Ch.34 – Does Love at First Sight Exist in Esports?

The fact that the holidays turned people into lazy-bones was a given. In just a few days, Yao Sen had become someone who spent his days in a paralyzed state that was met with his parents’ resentment—fortunately, Miao Miao didn’t turn her back on her owner. 

Wang Yuxi didn’t appear in their WeChat group for several days, presumably truly cut off from the internet at the rural village his grandma lived in. When Yao Sen opened their WeChat group one morning, he was shocked to find that it had already been spammed by Wang Yuxi alone. 

Wang Yuxi: Oh my god, I finally went to town!!

Wang Yuxi: It turns out that village pigs are all so agile!! Those piggies chase me every time I go out!!

Wang Yuxi: Scared me to death!!!

Wang Yuxi: Is anyone listening to my complaints!!!

Bai Yue: You’re a grown man but you’re scared of pigs, don’t tell anyone you know me when you go out

Yao Sen mutely watched as Wang Yuxi and Bai Yue spammed up to 99+ messages in silence, then closed the app and logged onto Weibo. Whenever he was on vacation, his account was basically like a zombie account with no traces of activity, and his fans all pressed him to either post or livestream. 

The instant he saw the word ‘livestream’, Yao Sen’s first reaction was not that he himself should livestream, but to remember that today was the day of Shao Han’s weekly streams. Within the next half second, he made up his mind that tonight, he would log in to his side account and make his presence known to Shao Han’s fans.

Sure enough, Shao Han posted an advance livestream notice on his Weibo. That night, before the livestream began, the Titans’s WeChat group was filled with inane messages, and the topic revolved around how fierce the geese in the countryside were—a topic put forth by Wang Yuxi. 

Wang Yuxi: I’m telling you all, unlike that weak chicken Lao-Bai, the geese in the countryside can beat you up

Bai Yue: The geese must’ve bullied you after seeing that you’re so short

Yao Sen suddenly interrupted their geese discussion: I’m gonna use my side account when Shao Han livestreams later, remember to tune in

Wang Yuxi: ……

Bai Yue: [OK]

Song Mingzhe: Okay boss

Zhou Ziyu: Ok Ok

Yao Sen: Then go ahead and continue your goose talk

That evening, Yao Sen timed the start of Shao Han’s livestream well, and logged in to his side account to lurk around. Relying on the basis that, being his boyfriend, Shao Han wouldn’t reject him in front of millions of viewers, he directly sent him a message. 

Five Elements Lack Wood: Shao ge, how about you carry me today?

The live camera showed Shao Han staring at Yao Sen’s side account, a slightly complicated and helpless expression on his face. If one looked carefully, they’d also be able to notice a tiny trace of embarrassment and shame.

Shao Han was wearing a white cotton T-shirt. The round collar exposed his pale neck, and Yao Sen felt a faint itch in his heart.

Shao Han hadn’t even agreed, yet some of the viewers watching his livestream had already recognized this extremely noobish Five Elements Lack Wood. There were also a lot of bewildered new fans asking who the newcomer was. 

[How come it’s this Lack Wood Big Bro again]

[I heavily suspect that this bro purposefully planned this timing]

[If you play like trash then don’t ask Shao ge to carry you….Shao ge, it’s fine if we ignore him, isn’t it?]

[Five Elements Lack Wood wants to be popular, right?]

[If you wanna be popular, don’t piggyback off our Xiao Zuo!!!]

[Aren’t you guys overthinking things a bit too much… didn’t Shao ge say that Five Elements Lack Wood is his friend]

[Even though we know that he’s Shao ge’s friend, we still dislike him. It feels like this Five Elements Lack Wood is doing it on purpose]

[No, can’t Shao ge play with whoever he wants to play with? What shit are you guys going on about]

“Yao Sen, you stirring shit up?” Wang Yuxi’s voice transmitted out from Titans’s group call, “How come you haven’t been offed by Shao ge yet?”

Bai Yue lamented, “Wow… angry fans are so strong. Each and every one of them are like mothers protecting their young.”

Yao Sen made sure that his computer mic was already switched off before saying, “Don’t worry, I won’t be exposed.”

With this, Yao Sen discarded his image. 

Five Elements Lack Wood: Shao Han’s fans, please bear with me for a bit, I’m pretty weak, I need Shao Ge’s protection

At the sight of these words, everyone in the group tacitly fell silent, and it was a long time before Wang Yuxi spoke up, “Yao Sen, can you lend me two layers of your face to keep myself warm next winter?”

Yao Sen: “Rejected. I’m weak and fragile.”

Wang Yuxi: “If you’re weak and fragile, then I’m not strong enough to lift a feather.”

Bai Yue: “You were weak even before that.” 

Song Mingzhe: “As long as the boss is happy!”

Zhou Ziyu: “……”

Wang Yuxi: “Then let’s change our team name to ‘Extremely Delicate Flower Boys’!”

Bai Yue: “Do you even deserve this ‘flower boy’ title?”

Wang Yuxi: Then just change it to ‘One Extremely Delicate Flower Boy and Four Fierce Men Too Weak to Lift a Feather’.”

Shao Han nearly lost control of his expression. He grasped his microphone and forced himself to recover from the constantly upgrading shamelessness of his boyfriend before recovering his wits, and managed to utter an “Okay”.

[…………?]

[Brother Five Elements Lack Wood, can you not do this to us]

[HAHAHAHAHAHA?]

[I somehow don’t have the heart to do it…]

[Didn’t you see Shao ge’s expression nearly slipping just now hahahahahahahahahahahahaha]

[Usually, people who say this about themselves are really amazing.]

[I’m beginning to doubt how real of a noob this Five Elements Lack Wood bro is…..]

[Right, this has the same vibe as the top student saying that they don’t understand anything]

[By saying those things now, it means that he knew that Shao ge was live-streaming, if this isn’t attention seeking then what is it]

[Lack Wood Brother, come and say something, typing takes too long]

Five Elements Lack Wood: No, no, my voice doesn’t sound as pleasant as your Shao ge’s. I don’t want to mess up your ears. I’ll be acting according to Shao ge’s instructions

After the game began, Yao Sen lowered his hit rate to a shameful below 20%, and his only role was to help Shao Han carry items that would decrease his movement speed and other stuff that might be useful.

It wasn’t his first time acting along with Yao Sen. This time, Shao Han was much calmer, but he still couldn’t help but wonder if it was difficult for a person who’s accustomed to being powerful to conceal his usual conditioned reflexes. How do you pass as a noob flawlessly? 

Wang Yuxi: “The fuck! The way Shao ge dodged that shot just now was fucking awesome!”

Bai Yue: “The guy is left handed, his left-side evasion is fast.”

Song Mingzhe: “Boss’s acting is so life-like, I want to go up there and give him a hand.”

Wang Yuxi: “You sure are talented, Yao Sen.”

Yao Sen listened to his group chat’s audio messages while playing the game just to divert his attention, lest he accidentally raise his hit rate. But at the same time, the opponents noticed that he was weaker than Shao Han, and focused their firepower to attack him first. Yao Sen thus had to take care to not actually get himself killed too.

In summary, it truly was a technical job.

Just as he was focusing on playing, he heard the pattering sounds of short legs running across the wooden floor behind him. Yao Sen looked back and found that Miao Miao, that little white nugget, had run in unnoticed by him. He was lying near the bed and wagging his tail, looking at his owner, and barked happily and eagerly.

Yao Sen: “What’s wrong?”

Miao Miao tilted her head and looked at her owner, her snow-white, fluffy fur wagging along with her twitching ears. She barked twice and ran a couple of steps forward, her tail wagging happily.

Wang Yuxi: “Huh?”

Yao Sen: “My family’s doggie son came in, he might be hungry, I’m gonna go check.”

It just so happened that Shao Han and he were currently lying in ambush in a bunker, waiting for an opportunity to act, so they weren’t moving much. Yao Sen then took off his headphones and put them on the table, got up, and walked over to Miao Miao, not noticing that his headphones had knocked against the table, accidentally turning on the microphone switch. In the game, his player’s speaker icon flashed on.

Yao Sen squatted down and patted Miao Miao’s head,“What’s wrong? Hungry?”

He picked up Miao Miao, walked to the door, and set her down near the staircase, “Go find your grandma, she’ll feed you something tasty.”

Yao Sen turned and re-entered his room, returned to the table, put on his headphones, and continued to lie in wait for the enemy with Shao Han. Not long after, Miao Miao ran in again; this time, he directly rushed to Yao Sen’s feet, clinging on his pants and bouncing around left and right.

Yao Sen: “You actually just want me to play with you, huh? Good Miao Miao, wait for daddy to finish this round, I’ll play with you then, okay?”

As soon as his voice tapered off, Yao Sen was taken aback–somehow, he felt as if he heard his own echo.

There was silence in the WeChat group before Wang Yuxi faintly said, “……ge, your sockpuppet just got torn to scraps.”

Bai Yue: “Yao Sen, did you accidentally press the microphone switch?”

Song Mingzhe’s voice contained a trace of embarrassment. “Boss, the scene is a bit out of control.”

Yao Sen blanked out, and subconsciously raised his hand to touch the microphone switch on his headphones, suddenly realising that he didn’t know when the switch had been turned on. He turned his head and looked at the tablet on one side of the table. At this very moment, Shao Han’s face on screen was already drowned out by the overwhelming barrage from the viewers.

Yao Sen was silent for a long while, then finally let out a faint sigh.

[?????]

[??????????????]

[!!!!!!!!!!]

[WHAT THE FUCK?! That voice just now?!?!?!]

[…………………………………God Sen?]

[It’s Sen ge, right…….?]

[This old fan confirms that it’s God Sen, undoubtedly]

[Holy shit!!!!!!!!]

[AAAAAAAAAAAAAAH]

[AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH]

[Hold up, what’s going on right now????]

[There’s solid proof that Five Elements Lack Wood is God Sen’s side account] 

[Sen ge got exposed too suddenly]

[Kill me… right now’s a good time]

[I literally just said that the Five Elements Lack Wood plays like trash… Sen ge, I’m sorry I’ll kneel down for you]

[Who is Sen ge talking to, his tone is so pampering]

[What did Sen ge just say?? What daddy???]

[Sen ge, where is your conscience?  ?  ?  ?]

[Fuck, today the tables have turned]

[So what does God Sen pretending to be a noob and insisting on being carried by Shao ge imply???]

[Five Elements Lack Wood being Sen ge’s side account… actually makes a lot of sense]

[Shao ge earnestly demonstrated what you call an awkward yet polite smile]

The popularity of the livestream room skyrocketed. If one was to quit watching now, they’d find that the livestream platform has very efficiently changed the promo of Shao Han’s live broadcast to “Great God pretending to be a noob?! Is it the annihilation of human nature or the loss of morality? Watch the Titans Captain accidentally reveal himself!”, which was flashily displayed on the homepage of the website.

“Yao Sen…” Shao Han finally opened his mouth, trying hard to keep the corners of his mouth from rising, but his voice was tinged with an enduring smile, “Would you like to say hello?”

Yao Sen cleared his throat, then exited out of the WeChat voice chat that was emitting sounds of Wang Yuxi’s crazed laughter, and said, “Good evening, everyone, I’m Five Elements Lack Wood, you guys can also call me Yao Sen.”

[aaaaaaaaaaaaah I’m crying aaaaaaaaaaaaaaa GOD SEN AAAAAHH!!!]

[Sen ge, I wasn’t roasting you on purpose before, it was only because your acting was too good]

[Sen ge, are you the real Sen ge???]

[So Shao ge knew that this was Sen ge’s side account from the start?]

[What confidence does Sen ge have to dare say that his voice is unpleasant!! I’m angry!!!]

[ At the very start, when Five Elements Lack Wood said that he was weak and fragile, I already vaguely felt that something was off… knowing the truth now, my tears are falling]

[God Sen, you’re really the most delicate God Sen in history.]

“The game is still ongoing right now, don’t get too excited yet, guys.” Yao Sen swiftly moved from the bunker to snipe two enemies, “Since I can’t be a noob, then I should just play as a great god again, right? Shao Han, there’s two people at your three o’clock.  “

Shao Han held back his smile and acknowledged him quietly.

After Yao Sen picked his Great God burden back up, the game sped up remarkably fast. While he pondered whether Shao Han’s fans would think that he was being too playful, he also considered whether he should create a new side account.

Yao Sen walked along the base of the wall, but was suddenly forced back by a few bullets flying past. He nimbly flipped back over the wall, spared a quick glance at the bullet holes in the wall, then turned to look in the distance. He subconsciously opened his mouth to say: “Wait, Bao…”

Yao Sen fully depended on his fast reaction gained from his years of gaming to forcibly swallow down the word “Bei” that would immediately follow, and very reluctantly changed his words to: “…protect yourself, Shao Han.”

(t/n: the word “bao” is a homophone to the first part of the word “protect” in Chinese (baohu))

[Sen ge aaaaaaaaaaaaaaah why are you so caring aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah] 

[Protect yourself well, Xiao Zuo!!!]

[It’s over it’s over, I can’t take off my Senzuo filter anymore]

[Sen ge was almost shot himself, yet his first reaction was to tell Shao ge to take care of himself. Judge for yourself, everyone]

Yao Sen felt very aggrieved, thinking that livestreams were really too troublesome; he couldn’t even call Shao Han baby as he pleased.

After the end of the round, Yao Sen sighed in relief in his chair, and decided to act first before the fans’ bombarded him. He said: “Don’t care too much about my side account. Just be happy, you guys. Your Shao ge is really nice. Additionally, I didn’t mean to reveal myself. I accidentally turned on my microphone, otherwise I would’ve still had the opportunity to enjoy being carried by Shao ge.”

[Sen ge, don’t explain, you can’t cover up the fact that you were attention seeking]

[ Shao ge actually lets Sen ge get away with his acts, it’s making me weep]

[The people denouncing Sen ge’s playing will need to yeet off a building now]

[God Sen, I thought you were just an e-sports champion, I didn’t expect you to be an actor too]

[Sen ge Sen ge, who were you talking to before?]

“My dog,” Yao Sen smiled, “I’ll introduce him to everyone another day.”

☆ ☆ ☆

t/n – this chapter was translated with jessie’s help! ❤

⟵ Chapter 33 | TOC | Chapter 35 ⟶