Chapter 26

It was probably too dull and boring, so Xiao Yin also took off his eye mask and started looking at his phone.

After some fuss, Rong Yi finally finished a stretching and blood circulation massage. The masseur brought him tea, and Rong Yi lay there in a starfish position, almost incapable of moving.

The wailing and crying from the next room also ended around the same time, like a few fish flopping around before finally giving up.

Though the process was painful, the massage did leave them physically and mentally relaxed.

Rong Yi lay there for a while, almost falling asleep, until he heard Xiao Yin get up to drink tea. He then opened his eyes, reluctantly got up, and weakly went to drink some water.

Xiao Yin was sitting cross-legged opposite him, sipping tea with his head down. Rong Yi, feeling completely lazy, didn’t say a word and took small sips from his teacup. The tea had some refreshing herbs in it, which was quite invigorating.

“Let’s go.”

After checking the time on his phone, Rong Yi suggested they head out.

Xiao Yin nodded in agreement and followed him out the door.

The world outside was bright.

The three kids in the next room hadn’t made a sound for a long time. Rong Yi peeked in and saw that all three were fast asleep.

The assistant who had come with them woke the kids up, and then everyone from VIT thanked and bid farewell to Lin Yi.

This was their last day off before the Group A match.

Lin Yi, who often traveled with the Commentary Team, didn’t stay in the city for long. Before leaving, he gave Rong Yi a big hug: “Ah Yi, good luck! Even though I can’t say it publicly, I hope VIT wins the championship this year! Take them down for me!”

Rong Yi nodded and hugged him back tightly: “We will!”

The group returned to the Club.

Grey Cat and Hydralisk, being young, looked refreshed after the massage and insisted on training late into the night to maintain their form.

Rong Yi, with his old bones, was torn between staying up to practice and just collapsing into bed. Xiao Yin advised him, “Go to sleep. We’ll finalize the Regular Season strategy for Group A tomorrow morning.”

Rong Yi thought for a moment and agreed that Xiao Yin was right. He nodded and headed upstairs. He expected Xiao Yin to stay and work late, but Xiao Yin was also heading upstairs, having turned off his equipment, looking like he was going to rest as well.

Rong Yi, speaking without thinking, reached his bedroom door, tilted his head, and suddenly asked, “Wanna sleep together?”

Xiao Yin was visibly taken aback.

Rong Yi was also stunned, then immediately cursed his brain for malfunctioning.

This was something he used to say often when he and Xiao Yin were dating—usually even more blatantly. He would typically ask, “Xiao Yin, wanna sleep with me?”

Recently, their romantic feelings had been running high, and he had inadvertently slipped back into his old ways, feeling the urge to tease Xiao Yin whenever he saw him.

As expected, Xiao Yin paused for a moment and then said, “Not tonight.”

Rong Yi finally breathed a sigh of relief.

Then he saw Xiao Yin looking down at his phone, checking his calendar: “—How about the fifth of next month?”

Rong Yi: “…………”

He immediately realized that this misunderstanding had gone way too far.

Rong Yi stammered, suddenly forgetting how to salvage the situation: “We’ll talk about it then…”

“Okay, we’ll talk about it then,” Xiao Yin nodded, then went back to his room.

Rong Yi trembled as he returned to his room and looked at the calendar on the wall.

It was still early in the month, and according to the Group A Regular Season schedule, they had four back-to-back matches with almost no rest time.

The fifth of next month was right after the second round of the Regular Season ended. After a five-day break from the fifth to the tenth, they would immediately enter the Placement Matches stage.

He had been joking, but Xiao Yin hadn’t taken it as a joke.

He had seriously checked for available time.

Rong Yi decided to be more careful with his words in the future.

Back at VIT, he finally got a full night’s sleep.

When competing away from home, he often had trouble sleeping because the environment was unfamiliar, and he never felt completely at ease.

The next day, Rong Yi woke up feeling refreshed and was at his station at 6:30 sharp, studying Group A’s schedule.

They had already completed Group B’s schedule. Moving up to Group A, the second round of the Regular Season would reset everyone’s points, and matches would be played based on previous rankings.

He glanced at the message from the Tournament Team, paused for a moment, then looked again and couldn’t help but smile, feeling a bit conflicted.

Their first match in the second round of the Regular Season was indeed against RS.

Unlike the first round, where each group played within itself, the second round primarily consisted of internal cycles within Groups S and A. Points were tallied based on wins and losses to determine rankings and subsequent Placement Matches.

Xiao Yin came downstairs, holding a cup of coffee. Seeing Rong Yi studying the schedule, he sat down to join him.

“Do you know RS’s recent moves?” Xiao Yin asked.

Rong Yi shook his head.

The team’s AI analysis was always handled by Xiao Yin alone. Rong Yi had a more intuitive grasp of strategy, while Xiao Yin was responsible for data interpretation and implementation.

“They’ve been playing chaotically lately. I’ve watched their recent matches, but they are starting to improve.”

Rong Yi pulled up the coaching roster for the RS Club. The head coach listed was the well-known Coach Zhou Shanyang, who had been recruited from another team.

“Coach Zhou has been in the League for over five years. He’s very experienced and has a knack for scouting talent,” Rong Yi said, closing his eyes to recall a few matches. “His ban/pick strategy is excellent, he’s great at disrupting the opponent’s plans, and he likes to rotate players.”

“Likes to rotate players?” Xiao Yin picked up on a key point.

Rong Yi smirked, “But whether RS will allow rotations is another question.”

Aside from this, Coach Zhou had a long-standing reputation for being unscrupulous at the arena.

For instance, if his team was at a disadvantage, he would seize any opportunity and excuse to request a rematch. He would also exploit any loopholes in the rules, such as fielding the second team in single-elimination tournaments to ensure that even if the second team players were banned, the main team would remain unaffected.

Within the rules, such actions were unassailable, but they didn’t align with Rong Yi’s principles.

Despite these tactics, Coach Zhou was undeniably skilled.

As a Support and the shotcaller, Rong Yi had often been thoroughly analyzed by him, making many matches particularly challenging.

“There’s one more thing,” Xiao Yin said, reading over a report from the operations team and handing it to Rong Yi. “Your Popular Star votes are about to surpass the first place.”

Rong Yi: “?”

He took the report and glanced at it, then checked the League’s official website.

Under strict voting verification, his votes had surged dramatically. He was now only about twenty-two thousand votes behind Xiao Yun, who was in second place, leaving the third place far behind.

On the official website, Rong Yi’s dark, shadowy avatar sat in second place, stark and conspicuous.

It seemed almost surreal.

The operations team, however, seemed unsurprised while Xiao Yin generally ignored their department, they had their own small ambitions. They regularly edited highlight reels from member livestreams into short videos for distribution and were quite pleased to present the report.

“In those Group B matches, Captain Rong really performed well. His aggressive, kill-heavy style is a fan favorite. Those videos have already seen a spike in views. Plus, Li is a very trendy champion. This result isn’t surprising. With a bit more effort, Captain, overtaking first place isn’t out of the question.”

“Hard to say.”

Rong Yi shook his head lightly.

He wasn’t particularly competitive in this regard, but given the attention and ranking, it was hard for anyone to refuse. He had been with RS for so long that he knew their fans’ tactics all too well.

“They’re holding back for now,” Rong Yi said calmly. “Fans and RS officials will stockpile accounts and data, then push hard in the last few days. Right now, they’re just holding my position.”

Saying this, he laughed.

It seemed pointless, utterly pointless.

“But I’d like to give it a try. Is that okay?”

Xiao Yin suddenly spoke up.

Rong Yi glanced at him, curious and surprised.

“I’m used to being first in everything, not second,” Xiao Yin said. “You’re my person, so the standard applies here too.”

Rong Yi: “.”

Xiao Yin, the ultimate perfectionist and top-tier tormentor.

Xiao Yin said, “Don’t worry, we know our limits. You don’t have to worry about it.”

“We won’t use unconventional methods, I know you don’t like that,” Xiao Yin gestured to the operations team, who nodded and went back to work.

Seeing Xiao Yin say this, Rong Yi couldn’t insist otherwise, so he nodded.

In a blink, he had forgotten about the whole matter.

Grey Cat and the others got up, and Rong Yi quickly gathered them for coordination practice.

By 9 PM, everyone had finished their coordination training for the second round of the Regular Season.

Rong Yi lay on the couch eating chips, while Grey Cat sat nearby, scrolling through his phone. Suddenly, Grey Cat said, “Captain, your vote count is rising really fast, almost at first place.”

These kids secretly kept tabs on this matter all the time. The reason was simple: young people are competitive. They saw Rong Yi as their captain, and every member was an inseparable part of VIT. This was something all four members of VIT understood clearly.

Since their last encounter with RS, a grudge had been formed.

Rong Yi checked his account.

He hadn’t logged into his public platform account in a long time. When he logged in now, he saw that the followers on his main account, which had been dwindling, were not only back but also increasing steadily.

A quick search revealed it was the result of VIT’s operations.

The official blog posted highlight plays on multiple platforms daily. Scenes of Rong Yi making a miraculous escape under Lu Feng’s command or securing a pentakill against another Group B team had become popular highlight moments.

The other members of VIT also gained a lot of fans, but none of them had as much spotlight as Rong Yi.

Xiao Yin didn’t have an account on this platform. His personality was already stable relying on word of mouth, he didn’t care about gaining followers.

VIT’s operations team mainly paved the way for the younger members domestically.

Rong Yi didn’t say anything, continuing to eat his chips while watching other teams’ Regular Season matches. When he clicked on today’s match, he saw it was RS versus LA.

The LA team had been struggling for the past few years, even dropping out of Group B last year, and only fought their way back this season. They were barely hanging on in Group A.

In the new season, LA had replaced several players, including some popular ones. Rong Yi was naturally very interested in their match against RS, expecting it to be quite a show.

As the match started, Rong Yi watched intently, wearing headphones and not taking his eyes off the screen.

After a while, Xiao Yin came over and sat down next to him, watching along.

Rong Yi handed him one of the earbuds.

RS versus LA should have been a one-sided crush, considering RS had barely lost during last year’s Regular Season.

But with the team restructuring and Xiao Yun, who had just debuted as Rong Yi’s Support, it was impossible not to feel the pressure. It all depended on how well they performed under the circumstances.

According to League rules, rookies starting for the first time shouldn’t be criticized too harshly. Xiao Yun’s playstyle was quite standard; except for one loss at the World Championship, he hadn’t lost since.

Rong Yi didn’t recognize today’s commentators. The League updated frequently, and the commentators changed often enough that he couldn’t keep track.

At the start, the two commentators and the guest analyst predicted a 3-2 outcome in favor of RS against LA.

This was unusual. Rong Yi tilted his head, thinking it should be a 3-0.

LA wasn’t the kind of team that could go head-to-head with RS. Within the first five minutes, it was clear that despite the roster changes, they were still employing their old system.

But the commentators seemed to place a lot of weight on their prediction: “We have to mention that LA has shown significant improvement this Regular Season, especially after the roster changes. They’ve won three consecutive matches, which is very encouraging. Now, they’re facing the strongest team in the League, RS. If they win this match, it would be a huge morale booster and potentially elevate them to Group S!”

This buildup led to intense speculation among both teams’ fans, creating an electrifying atmosphere.

The match results were surprisingly close, with RS and LA neck and neck. After the first three games, RS was down 1-2.

Xiao Yun’s performance as Support was particularly unusual.

Rong Yi’s brow furrowed as he watched closely: “Did Coach Zhou teach him this? He never used to play Support this aggressively, but today he’s…”

“He’s trying too hard to stand out,” Xiao Yin interjected.

Grey Cat leaned in, protesting playfully: “Captain, stop focusing on other Supports. Pay more attention to me.”

Rong Yi laughed and made room for Grey Cat to join them in watching.

LA’s aggressive playstyle today was strong, but from Rong Yi’s perspective as RS’s former Captain, something felt off.

No matter how strong they were, it was like a breeze brushing over a hill.

It wasn’t blind confidence in RS; objectively, there was something strange about the whole situation.

It wasn’t until the second half, during RS’s match point, that Xiao Yun managed a successful counter-attack while defending their Nexus, securing the victory.

The bullet screen exploded with praise.

“This is what a top Support looks like! Xiao Yun, the top Support!”

“Relying on the Support in moments of life and death! RS, how many more surprises will you give us!”

The two commentators also heaped on the praise.

Rong Yi was still frowning.

Grey Cat also furrowed his brows. “This Support… I don’t know what to say. Is this really RS’s level?”

Rong Yi took off his headphones and looked at Grey Cat and Xiao Yin. “What do you think?”

“Talking about match-fixing within our team is one thing,” Xiao Yin said coldly. “But today’s match was definitely off. Both sides changed their playstyles. RS’s ADC was practically invisible, clearly spotlighting the Support.”

Rong Yi’s brow remained furrowed.

He knew the RS Manager had no scruples, and he was aware that his former teammates had deep-seated issues with him. But he still couldn’t believe they would stoop so low.

“I know a bit about LA. Last season, they dropped to Group B because of management issues. They wanted to restructure their assets but couldn’t reach an agreement, almost leading to their exit,” Xiao Yin explained. “When I returned to the country, they approached me to see if I was interested in taking over their team. I refused.”

Rong Yi took a deep breath. “Got it.”

For both teams, this was a win-win.

RS deliberately changed their playstyle, allowing Xiao Yun to aggressively initiate fights as Support, creating a highlight reel moment to make a name for himself.

LA, on the other hand, gained an extra win in the overall score, buying themselves more time. Even though they were just supporting Xiao Yun’s moment of glory, it was still a net positive for them.

Rong Yi couldn’t tolerate dishonesty. He hadn’t even considered this possibility.

He would rather believe Xiao Yin was wrong, but as he exited the match page, the buzz across all platforms had already begun.

“[RS Xiao Yun’s Epic 4-Man Engage and Comeback]”

“[Top Streamers React Tonight]”

“RS Xiao Yun”

Search volume was skyrocketing.

With this maneuver, the gap between the first and second place in the Popular Star votes widened rapidly.

If Rong Yi had previously held some basic respect for RS as former colleagues, he was now completely disillusioned.

Xiao Yin turned, leaning on the edge of the sofa, and suddenly touched Rong Yi’s face lightly with his fingertips.

Rong Yi was taken aback.

Everyone else was around, but Xiao Yin’s fingers remained on his cheek, his tone indifferent and calm. “Next Tuesday, we’ll be facing them.”

“Acting too much can make you forget what’s real.”