A Champion’s Dream and an Unexpected Gift

A truly formidable team. Wow!

Qing Zixi’s face practically glowed with anticipation.

‘Just how formidable could they be? Were they as strong as Sister Mengyao? If so, she could simply coast to victory, claiming the championship without effort.’

Qing Zixi was already lost in a beautiful daydream of lifting the winner’s trophy.

Still, the most pressing matter at hand was her studies.

“Are you truly not coming to my place? Think about it—a professional player would be right there, ready to answer any questions you have about the game, anytime, anywhere~”

Lan Mengyao still hoped to persuade Qing Zixi to stay, but Qing Zixi merely shook her head in refusal.

‘What a jest! The first day was a red dress. Would the second and third days bring blue or green ones? Her delicate body simply couldn’t endure it.’

“No, I can’t. Perhaps once I’m capable of improving my skills independently, without needing a trainer, we can revisit the idea.”

“Alright then… I won’t keep you any longer. I also need to prepare for the competition. I look forward to meeting you on the battlefield.”

Lan Mengyao let out a deep sigh, rising from her chair and heading for the door. This time, however, her movements lacked their usual lightness, and the small wind chimes at her waist hung limply.

In contrast, Qing Zixi skipped along with light, cheerful steps, eager to begin learning new things from the two.

In the blink of an eye, three days flew by. Qing Zixi didn’t rest for a moment, constantly watching past match replays and professional support player matchups. Even in her sleep, she pondered strategies and layouts.

She mastered and understood techniques through direct gameplay, training her muscle memory while simultaneously playing commentary videos. If she died, she immediately switched screens to watch gameplay tutorials. During queue times, she quickly ate a few bites of food, and at night, she drifted off to sleep with the coach’s words in her mind. Qing Zixi had optimized her time management to the extreme.

Due to continuous late nights, dark circles now shadowed the little girl’s fair, tender face. It was another early morning, and Qing Zixi yawned as she rose from bed, brewed a cup of coffee, and powered on her computer.

Finally, her persistent effort bore fruit. After three consecutive days of relentless work, Qing Zixi now recognized the skills of every hero, and her game sense and mechanics had become quite refined.

She already knew some heroes, so she only needed to learn about the newly released and updated ones.

“Hello, everyone, I’m Zixi.”

After lunch that afternoon, she set up her virtual avatar, started the stream, and Qing Zixi began her broadcast.

The virtual avatar was designed to resemble her, a cute little figure with white hair and red eyes. However, Qing Zixi, indulging a bit of personal desire, had made the avatar quite a bit taller and given it a more developed bust.

As for the story behind acquiring this virtual avatar…

It was given to Qing Zixi by a fan on a novel-reading app.

Even when she was in elementary school, a captivating world had always existed in her heart. At the time, she didn’t even know that novels were a thing.

Or rather, in her perception, books seemed to materialize out of thin air, gifts bestowed upon humanity by nature. It wasn’t until junior high that she learned authors existed.

To her, authors were undoubtedly like gods—sacred and inviolable. Then, in high school, she discovered the existence of web novels.

‘So, anyone can become a novelist.’

‘Everyone has the ability, the right, to bring their inner fantasies to life.’

‘Could I also be liked?’

Filled with longing and envy, she created her own account.

As for her signature…

Qing Zixi took a deep breath and wrote down her wish, her aspiration.

“I want to become your pride.”

Although six full days had passed since her revival, she hadn’t written a novel in a very long time. So, let alone six days, even six years wouldn’t prompt anyone to care what had happened to her.

‘It should be this way.’

Only now did she find some free time. Casually, she clicked on the newly downloaded software and logged in, only to be surprised to find that someone with an anime avatar had left her messages almost every week.

For years.

‘Perhaps they saw me as an unresponding confidante, a tree hollow for their secrets…?’

Although she considered ignoring it, seeing the messages and not replying felt incredibly rude. So, Qing Zixi drafted a message, telling the person she intended to pursue a career as a professional player and streamer. The reply she received was:

–Eeeek!?

–I-I’m so sorry for leaving so many messages here! I thought this account had been deleted!

“It’s alright, you’re not bothering me. Rather, I should be the one apologizing for seeing so much of your private life.”

Many of the scattered messages were about daily trivialities, such as what they ate or encountering a cat on the street; these made up about half of the content. Judging by the tone, the person was a girl around her own age. The other half of the messages revealed the girl’s constant worry about her inability to communicate effectively with her older brother.

“Well, um, if you don’t mind me prying into your personal matters…”

“I suggest you try to communicate actively. Perhaps your brother is also distressed by the inability to communicate well with you?”

Qing Zixi offered advice based on her own experiences, but the girl on the other end seemed to shift the topic.

Finally, the girl had given her this virtual avatar, which she claimed to have created for practice.

Although Qing Zixi felt a bit awkward accepting it, the avatar was simply too adorable! And it suited her perfectly!

‘It was almost as if… it had been tailor-made for her?’

‘How could that be? How could anyone possess foresight to create a virtual avatar specifically for her in advance?’

And so, filled with gratitude, Qing Zixi began her livestream on this fourth day.

‘If she ever had the chance, she truly wanted to thank the girl properly in person.’

Although for some reason the girl had shown unusual resistance regarding this matter, Qing Zixi knew from her messages that the girl lived in the same city as her.

[Huh, who’s this, a new streamer?]

[The avatar is so pretty~]

Just as the bullet comments started to fill with “DD”, a sudden comment spotted something unusual.

[I don’t know why, but this avatar seems a bit familiar, like I’ve seen it somewhere before.]

[The voice, too…]

‘No, it couldn’t be…’

Qing Zixi looked at the bullet comments, an awkward expression surfacing on her face.

‘She had used a virtual avatar precisely to avoid being recognized. Surely, she wouldn’t be found out immediately after just starting her stream?’

However, the game had started, so Qing Zixi offered no explanation on the topic.

“Today, I’m bringing you something you’ve all been wanting to see: the most skilled Nami in the national server!”

[Playing Nami?]

[So chaotic!]

As Qing Zixi focused intently on her gameplay, she stopped welcoming new viewers. In an inconspicuous corner, a plain white text message appeared, and soon, news that shook the entire platform spread.

“Blonde Tsundere Twin-tails” activated a monthly gift worth twenty thousand in “Qing Zixi”‘s livestream, subscribing for five months.

Even Qing Zixi, deeply engrossed in her gameplay, paused in surprise.

‘H-how much?’

She counted on her small fingers.

‘Two multiplied by five, one hundred thousand!?’