.”

Yan Xiu was buried in his solo vs trios training. Suddenly, someone rapped on his monitor. He looked up. It was Qin Baotian.

“God Qing?”

Qin Baotian held up his computer’s camera, aiming it at Yan Xiu. The two desks were already some distance apart, and with the backlighting, the image only showed a blurry, delicate, handsome face.

Qin Baotian said, “Brother Shan says hi.”

Yan Xiu obediently nodded. “Hello, Brother Shan.”

[Holy crap, so pale, so cute!!!]

[How come OLG has so many handsome guys? Old Liu was also quite good-looking when he was younger.]

[Old Liu still has his charm even now [heehee]]

[Only Qingbao is an anomaly, completely out of place with the ‘pure-love team’~]

“Mods, ban that person for me. Ah, forget it, I’ll do it myself.” Qin Baotian angled the camera back.

Qingbao continued watching the Autumn Split promo. Yan Xiu, in the process of waiting for extraction after clearing the map, also went into his stream.

His TikTok account had never been used to gift anyone. No spending level. No entry effect. Qingbao’s stream had over eighty thousand live viewers. The name OLG-Show flickered past the “Most Recent Entries” list. No one noticed.

The promo was twelve minutes long. The BGM was very hot-blooded and stirring.

It opened with ROC’s recon player Snake. He was a round-headed fatty, wearing ROC’s red-and-black team uniform. Under a stormy night sky with lightning, he climbed a steep mountain.

[If you wish to climb a mountain.]

Next was BOX’s captain Cola, gritting his teeth as he pushed forward. BOX’s green-and-white uniform was stained with dust.

[You will traverse rocks, sand, swamps…]

[You will experience the warning signs of your body’s limits…]

[You will feel the roar of sandstorms and blizzards…]

[Time will seek to mock you mercilessly…]

A fleeting image of Rose from the very first DFL season, then switching to his current appearance.

[You return to Him a sharp spear…]

…

Finally, Wolves’ captain ZMJ and ROC’s captain WildSearch. Both in team uniforms, they stood just a step from the mountain peak, heads lifted, looking upward.

[With humanity’s last vestiges of perseverance, you call out to the Gods.]

Bai Wei stood at the summit, looking down upon every climber on the mountainside. OLG’s black-and-white uniform danced fiercely in the gale. He reached out, grasped the golden championship trophy at the pinnacle, then looked up.

The fourteen other pro players joined him, gazing at the dark, thundering sky.

[But humans never actually needed gods!]

[When bullets trace across the sky, truth lies only within missile range…]

[G.T.I—Battle Without End!]

…

Yan Xiu stared at the computer, unblinking.

The successful extraction notification chimed in his headset. On his monitor, the screen faded to black. A single line of text appeared in the center.

[2029 DFL Autumn Split officially begins!]

…

Qin Baotian sucked in a breath of cold air. “Motherfer, Young Master Bai just stole all the handsome!”