Wrongly Sealed

The All-Star Game was still a few days away, and the EGT club had unusually entered a full-team training mode.

No coach, no opponents; everything was self-taught.
They didn’t want to be trampled on again in this All-Star Game.

Xue Wei didn’t participate in their training, but he would play ranked matches with them, climbing the ranks together.

Since he didn’t need anyone to cooperate with him, Wanshi, Dangdang, and Zhao Xiaoyi would generally leave an entire point for him to play freely.
When not playing ranked, Xue Wei was always in Wen Man’s small sandbox room.

“Why did you start playing as Terrorist recently, Naonao?” After Zhao Xiaoyi died, he watched Xue Wei from the spectator perspective.
Xue Wei had just killed an enemy sniper—the enemy was holding a priceless M82A1 armor-piercing sniper rifle, but Xue Wei didn’t confiscate the gun; he still had his Galil AR. “And you even started playing with this crappy gun.”

Xue Wei said: “Haven’t seen this gun before.”

“Alright.”

They continued to play.

Xue Wei was live streaming.
Because he had consecutively flaked for two days and forgotten to ask for leave, his live stream viewership had dropped significantly.

The live stream title had also been changed to: “Playing Ranked with Teammates.”
Many people, seeing that Wen Man wasn’t there, also left.

“No Pretty, no fun. Leaving.”

“I’m not leaving. The reason I’m not leaving is because I want to see when this hacker will expose himself.”

Just then, the system assigned a few match observers to them.

《Fire》 had one of the strictest anti-cheat systems among global game companies.
One was in-game monitoring, and the other was high-ranked players serving as observers to monitor matches.

They were used to seeing observers in high-ranked matches.

Xue Wei killed one with a Galil-AR, then walked around the corner and fiercely sprayed at another window.

There was no one there; he sprayed at empty space.

Bullet comments: “Battling wits with air.”

“Top-tier pre-aim.”

“Dinner time, dinner time (referring to bad plays).”

However, in the overhead spectator view, there was actually a person hiding where Xue Wei was spraying.

This player hadn’t fired or moved.
The few shots Xue Wei fired earlier didn’t penetrate the wall due to insufficient power, so he didn’t lose health.
If Xue Wei’s Galil had armor-piercing effects, he would have died long ago.

The system suddenly popped up a notification.

[Observer #1]: @ID EGT.Now suspected of wallhack (ESP) behavior, initiating ban vote.

#1 voted.

#2 voted.

#3 voted. All passed.

No sooner had Xue Wei seen this message than his game page suddenly displayed: [Due to suspected cheating behavior, you have been forcibly disconnected.]

His account was frozen.

Live stream chat: “No??? What’s happening??? How is it wallhack?”

“What’s going on? He really got banned?”

“Watch the replay! There was someone behind that window he sprayed at! Just like with Ming Xu, the exact same outrageous prediction! He couldn’t possibly have known someone was there!”

“Holy crap, holy crap, holy crap. He really got banned!”

Once a platform account is suspected of being banned for cheating, it’s only a matter of time before the live stream is also suspended.

Xue Wei went to check his live stream.
His live stream had already been ‘bombarded’ (flooded with negative comments).
Countless haters, led by Ming Xu’s fans, swarmed in.

“Serves him right! The hacker finally got banned! Observers 123 did a great job! Esports is fair and clean!!”

“Can you apologize to Ming Xu now? A hacker is a hacker; why punish Ming Xu and ban him?”

“Apologize! Apologize! Ban the hacker! Lift the ban! Make the national team apologize!”

“Disgusting piece of trash, still hacking in a 1700-point match. With this attitude, play in the practice squad for life. Having someone like you in the league is a disgrace! Because of this piece of trash, Ming Xu was banned from matches and streaming for a month! We remember this grudge, and all the grievances suffered this month, we remember them all.”

“There’s a rumor that the national team spent fifty million to buy him. Is this it? Is this it? Is this it? There has to be a limit to creating stars, okay? Is Wen Man really going to retire? Can’t the national team’s merchandise be sold anymore?”

…All he saw was abuse.

Incredibly furious abuse.

Xue Wei was quiet for a while, then changed his live stream title to: “System error ban, will be resolved. Please be patient.”

His actions did not calm the crowd.

“Dying laughing, excuses are endless. It can even be an error ban. The hacker looks so pathetic trying to explain.”

“Top-tier hacker.”

“Don’t look anymore.” Wanshi suddenly walked over and turned off his monitor.
He thought for a long time, then said: “…It’s time to eat. Let’s go out for a meal together.”

Xue Wei still stared at the screen.
The dark screen reflected his eyes, dark and sharp, his aura silent.

“Right, right, let’s go out to eat. I also want to get a haircut. Going to the All-Star Game in a few days, can’t look shabby.” Zhao Xiaoyi also stood up, pulling Xue Wei outside. “It’s fine, the appeal for unbanning is quick. There are also many cases of mistaken bans by player observers. Even God Wen used to get mistakenly banned on the EU server all the time.”

Xue Wei still didn’t speak.

His phone vibrated.
He looked down and saw Micro had sent him a message.

Micro: [Your account has been banned.]

Xue Wei typed: [I didn’t hack.]

A very simple sentence, through the screen, one could almost see the young man’s stubborn, unyielding gaze.

Micro: [I know.]

Xue Wei wasn’t typing, but he was still looking at the screen.

Micro: [I will resolve this matter. Don’t worry.]

Xue Wei said: “Appeals take a long time, and only the account owner can appeal.”

Micro: [I have other channels. If it can’t be resolved tonight, I’ll send you the CEO’s account for 《Fire》.]

Xue Wei: “Okay.”

After a while, he typed: [No need to send the CEO’s account; I just need it unbanned.]

Micro was a big shot, and a generous one at that.
He truly believed her words.
Xue Wei’s tightly clenched fingers slowly relaxed.

He wasn’t familiar with the current internet environment, nor with today’s professional leagues.
Back then, 《Fire》 hadn’t even been introduced in China.
They, a group of people, would use VPNs, speak broken English, and play endlessly on international servers.
Regardless of win or loss, at the end of a match, they would type: GLHF.

Good luck, have fun.

At that time, they had no audience, no fans, only a surge of passion and a deep love for the game itself.
A lonely journey.

Now, this path had become incredibly unfamiliar.

After Xue Wei regained his composure, looking at the other party’s tone, he still decided to ask a small question: “Are you… the CEO’s daughter of 《Fire》 company?”

The other party was clearly wealthy, and their tone was also very powerful, much like a generous backer.

He didn’t know what that meant.

Xue Wei genuinely believed it, and his mood relaxed slightly.

The four EGT members went out together to a stir-fry restaurant, ordering two hotpots, some side dishes, and beer.
The winter hotpot broth bubbled, steam rising.

This was also the first time the entire EGT team had gathered to eat out.

“Want some beer?” Wanshi asked.

Xue Wei didn’t drink.
Zhao Xiaoyi and Dangdang exchanged glances, also shaking their heads: “No, don’t drink. Drinking affects reaction speed.”

“Damn it. You guys are getting particular these past two days.” Wanshi cursed, but surprisingly, he didn’t drink alcohol.
He painfully ordered four bottles of coconut juice: “Fine, fine, let’s just do that.”

Zhao Xiaoyi said: “I’m going to get a haircut later, are you guys coming?”

“Why would big strong men get their hair cut, you sissy,” Wanshi said.

Zhao Xiaoyi scratched his messy hair: “When we sit in the front row of section A, the director’s camera will sweep over. What if I look ugly on the big screen… it’ll affect my chances of finding a girlfriend later.”

He looked at Wanshi and Dangdang, subtly saying: “Even a crew cut would be good, otherwise it ruins the city’s appearance walking on the street.”

He turned to look at Xue Wei: “What about you? Never mind, we’re all going, you come along too.”

Xue Wei’s hair was slightly long, messy, and a bit uneven; it looked like he had cut it himself.
He mainly bundled up too thickly in winter, so even in the training camp, few people could see his face clearly.

Everyone agreed.
After dinner, everyone headed to the barbershop together.

Xue Wei was led by the hairdresser to sit in the front chair in front of the mirror, draped with a cloth, only his head visible.
He must rarely come to such occasions; his eyes showed a hint of caution.
Like a little wolf pup whose scruff was being held.

The hairdresser looked at his unevenly cut hair and said helplessly: “Don’t cut your hair yourself anymore, alright? Look at you, you’re so good-looking, but your hair almost covers your eyes. What a shame no one can see it?”

Xue Wei replied a bit stiffly: “No one looks.”

“I’ll trim it for you. I guarantee many girls will look at you.” This shop seemed quite famous.
After examining him for a while, the hairdresser asked again, “Want to dye it a color? Your skin is fair; you could dye it a slightly lighter shade, like cool tea brown, or blue…”

“Ah, uh, anything is fine,” Xue Wei’s voice was still stiff.

“Then I’ll dye it a cool tea brown for you. A cool, obedient, and stylish color that suits you. Since there are four of you, we can give you a discount on this service,” the hairdresser said. “Your buddy is already getting highlights.”

Xue Wei looked over there.
A tuft of Zhao Xiaoyi’s hair was already fading, making him look like a yellow rooster.

Men, when it came to vanity, spared no effort.

The fact that a limited-edition weapon skin in 《Fire》 could sell for tens of thousands was proof.

After all the fuss, it was already late at night.
The streets were sparsely populated.

The hairdresser finished drying and styling Xue Wei’s hair.
His trimmed hair was lifted by the wind, then softly fell back onto his forehead, adding a touch of refinement.

Xue Wei stood up and looked in the mirror.

He had no strong feelings about his own appearance, but the other three EGT members were practically stunned looking at him.
The young man was already excessively fair-skinned.
With his hair dyed and trimmed, he gained a delicate vibrancy, a departure from his previous dull and rigid look.
His almond eyes and red lips also became more pronounced, giving him an indescribable… cold allure.

“Xiao Meng, I feel like I’ve never seen your full face before…” Wanshi’s tone became awkward, “How do you look so… so much like a girl? No, I mean… prettier than a girl.”

“Damn it, exciting! Won’t the calls for Naonao to cross-dress be higher than for God Wen in the future?” Zhao Xiaoyi started with his provocative talk, “You alone are worth ten; the national team’s ‘little team flower’ is definitely you. God Wen is the ‘big team flower,’ you’re the ‘little flower.’”

Even Dangdang, who rarely spoke, complimented him: “Handsome.”

Xue Wei touched his hair, showing no reaction: “Oh.”

They returned to the training camp.

Xue Wei logged into his live stream to check.
The abuse was still ongoing, but the content was less than before, and the sentiment had shifted somewhat.

“I said it was a mistaken ban, if he didn’t hack, he didn’t hack. Are some fans really blind and can’t see? Does a small streamer deserve to be cursed by you all in rotation?”

“It’s truly outrageous and upsetting. Why doesn’t the streamer get popular?”

He logged into the game to check.

The first thing he saw was that his account had been unfrozen.
In his understanding, the appeal process for a mistaken ban usually took a long time; in extreme cases, requiring evidence, it could extend to several months.

But his account was already unbanned, and the official team had sent him an email.

[Dear EGT.NOW, hello! We sincerely apologize for the erroneous ban issued by manual observers 37, 38, and 59 in the match on XXXX Year, X Month, X Day. After reviewing the relevant evidence, we have now ruled out any account risk. We extend our sincerest apologies and offer you some in-game items as compensation.]

The email contained a package, gifting him several in-game spray paint items and a few small stamps.

Xue Wei looked back at the bullet comments.

“What, what? New development? Where did they find out the streamer was mistakenly banned? Is there solid proof of a mistaken ban?”

“Go check the national team! The national team’s official Weibo!”

On a certain platform.
A new Weibo post published three hours ago, with a video.

[FIRE National Esports Center]: [Come see our new member. #Video#]

The video started with a fifteen-second official game response: [Confirmed as mistaken ban, apologies.]

Then a compiled video.

The video screen was split into two sides.
The left side showed EGT.Now’s gameplay.
The right side showed Pretty’s.

Xue Wei jump-shot and killed Ming Xu, who hadn’t moved the entire round.
Caption: NOW, 2500-point solo queue match, blind-sniping solo kill of SSQ.Ming Xu.

Pretty kicked through a window and jumped into a room, killing an enemy crouching inside.
Caption: 20XX European World Championship, Pretty’s blind judgment kill of the opponent’s free agent.

…

Their playstyles and weapons had significant differences, but this suffocating talent was subtly similar, subtly… exciting.

National team official Weibo comment, top hot comment: “The last pro player who was mistakenly banned for outrageous plays was Pretty.”

“Hot fact: Pretty has been duo queuing with him recently.”

“Hot fact: God Wen always solo queued as a sniper to climb ranks because that’s the fastest way. Also a cold fact: when God Wen duo queued with this little practice squad member, he gave up the sniper role and played free agent himself.”

“Team routine, basic operation, no need to be amazed.”

“Compared to those who issued announcements saying Pretty picked people, look closely. Ming Xu, one, Little P God, one. The press releases exaggerated to the sky, but who got this treatment? EGT.NOW, this is the person Pretty personally chose.”