GLH

“Stop boasting, stop boasting! For so many years, Captain Wen has chosen countless people; every time he chooses someone, there’s a wave of boasting. It’s perfectly normal for the national team to select players, okay! He’s the captain; what else can he do if not personally select players?”

“The person God Wen personally chose is still allowed to stay in EGT, huh? Think about Little P God in Team One now; that’s truly God Wen’s direct protégé, someone God Wen personally scooped out of the secondary league. Back then, everyone was against it, but God Wen went ahead and let him start in the World Championship, and didn’t he also get an individual MVP then?”

“And Team One’s current free agent, who used to play sniper, God Wen directly forced him to switch to free agent.”

“According to that logic, all youth trainees were chosen by Captain Wen, after all, the captain has to review the youth training roster. Picking people is Pretty’s duty; don’t overthink it.”

However, with this spectacle, Xue Wei’s live stream popularity suddenly surged.
Even during non-streaming hours, his live stream was flooded with a large crowd, watching replays if there was nothing live, and chatting on public screen.

“I heard he’s a lone wolf streamer, is that right?”

“Very lone wolf.”

“Only money can make him speak.”

“Captain Wen can too.”

“Correction: only money and Captain Wen can make him speak. And sometimes, if he’s in a good mood, he’ll bestow a few words; his voice is quite pleasant.”

“Is he using a voice changer?” Someone clicked in to listen, “Holy crap, it’s actually quite nice. Can a voice changer achieve this effect during puberty? Just from the voice, it feels like a handsome young man, still a bit tender.”

“Is the streamer handsome?”

“Don’t know, never seen his face.”

“Most likely ugly. Never mind, I’ve followed for now. Operations like this, resembling a monumental hack, are hard to see even in ‘fish pond’ matches. I’ll put a bench here for now; when the streamer makes it to the World Championship, remember to kick me.”

“Dream on. This kind of exhibitionist playstyle probably can’t even hold its own in the domestic league. He’s flashy in low-ranked games, but without team coordination, what’s the use? This is a team game.”

“Has the streamer joined the national team? Team One or Team Two?”

There were also Ming Xu’s fans making sarcastic remarks: “Oh-ho, he made it into the national team, huh? Truly, with connections, you don’t worry about getting ahead; stepping on our Ming Xu to climb up.”

In the days leading up to the All-Star Game, Xue Wei was continuously streaming, while the other three EGT members entered intense training mode.

At 3 AM, the EGT club was brightly lit.

Dangdang walked in with grilled takeout.
The other three temporarily removed their headsets; only Xue Wei remained focused on his sandbox training.

He had already gone offline; sandbox training had gradually become his daily routine.

Pretty hadn’t been online these past few days.
His account’s last login was a week ago.

Zhao Xiaoyi did a stretch: “My back is almost broken, Naonao, come get some food.”

Xue Wei said: “I didn’t order anything.”

“We ordered for you, come on, come on! The squid tentacles here are absolutely divine, spicy and refreshing. Double spicy lamb skewers too.”

“Can he handle spicy food?”

“He can, I bet. He eats double spicy jianbing; Naonao is one of those ‘don’t judge a book by its cover’ types.”

Water droplets condensed on the takeout boxes.
The steam carried a rush of aroma, a very fresh scent.
The three of them sat crowded around the coffee table, squeezing each other.

Xue Wei turned to look, then looked at the sandbox page.
Finally, he left his desk and went to eat with them.

His character remained in that room, heavy snow falling steadily.

Xue Wei sat down cross-legged, sniffed, and picked up his chopsticks, ready to eat.

He looked a bit cautious, as if mustering the courage to try some poisonous food.

Wanshi handed him skewers.
Zhao Xiaoyi was looking at his phone: “A-section, 16th floor, E-zone… Comrades, the organizing committee’s team accommodation map is out. We’re on the 16th floor, two people per room, perfect.”

“A-section E-zone?” Dangdang picked up some fried noodles with his chopsticks, puzzled, “Didn’t we always get rooms in C-section D-zone for the past few years? I even know the way by heart.”

Wanshi said: “Maybe there’s some change. Last year, in the first half of the year, six of us crammed into one room… I remember the head coach and manager were also crammed in with us. Later, the organizers told us they hadn’t allocated enough rooms, and Coach Alan gave up his room, so we finally had a place to sleep.”

Dangdang leaned over: “Who’s opposite us? Last year’s autumn season, our room was next to SSQ’s, and they were so noisy we couldn’t sleep for half the night.”

“They won the championship that day, of course they’d celebrate all night,” Wanshi said coldly.

Zhao Xiaoyi held up his phone: “Brothers, this time our neighbors and the team opposite us are all from the national team. SSQ is on the same floor as us, but at the other end of the corridor, far away.”

“National team? Then we can get a good night’s sleep,” Dangdang let out a long breath.

Zhao Xiaoyi placed his phone on the table and continued eating.
Xue Wei also leaned over to glance.

He was still holding an unfinished lamb skewer stick.
At the top of his dark hair, there was a cowlick, sticking straight up, right in front of everyone’s eyes.

Each team’s area was clearly demarcated, only showing the zone, painted in different color blocks.
The national team had several color blocks, distributed across the 16th and 17th floors.
He didn’t know which side was Team 1 and which was Team 2.

The coaching staff had separate resting areas, but they usually weren’t too far away.

“The national team is great; the kids there are all very disciplined. I heard the team management is especially strict; you have to go to bed on time after nine, and usually, you’re not even allowed to eat snacks,” Zhao Xiaoyi suddenly said with a weird laugh, glancing at Xue Wei, “You’d better cherish your days at EGT; life won’t be so comfortable once you join the national team.”

On the other side, Dangdang was also eating and scrolling on his phone: “Hey, I just scrolled past you, Meng Naonao.”

Xue Wei looked up.

Dangdang turned his phone to show him the trending page—it was an article from a marketing account, titled: [Another New Solo King Genius Sniper in the National Server? Once Clashed with Ming Xu.]

Clicking into it, it was all about Ming Xu.
His incident was only mentioned once: “Recently, SSQ Ming Xu encountered a certain solo king in the national server during a solo queue, and the two had a conflict. Ming Xu’s personality has also sparked much controversy…”

In the five-hundred-word marketing article, he only appeared in one sentence.

Zhao Xiaoyi said: “They’re using you to whitewash him and trick casual fans. I don’t have fans. Listening to those young girls explaining things, I almost know their planning department’s operations.”

After finishing reading, Xue Wei retreated to continue eating.
The few of them ate lamb skewers and spicy hotpot, chatted over cold cola, and were full after a few rounds.

He was full and sleepy, and didn’t plan to continue practicing.
No sooner had he stood up than Dangdang suddenly reminded him: “Your screen animation moved; it looks like someone is looking for you.”

Xue Wei turned his head.
On the screen, heavy snow was still falling steadily.
His character was quietly AFK there, performing a weapon inspection animation every seven or eight seconds, raising the Galil-AR in his hand, its golden rose sticker faintly gleaming in the cold light.

Since it was in first-person view, he hadn’t seen anyone near him.
Xue Wei walked over, holding his cola can, and clicked on the third-person view.

The camera pulled back, revealing a man clad in black beside him.

Wen Man’s usual character model: a work jacket and dark short boots, with the T-side’s black and gold Joker mask on his face.

The message in the bottom left.

[Map Page] CHN.Pretty: [Are you there?]

[Map Page] CHN.Pretty: [Oh, you’re not.]

The messages had all been sent fifteen minutes ago; at that time, Xue Wei was eating barbecue with the others.

[Map Page] CHN.Pretty used the [Pat Head] emote on you.

[Map Page] CHN.Pretty used the [Bump] emote on you.

[Map Page] CHN.Pretty used spray paint on you.

[Map Page] CHN.Pretty erased the spray paint.

In third-person view, the man in the black and gold mask was still playing there, holding a can of spray paint, drawing a bunch of colorful things at his feet.
Looking closely, there were a few roses and a few little pigs.

There was also a cloud, drawn with a bored expression, and next to it a speech bubble with the word Boring written inside.

Xue Wei’s finger was on the mouse, watching the person on the screen, temporarily making no move.

Wen Man suddenly stopped.

Snow fluttered down, slowly covering the spray paint between the two.

[Map Page] CHN.Pretty: [Are you back?]

At that instant, the man wearing the black and gold mask looked up, as if staring at him through the screen.

Xue Wei’s fingertips moved slightly, but didn’t touch the mouse.

His breathing was soft and light.

On screen, his character was still AFK, occasionally turning twice.
Snowflakes drifted across his eyelashes, close enough to feel their cool, moist touch.

[Map Page] CHN.Pretty: [I should go.]

[Map Page] CHN.Pretty: [Wanted to talk to you.]

[Map Page] CHN.Pretty: [GLHF, Naonao.]

(good luck and have fun, peace and joy)

[System message: [CHN.Pretty] has left the room.]

[Friend channel message: Your friend [CHN.Pretty] is now offline.]

Xue Wei turned his perspective to look at the spray paint on the ground.
The heavy snow and the colorful spray paint were mixed together, making it ugly.

He also rummaged through his equipment and found a can of spray paint gifted by the system.
He wrote “GLHF.” on the ground.

He pressed F5 to save the screenshot.

Then, he secretly transferred that screenshot to his phone, and subsequently deleted the screenshot completely from the background.