Ch.54 – Does Love at First Sight Exist in Esports?

As the first match on the first day of the qualifiers was Group A-I’s, Noah’s Ark’s group, Yao Sen accompanied Shao Han to the stadium first thing in the morning.

“Good luck, baby,” Yao Sen smiled as he rubbed Shao Han’s head. “I’ll be watching you from the audience.”

Each qualifier match consisted of three rounds. The round would end when either one team remained standing or the game time ran out, at which point the scores of each team would be calculated by the official in-game system and added to the scores from professional referees.

Yao Sen bumped into Jiang Yang in the audience; the latter had apparently planned to stay and watch the competition all day long. Among the 8 small groups, Group A-I had a relatively uneven strength-level. The three rounds they played in were of standard difficulty, thus Noah’s Ark pretty much breezed through them. In the end, their points total placed them second in Group A-I.

After his match was over, Shao Han immediately made his way to the spectators’ seats to watch Group A-II’s match with Yao Sen.

Yao Sen tilted his head to the side, smiling as he whispered, “Baby, you look way too handsome when you play. Did you know how jealous I felt when I thought about how so many people in the world can watch you through the stream?”

Since Jiang Yang was sitting on Yao Sen’s other side, Shao Han didn’t dare to speak too loudly. He could only mumble, “Aren’t you the same…”

Group A-II’s match began not long after. With the exception of one or two rookie clubs, there was little difference in strength. Yao Sen paid close attention to NL’s matches in particular, which were unexpectedly stable. Their firepower was mediocre, but their teamwork was pretty good. Yao Sen would have assumed they were an experienced team based solely on their performance if he hadn’t already known for certain that they were a new club.

One of their members stood out among the rest. Yao Sen presumed that it was their captain Cheng Rui, and sure enough, when they announced the player IDs at the end of the match, Yao Sen had guessed correctly.

Yao Sen looked at the match results on the big screen and fell into a bout of contemplation; although Cheng Rui had played well, his strength was marginally over average. But that still didn’t explain why he had thrown the game when he played the friendly match against Yao Sen back then—unless Cheng Rui was reserving his strength in these qualifiers.

NL ranked fifth in Group II’s standings. This was, in actuality, a dangerous position to be in; as long as Group I and Group II’s scores were neck-to-neck, NL would easily get pushed down from their current rank.

After the overall ranking of Group I and II came out, Noah’s Ark were ranked fourth, while NL was lucky enough to rank eighth and advance to the second stage. No matter how NL performed after this, a brand new club that had been established barely a year ago advancing to the WCAD’s second stage was already an extremely surprising result.

Meanwhile in the audience, Jiang Yang was scrutinising Cheng Rui with a frown on his face, his expression clouded with suspicion.

It was only when Yao Sen called out to him and asked if he wanted to join them for dinner did Jiang Yang shift his eyes away from Cheng Rui, rising to his feet and trailing after them.

“Captain,” Jiang Yang paused, “That Cheng Rui guy—do you know him?”

“I don’t know him, but we’ve met once.” Yao Sen turned to him. “What’s the matter?”

Jiang Yang mulled over something in his head for a moment, then shook his head and said, “It’s nothing. I just think he’s pretty awesome.”

As soon as the results of Group A’s matches were announced in the morning, Shao Han’s weibo was flooded by fans who had come to congratulate him. His fans specially picked out photos of Shao Han from the competition and released them in the form of a nine-photo post with the caption “My family’s Xiao Zuo is the World’s #1 Beauty”. Because the post was liked by Yao Sen and reposted by a marketing account, it instantly went viral.

[Congratulations on advancing to the next stage Noah!! Xiao Zuo, you were super amazing and super cool today!!!]

[Sen ge, what do you mean by liking this post???]

[God Sen approves of Shaoshao’s beauty]

[Instead of liking Noah’s official weibo’s post and the congratulatory post by Noah’s support group, he goes and likes a post by a Shao ge fan lavishing praise on Shao ge’s looks? Forgive me, I can’t understand his antics]

[It’s a solid, moving friendship between men (doge)]

[Haven’t you all gotten used to SenZuo’s PDA yet? Let’s go, let’s go, everybody home]

Yao Sen: “Oh, by the way, you’ve gained more fans.”

Shao Han didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. “Why did you like the post?”

“I was actually going to repost it at first, those photos of you look really good.”

If Yao Sen really had reposted it, the contents in the comments section probably would’ve veered off track and never recover.

Ten minutes prior to the first day’s afternoon qualifier match, the Titans gathered at the players lounge. Bai Yue had also turned off the stream and was on the phone with them. Though most of the teams in Titans’ Group B-I were mid-level teams, they still had to discuss match strategies as usual.

Zhou Ziyu sat upright in his seat, continuously taking deep breaths, but his concentrated attempt to relax was foiled when Wang Yuxi randomly patted his shoulder and startled him.

“Don’t be nervous,” Wang Yuxi reassured him. “Who knows? The qualifiers might be easier than our intra-team matches.”

Zhou Ziyu nodded. The fact that his first official match was in a top-tier competition like the WCAD made his heart jump around in his chest with anxiety.

He had texted with Bai Yue the night before, and Coach Gou had also repeatedly warned him to pay attention to his surroundings at all times. Zhou Ziyu silently recalled what Yue ge and Coach Gou had told him about trusting the captain and the others and playing with a cool head.

“It’s almost time to head out,” said Yao Sen. “Bai Yue, go to bed. It’s way too early on your end.”

Bai Yue: “I’ll go back to sleep after I watch Group B’s match, or else I won’t be at peace.”

After Group B-I’s players entered the arena and took their positions, the match officially commenced.

In the qualifiers, the majority of teams would choose to play it safe. The Titans’s tactics were similar at first, but because they lacked Bai Yue, their overall firepower had relatively reduced, which led to the possibility of them not being able to rack up enough points. Yao Sen temporarily altered their tactics to a more direct and bold approach.

In the first round, Titans’s overall score fell behind the German and South Korean teams. In the second round, their score surpassed that of the South Korean team, although there was still a little gap between them and the German team. Titans scored the most points in the third round, but their final score was two or three points below the German team, putting them in second place.

After their match, Zhou Ziyu’s back was drenched in sweat. Due to nerves, he made a few minor errors and lost many opportunities to assist his teammates in scoring points in the first round, but he steadily improved in the second and third rounds. Although it was regrettable that they didn’t come out on top in Group B-I, he’d done everything he could to get as many points for his squad as possible in the qualifiers.

Yao Sen patted his shoulder with a laugh. “You did a good job. You sure took your time warming up though. Remember to practice more.”

Zhou Ziyu solemnly exclaimed, “Yes, Captain!”

Wang Yuxi elbowed Yao Sen and asked, “Hey, you didn’t play at full strength, did you?”

“I probably played at 60-70%,” Yao Sen answered.

Jiang Yang had come down from the spectators seats when the team returned to the players lounge, and when he spotted Zhou Ziyu, he curled his lips and humphed. “You played better than I expected.”

Zhou Ziyu scratched his head, a little embarrassed.

Following that, the team had to wait until Group B-II’s match was over before the final standings were announced, so they all planned to watch Group B-II together later. After being so focused for the entirety of their match, the Titans were all a little exhausted, so they took advantage of the fact that there were still roughly twenty minutes till the match began and discussed where to grab a bite.

Shao Han was waiting for Yao Sen at the entrance of the player’s aisle. He had come prepared, buying snacks and beverages for Yao Sen as well as the other Titans members. Wang Yuxi happily bounded off to Shao Han’s side and thanked him, reaching out for the bag in his hand with no trace of politeness. Behind him, Coach Gou slapped his back.

“Where are your manners? Troubling other people like this and not even paying?!” Coach Gou wore a frustrated expression. He then turned to address Shao Han, “We’ve troubled you. Thank you for bringing us these things. How much for them all?”

Shao Han waved his hand around in embarrassment. “It’s all right, really, there’s no need.”

“Aiya, Coach Gou,” Wang Yuxi started, “Shao Han ge and our Sen ge are really close. Like, husband-and-wife close. There’s no need to stand on ceremony.”

Although Coach Gou found this analogy a little off, he didn’t dwell on it. “Just because he’s close with Yao Sen, does that mean he’s also your family?”

Wang Yuxi: “How is he not? As the saying goes, a sister-in-law is like a mother…”

Yao Sen glared at Wang Yuxi, his face basically saying, ‘Shao Han’s face isn’t as thick as yours, you better shut up, he’s blushing’. He cut off the convo by saying, “I’ll return the money, you guys go eat.”

After that, Yao Sen towed Shao Han away.

“Just ignore Lao-Wang. He can’t go a day without running his mouth.” Yao Sen chuckled. “But he’s not wrong either.”

Shao Han: “……”

Group B-II’s match in the afternoon drew a larger crowd. After all, the worldwide favourite, Team Lincoln, was playing. For a team like Titans, where most of the main team members were first time participants in the WCAD, it was normal to reserve and hide their strength. But Lincoln was different; their strength was well-known, and no team would dare underestimate them even if they didn’t play at their best.

As a result, Lincoln didn’t attempt to hide their strength and racked up as many points as they could, finishing first in Group B with a 30 point lead over the team in second place.

In the final standings, Titans finished third in Group B and advanced to the second stage.

@Titans_Sen: We’re through to the next stage. Thank you for your support, everyone

[Congrats! Titans are super badass!!!]

[God Sen you were super hot today!!]

[Ziyu did such a good job, he played really well]

[When I watched the stream, it felt like God Sen was saving his strength]

[Give God Sen a chance to be humble (doge)]

[@Titans_Xi: @Titans_Yue Bro, you satisfied yet?]

[@Titans_Yue replied to @Titans_Xi: Satisfied, satisfied. I didn’t lose face]

[@NA_Left: Congratulations]

[Caught Shao ge!!!]

[Hurry! Get Sen ge’s fanclub to send out a nine-photo post! Shao ge, remember to like it (doge)]

[I’m a fanclub member, there are too many pics! The sisters are picking some out]

When he saw this reply, Shao Han couldn’t help but smile. Seeing his baby laughing so happily, Yao Sen came closer to take a look, his lips faintly twitching. He twisted his head and pressed a kiss to Shao Han’s lips, laughing as he said, “I’m right in front of you, what’s the point of looking at my pictures?”

Shao Han slightly blushed and let out a cough. “Group C-I’s match tomorrow morning…”

“You wanna watch live?”

“I’d like to,” Shao Han answered. “What about you?”

“If you wanna watch live then of course I want to too.” Yao Sen paused, narrowing his eyes. “Don’t let me catch you staring at Shen You though, baby.”

Shao Han: “……”

☆ ☆ ☆

Thank you to Somebody for the kofi!

Chapter 53 | TOC | Chapter 55