New season

Wen Man’s flight was the next morning, very early, at 5 AM.

So they didn’t play games that night.

After dinner, Wen Man voluntarily washed the dishes, then came back and watched the Spring Festival Gala with him.

Around ten o’clock, the two went to bed.

Xue Wei changed into his pajamas and had just climbed into bed when he saw Wen Man already sitting at the head of the bed, wearing blue light blocking glasses and reading—one of Xue Wei’s One Piece manga books that was on the bedside table.

He turned his head, glanced at him, and said with a smile: “Sleeping?”

The scene was too much like an old married couple.

Xue Wei dared not look directly at him; the tips of his ears were slightly red again: “Mm, let’s sleep early. You have a very early flight tomorrow.”

“You don’t need to see me off; just sleep,” Wen Man said.

He took off his glasses, put the manga book back exactly where it was, and pulled the quilt over himself, lying down: “But sleeping early is good for your health. Don’t play on your phone; go to sleep.”

Xue Wei obediently lay down.

He maintained a distance from Wen Man, a “three-eight line” (a playful term for boundaries) based on the bed’s central axis.

But before he had even settled in, Wen Man had already crossed that line, reaching out and grabbing his wrist.

Xue Wei instinctively struggled slightly, but Wen Man held him steadily, unmoving.

He seemed not to notice his small resistance, merely lowered his eyes and said in a low voice: “Still so cold.”

His fingers slid down Xue Wei’s wrist, gently clasping his fingertips, subtly rubbing them.

Xue Wei’s breathing almost stopped.

“Come here, I’ll hold you to sleep for a bit,” Wen Man ordered, “To warm you up.”

Before Xue Wei could even resist, Wen Man pulled him over, stuffing him into his arms and wrapping him up.

He never expected Wen Man to directly hug him like this today, but his reason sounded beyond refutation.

As soon as he thought of resisting, he heard Wen Man chuckle: “Don’t move around. This opportunity won’t come again. I’ll warm you up for a bit, then you can roll back into your little quilt.”

Xue Wei stopped speaking.

He obediently buried himself in Wen Man’s chest, letting him warm his hands, waiting for Wen Man to warm him up.

Ten minutes later, he thought his hands were warm.

Just as he was about to withdraw his hand, he found that Wen Man seemed to have fallen asleep.

He whispered: “I… I’m going to sleep over there?”

Wen Man didn’t respond.

In the darkness, the man’s eyes were closed, his eyelashes long, his breathing gentle.

Xue Wei then obediently remained still.

He also didn’t want to wake him, so he just made do and fell asleep like that.

He slept very soundly.

A long time later, as dawn was breaking, he felt Wen Man stir.

He got up gently, just like yesterday.

He also stirred, groggily saying: “Is it time? I’ll get up to see you off.”

“No, no need. You sleep. I’ll be back soon after New Year’s. Sleep, this is the captain’s order,” Wen Man leaned down and said softly to him, “Go to bed on time, adjust your schedule.”

He pulled the quilt over him.

Xue Wei closed his eyes. In his drowsiness, he only stirred, turning to face him.

He was actually also afraid of trouble, so after hearing Wen Man’s words, he immediately decided not to be so polite and continued to sleep.

Wen Man became silent again.

Xue Wei thought he was light-footed and had already left.

Just as he was about to turn over and continue sleeping, he suddenly felt Wen Man’s breath close to him.

Very, very close, then it retreated.

This momentary closeness made Xue Wei struggle to open his eyes.

However, after opening his eyes, he saw that the door was already closed, and Wen Man was no longer in the room.

Time was confusing when he was sleeping.

He couldn’t immediately tell if that was real, but when he remembered it, all he knew was that Wen Man had leaned over and looked at him for a while, as if…

As if he wanted to kiss him.

Xue Wei slept until broad daylight.

As soon as he got up, he first checked his phone messages.

Zhao Xiaoyi, Wanshi, and the others had all sent him New Year’s greetings.

Wen Man’s plane had already landed and he had also sent him a message, a selfie taken with him.

He was wearing a thick down jacket, and in the far distance, Knife was attempting to get into the shot, but only half his face was visible.

The cold German wind had messed up both their hair.

–I’ve arrived, Naonao. Keep in touch. Back after New Year’s.

–Be safe alone at home.

Xue Wei replied: “Okay.”

He clicked on the picture and looked at it for a while, then looked up at his surroundings, then averted his gaze, and subtly saved it.

When the first shout from the breakfast stall came in the early morning, Xue Wei suddenly felt that this New Year wasn’t so difficult to get through after all.

Ten days later, the EGT members gradually returned.

Wanshi returned the earliest.

He grumbled: “I wanted to come back early. My relatives and parents at home almost nagged me to death during New Year’s. Our place here is better.”

“Hey hey, Brother Nao, you came back early and even cooked yourself, huh? Didn’t realize that.” Wanshi opened the refrigerator and saw a large pile of frozen dumplings, hotpot noodles, and other things.

He exclaimed: “Brother Nao, you actually know how to cook! Never judge a book by its cover!”

Xue Wei didn’t directly answer.

After he and Wanshi shared dumplings for two or three days, Zhao Xiaoyi and Dangdang also returned.

The foursome was reunited.

The new season also began.

Before the first round of the regular season, they still had about two weeks of free time.

Unlike other teams, who had coaches assigning roles and new tactical training based on game changes from the start of the spring season.

The four EGT members could have played freely, but they customized a new schedule and, like other clubs, held a new season meeting.

The meeting’s coach and main speaker: Wanshi.

They felt bad troubling Xue Wei.

Wanshi, using a translator and the official page, announced: “These are the new season’s rule changes. Come, let’s all take a look.”

Xue Wei also dragged a small stool over and joined them.

“The first change: M82A1’s penetration damage has been nerfed from the original base stat of 127 to 111.” After Wanshi read this, the others all looked up and exchanged glances.

Dangdang: “Holy crap.”

Zhao Xiaoyi: “Holy crap!!!”

At the same time, in the national team base a city away.

Team One and Team Two were both holding meetings.

Eleven players, with an entire training group, were also watching the meeting, but their scale was more formal, and the atmosphere more silent.

Everyone listened attentively.

The head coach was simultaneously connected to the online meeting video.

On the other end, Wen Man was listening to the meeting presentation.

“This change reduces M82A1’s penetration damage. What this change truly means is not yet implemented online, but we can check in the sandbox.”

The head coach projected the game page onto the projector, aimed and fired a shot at the panel.

The map was Storm 2, a map where M82A1 snipers could dominate the entire map with zero defense, ignoring all walls.

Now, that single shot could no longer penetrate a common position’s wall.

“This change directly downgrades the M82A1 sniper rifle, weakening its armor penetration and wall-piercing capabilities.

Coupled with it still being the most expensive sniper equipment, its cost-effectiveness is very questionable,” the head coach said.

Everyone remained silent.

They were professional players; they all understood what such a change implied—it meant that in the future, it would no longer be the era of the M82A1.

The official team had finally made this drastic move!

“I was in Europe; I listened to their data meeting, and they also considered my opinion.” Wen Man’s voice, calm and clear, came through the equipment, “The official team wants to improve the current playstyle of everyone using M82A1 armor-piercing sniper rifles, to make way for other types of weapons. At the same time, to ensure this gun isn’t completely phased out, they will adjust its price later. My personal suggestion is that when the new season begins, all snipers in the team should prepare a secondary main weapon, such as AWM, TRG, M99. And new lineups should be configured according to the weapons.”

“National Team One, currently it’s mainly Pandora playing M82A1 with me. You can discuss this part yourselves. For the new season, I won’t be in the training group and won’t be starting in the regular season.”

Wen Man flipped through the small notebook in front of him, then continued, “Now for the second change.”

“Wait a moment, Captain Wen.”

A national team member suddenly spoke up.

He looked around, saw no one else speaking, then cautiously raised his hand.

He raised it, then lowered it.

“It’s fine, speak,” Wen Man motioned to him.

“The M82A1 changed, what will you do?” The team member asked nervously.

Among the world’s top ten teams, there were only two core-centric lineups: one was European FEC, with God Knife as the core free agent system; the other was CHNC National Team, with the armor-piercing sniper as the core sniper system.

Other general lineups focused on balance and tactics.

The M82A1 nerf this time was equivalent to crippling their most important tactical lifeline.

More importantly, it crippled the core status of the M82A1, which Wen Man had single-handedly built up.

But Wen Man seemed… completely at ease, as if unaffected.

“Before asking me what I’ll do, think about yourselves,” Wen Man chuckled, his smile gentle, “I’ll have my way; that’s not the main point of this meeting.”

“If there are no other questions, I’ll continue.” Wen Man waved the documents in his hand, picking up from where the head coach left off.

“There’s also a change that hasn’t been officially released yet, which still needs some time for practical testing. It mainly targets World Championship matches first.”

“New season, the BP system will be piloted in the championships. Ban positions for guns,” Wen Man said.

The meeting room erupted in an uproar.

“BP???? Are you kidding me?? This is an RPS game!”

Wen Man glanced at the screen, and everyone immediately fell silent, not daring to speak.

“The BP phase will mainly be set for the Round of 16, and the Quarterfinals and Semifinals. In a BO3 format, one weapon is allowed to be banned each round, and duplicate bans are not allowed. This will become a key influence in match point rounds, and it also means that in the new season, every single one of us must transition into all-rounders, changing roles and preferred weapons.”

“Those who can’t change, leave,” Wen Man said, “Including me.”

The meeting room was so quiet you could hear a pin drop.

This was a competitive game; competition was brutal.

Survival of the fittest was clear for all to see.

A giant boulder pressed down on everyone’s hearts, subtly making them breathless.

“These are basically the major changes; I’m waiting for official confirmation on other minor changes.” Wen Man smiled into the video, relaxed and casual, “Happy New Year, everyone. I’ll bring you back little gifts.”

The video closed.

“He’s the only one who can still smile,” Alan grumbled. He took a deep breath, “How can he still smile…”

The head coach said: “To put it mildly, this season, CHNC’s previous lineup has been completely crippled.”

The M82A1 changes, weakening the gun, also weakened their main sniper-core lineup.

Adding a BAN slot meant they could directly counter one player.

Wen Man would definitely be targeted.

However, FEC’s side…

God Knife was crying.

“I’m going to blow up their headquarters building!!!!” Knife, eating fries, his eyes red with excitement, looked as if he was about to burst into tears. “They’ll all ban me next season! They’ll also ban my beloved G3 Little Bird! Our team is doomed!!!”

G3, the sniper rifle with the highest rapid-fire capability in the game, also known as ‘Little Bird’.

Knife, playing free agent, habitually used this gun.

It was between an assault rifle and a sniper rifle, flexible enough, and with enough firepower.

Knife cried and ate fries: “Pretty, didn’t you see the planners’ smiles? They smiled like devils! They can’t defeat us in the game, so they defeat us in the settings! They don’t want us to have it easy!! I knew it! Last time their anti-cheat system wanted to ban me!”

Wen Man politely kept his distance from him.

He sat with his legs crossed, tapping his fingertips casually on the table: “Silence is requested here. You may leave.”

Knife immediately fell silent.

He sniffed and let out a long sigh: “Our European team is doomed. Pretty, we are all doomed.”

Wen Man completely ignored him.

Knife was always exaggerated.

Although the European team was centered around the free agent, his other three teammates were definitely not ordinary.

Even if the core was weakened, it would definitely not be that serious.

After Knife wailed, he calmed down.

Wen Man said: “Are you sure you’re returning to China with me this time?”

“Yes! I want to bring a few people back. We have the best youth training system in the world, but unfortunately, it hasn’t been allocated to esports.”

Knife thought for a moment, then looked at Wen Man, suddenly inspired: “Why don’t you join us? Look, I’ve been nerfed, and you’ve been nerfed too, but if the two of us were on one team, the new system wouldn’t affect us! They can only limit one person!!”

“Do you know you’re trying to poach the Chinese team captain?” Wen Man reminded him idly.

Knife silently shrank back: “You’re right.”

Knife thought for a moment, then suddenly had another flash of inspiration: “Then can your little lone wolf sniper be loaned to us for a few seasons? Look, instead of staying in your practice squad, why doesn’t he come play with me?”

“Quite the dreamer.”

Wen Man stood up, casually picked up his jacket: “This probability is even lower than the previous one. Don’t even think about it.”

EGT Esports Club.

After Wanshi finished his analysis, everyone discussed it but couldn’t come to a conclusion.

“All we can say is that snipers will definitely see a big change… especially Captain Wen’s playstyle, but it doesn’t seem to affect us much,” Wanshi tried to summarize, “Should we just play the regular season first? After the new system is implemented, we’ll have to see again.”

“It affects us greatly,” Zhao Xiaoyi said, “Xue Wei is leaving, and we don’t have a new sniper.”

“The national team will assign people. The current premise is that each of us needs to train multiple roles.”

“Free agent, can transition to sniper if necessary,” Xue Wei suddenly said.

“He’s right.”

He had been silent all this time; everyone tried their best to ignore that.

Xue Wei was leaving after the new season.

Wen Man would be back soon; it would be within these few days.

Xue Wei’s luggage was also packed.

“I am,” Dangdang said.

But at this moment, Xue Wei again took out his small notebook—everyone could see he had a new notebook.

“Wanshi, main assaulter, you can actually try being a thrower too,” Xue Wei looked down, flipping through the notes he had copied earlier, “Or a utility player, responsible for utility offense, also a free agent. You’re very good at assaulter; your strengths are that you grasp opportunities, react quickly, and play aggressively, so I think you can also be a free agent, no problem.”

“Zhao Xiaoyi, assaulter, but I think you can try sniping. And the AWM is very suitable for you. The AWM, this gun, hasn’t changed in the new season. Its characteristics are quick transfer, relatively high rate of fire, and very balanced range and penetration.”

“Dangdang is a free agent, and most suitable for a free agent. Everyone doesn’t need to be confined to traditional systems. I’ve played teams without assaulters, and also various unconventional teams, such as throwers and… observer-snipers, and other lineups.”

Xue Wei continued flipping: “I haven’t had time for the foreign teams, but I’ve looked at and recorded these domestic teams, including the national team. They’re all written in the previous small notebook. I’ll leave that notebook for you; I think it might be useful.”

He spoke solemnly and seriously.

After his words fell, he seemed a bit embarrassed, because the other three EGT members were all staring at him in unison.

“I… I’ll be leaving soon.” Xue Wei wasn’t used to such scenes. He said in a low voice, “Just, letting you guys know.”

“No need to say anything else, Brother Nao, come hug.” Zhao Xiaoyi opened his arms to him.

Before Xue Wei could react, he was rushed by three people and pinned down, hugged tightly in turns.

By now, they no longer thought Xue Wei was chuunibyou.

They all knew that the little lone wolf who had briefly stayed with them was a true genius.

Xue Wei’s phone rang on the coffee table.

Caller ID: Wen Man.

Xue Wei struggled out of the three people’s embrace and answered the call on speaker.

–Hello? Are your things packed? I’m here to pick you up. Almost there, two more minutes.

–Wen Man heard the commotion on the other end, –What’s wrong?

–Captain Wen, come pick him up quickly!! Quick, take this lone wolf away!! He’s yours! And throw in two bunches of green onions!!!

–They covered Xue Wei’s mouth and boldly shouted into the phone, –We’ve tied him up for you! Hurry, hurry, first come, first served!

–If you’re late, we won’t let him go!! The three of them shouted together, laughing.

Their laughter turned a little sad.

Zhao Xiaoyi turned his back and wiped away tears that welled up.

Xue Wei was pressed onto the sofa like this the whole time.

When Wen Man knocked on the door, Dangdang rushed to open it and pushed Xue Wei’s luggage out, then, along with the other two, lifted Xue Wei.

Xue Wei struggled, both surprised and angry: “Ahhh, put me down! What are you doing, Zhao Xiaoyi, Wanshi, you—”

“Marrying off the lone wolf! Marrying you off to the national team! Remember we’re your maiden home! If you’re bullied, tell us, and we’ll help you fight back!”

The group was full of heroic spirit, loudly cheering as they carried Xue Wei out and only let go when they reached Wen Man.

Xue Wei had just stood firm, still dizzy and disoriented, when Wen Man reached out and steadied his shoulders.

Wen Man stood there, smiling at everyone: “Okay, I’ll remember. I definitely won’t bully him.”

“Go quickly, go quickly! Once you’re in the national team, don’t come back! Our Brother Nao is going to be world number one!!!” The three EGT members were full of heroic spirit.

They then jointly pushed Xue Wei into the passenger seat, finally standing in a row at the club’s entrance, smiling and waving at him.

“Bye, Brother Nao! When we reach the top of the national team, you have to treat us to dinner!!!”

Wen Man started the vehicle, rolled down the window, and the fine snow and breeze outside floated in.

The vehicle started, and the scenery shifted.

Xue Wei climbed up to look back, and the three EGT members were still waving at them.

Wen Man drove, leaving the small road.

In life, there are always gatherings and partings.

He used to witness others’ in the hospital.

He rarely had his own.

Xue Wei knelt on the passenger seat, clinging to the car headrest, looking back.

Only when he could no longer see them did he sit back down, fasten his seatbelt, quietly, without a sound.

At a traffic light ahead, Wen Man braked, and the car briefly stopped.

Xue Wei was still a little sad.

Suddenly, he felt a warm, large hand cover his head, gently ruffling his hair again.

Wen Man looked straight ahead, softly saying, “No need to cry so soon. If you’re quick, you’ll see them again in the spring season promotion matches. Or—after the playoffs, next season they’ll sign with other teams, and you’ll be opponents.”

“I had a student who, when he was in a club, was signed away by another team. That night, he cried his eyes out, only to find the training base was on the next street the next day,” Wen Man said.

Xue Wei first smiled a little, then quickly stopped smiling.

Xue Wei thought for a moment, then said: “Was it Pandora? He was with SSQ before, then signed by your national team, and you’re just a street apart.”

Wen Man was stunned for a moment.

Wen Man said: “It wasn’t him… it was the chubby one. Pandora was… someone I promoted directly from the secondary league.”

“Oh.”

Xue Wei quickly reverted to his cold expression.

He looked out the window, hugged his legs, and curled up by the car window to sleep.

Wen Man didn’t notice and still asked him: “Do you want anything to eat before we go back? Shall I accompany you for a meal?”

Xue Wei ignored him.

Wen Man: “Naonao?”

Xue Wei pulled his hat down to cover his face, very indifferently: “Drive slower, I need to sleep for a bit.”

Wen Man:

‘His words halted abruptly.’