Chapter 10

Rong Yi put down the PAD and lowered his eyes, finishing the glass of milk in one gulp.

It was expected that RS would lose, but it wasn’t exactly a pleasant thing.

Personal grudges were personal grudges, but Rong Yi had an exceptional sense of the bigger picture in the competitive scene. In the CN region, who wouldn’t want to see a team win?

Rong Yi said quietly, “I’ve finished watching. I’ll go downstairs to practice some more.”

Xiao Yin was calmer than him. He turned off the screen projection, then pulled out a stack of documents from the gray marble table beside the sofa, making some space. “You can do it here. They probably haven’t finished their post match analysis yet.”

Each room was equipped with devices, but Rong Yi’s room, having just been moved into, wasn’t fully set up yet. Xiao Yin’s room, however, was ready.

Whenever Rong Yi had something on his mind, he liked to stay silent and practice more. Without saying much, he logged into the equipment and started the training software, practicing operations and last hitting.

On the screen, Li moved in and out, vanishing without a trace, snowflakes flying everywhere. The damage output numbers on the panel increased silently with terrifying speed.

Xiao Yin didn’t speak either. The room’s blackout curtains were drawn, and he was typing something on his laptop, steady and quiet.

After practicing for a while, Rong Yi gradually sorted out his thoughts and let go of the mouse.

Xiao Yin, with his back to him, spoke in a calm, steady voice, with that peculiar, magnetic, indifferent hoarseness of his: “The first plan you submitted is feasible. I’d like you to show it to me.”

Each player’s training data was fed back to the competition training system in real-time. It was only now that Rong Yi realized that Xiao Yin had been quietly watching his damage output for half an hour.

“Any comments?”

Rong Yi set up five AI enemies and started to roam with Li, his attention already diverted.

“This year, among the teams entering the qualifiers, there are jungle core, support core, and ADC core, but no mid core,” Xiao Yin said, sounding like a true competition training team coach. “I want to hear your reasoning for submitting this system.”

When Rong Yi submitted the plan, he had written it very briefly. The mid core plan was his first idea, tailored to his own positioning.

It was also a playstyle that had never been tested with RS.

The opportunities and sharpness he might have had before had been restrained for five years, like a hidden blade.

Now, bringing it out again, he wondered if it would still be as sharp as new.

Rong Yi closed his eyes and thought for a moment. “Actually, playing as a mid core is more comfortable. It’s just that in recent seasons, the ADC core system has had a higher return rate and a larger margin for error. It also demands high talent from the players, which is why not many people use this setup.”

In other words, very few players could adapt to the mid core playstyle because it required much higher individual skill than could be achieved through training alone.

He opened his eyes, his serious expression contrasting with his charming peach-blossom eyes as he looked at Xiao Yin. “I also want to hear your thoughts.”

Xiao Yin had always shown his unique approach since his involvement in youth training abroad. He never took the conventional path. While some said it was due to his personality, Rong Yi knew that Xiao Yin never did anything without certainty.

“According to AI path analysis, the mid core strategy is actually the most efficient in resource utilization and has the lowest support cost,” Xiao Yin said calmly, twirling the capacitor pen in his hand. “VIT’s coach is essentially AI computing power, and your intuition is supported by data.”

In other words, the plan Rong Yi proposed was the closest thing to a perfect answer.

Rong Yi was momentarily taken aback.

As the captain of RS, he was well aware of the impact AI and data analysis had on esports.

But from what he knew, most teams were still hesitant to use it because, after all, AI is AI and humans are humans鈥”replicating AI’s precision was hard.

Secondly, most current teams didn’t have the technical capability.

VIT having such technology was clearly due to Xiao Yin, though Rong Yi didn’t know much about Xiao Yin’s background.

While Rong Yi was still deep in thought, Xiao Yin suddenly turned his head and looked at him. “Before I got into esports, I studied AI.”

He mentioned a well-known international university. “I was admitted at sixteen, then started gaming, and eventually dropped out.”

Rong Yi pondered for a long time.

This topic was somewhat difficult for him, a high school dropout. He hadn’t expected Xiao Yin to be an academic genius.

But it made sense. After their breakup, Xiao Yin had quickly transitioned to youth training abroad. Xiao Yin’s network and financial resources were probably far beyond Rong Yi’s imagination.

Rong Yi sincerely complimented him, “That’s impressive.”

“And you?” Rong Yi then heard Xiao Yin ask.

Rong Yi thought Xiao Yin was asking about his education and was racking his brain for a less embarrassing way to answer when Xiao Yin’s voice, calm and slightly detached, broke the silence. “There are many things about you that I don’t know.”

In the dim light, Xiao Yin gazed at him, his eyes half-closed, a composed gleam in his eyes, like a perfectly poised but cold-hearted boyfriend.

Of course, he didn’t know. They had only been together for a little over a month, most of which was spent in hotel rooms…

Rong Yi hadn’t thought about their relationship in a week. The sudden depth of the conversation caught him off guard.

Rong Yi said, “Well… it’s okay if you don’t know. I don’t really care about that.”

Xiao Yin didn’t respond immediately. Instead, he suddenly stood up and walked toward him.

Rong Yi leaned back in his gaming chair. The chair was slightly high, making him look small and hidden within it. Xiao Yin approached from behind and reached out, gently covering Rong Yi’s soft, slightly cool fingertips.

A faint, bitter clean scent filled the air. It was a perfectly proper scent, yet it held an inexplicable allure.

Xiao Yin maintained this position without moving further. Rong Yi didn’t look up but could feel Xiao Yin’s warm breath near his ear.

“Do you need to relieve some stress?”

He heard Xiao Yin say.