Chapter 16

Chapter 16

Su Yi sat at the table with puffed cheeks, dwelling on Han Lingfeng’s earlier comment about her artwork. That Jinx was clearly just adorable—where on earth did Wind God see “dumb” in it?

And he only liked *her* drawing of Jinx because it was “adorably dumb”? But wasn’t Jinx his signature champion…?

Lost in thought, Su Yi absentmindedly reached for a skewer of grilled meat on the plate, only to find herself grabbing her cousin’s hand instead of the meat.

“…………”

Xu Ruiqi raised his free hand and waved it back and forth in front of her face. “Sis, you okay? You’ve been distracted ever since we lost that last game.”

No, her distraction had absolutely nothing to do with the last match.

As a veteran of Team SNM, Coffee stepped in to comfort the rookie. “Don’t worry about it. Wins and losses happen. You played really well, Yi Mei. Plenty of kids who came for tryouts before were so nervous in their first game they couldn’t even press the right keys.”

Su Yi gnawed on her meat skewer and mumbled, “Pressed the wrong keys?”

Han Lingfeng, sitting beside her, chimed in nonchalantly, “Like casting Ignite when you meant Ult, or flashing straight into a wall.”

“Well… I’ve pulled off those kinds of mystery plays too,” Su Yi admitted. “Ended up throwing the game for my teammates.”

Han Lingfeng looked at her. “Your mental resilience is actually pretty solid. Aside from that one gank where the enemy jungler targeted you, you tilted a bit.”

Thinking back to that jungle gank, Su Yi felt her own mechanics had been painfully ugly to watch.

Xu Ruiqi patted Su Yi’s shoulder heavily. “But sis, how come I never realized you had such strong pressure resistance? Coach hyped you up at the start of the game, yet you didn’t get cocky at all. Impressive.”

Su Yi: “…………”

Xu Ruiqi: “Truly worthy of being my cousin.”

Su Yi continued munching on her skewer. “I don’t think ‘being your cousin’ and ‘being impressive’ are directly correlated.”

Xu Ruiqi: “…………”

As soon as Su Yi finished speaking, Lightning and Coffee burst into laughter, clinging to each other. Even Han Lingfeng curled his lips into a faint smile. Xu Ruiqi began to suspect he might have a fake cousin!

Wiping tears from the corners of his eyes after laughing, Lightning said, “Still, our comp in that last game was genuinely bad. The Virgo team’s coach must have fed us some terrible advice.”

Recalling the situation, Su Yi nodded. “The loss was justified. CNZ played extremely aggressively that game. But like Coffee said, wins and losses are part of gaming. We’ll try harder next time.”

Lightning slapped his thigh. “What do you mean ‘justified’? I’m furious! My wife says if you play games, you play to win!”

Su Yi: “…………”

Everyone else: “…………”

Su Yi: “Ah… Lightning, you have a girlfriend? How come the official channels never mentioned this? Trying to protect your popularity?”

Hearing Su Yi’s question, Coffee laughed even harder than before. “Haha! He’s quoting D.Va from Overwatch. She’s so popular that players call her their ‘wife.'”

Su Yi: “…Is that so? Honestly, Lightning, as long as you’re happy.”

Lightning covered his face in melancholy, feeling like Su Yi was looking at him like some kind of creep. “Say no more. Mid and top lane ties are hereby severed!”

“Whoa whoa whoa, bro, that’s unreasonable!” Coffee grabbed his shoulders and shook him. Seeing these two buddies acting up again, Xu Ruiqi hurried over to mediate.

Watching them bicker noisily, Su Yi chuckled with mild amusement. Soon she noticed Han Lingfeng refilling her empty cup, which had been placed off to the side. She quickly nodded in gratitude. “Thanks, Wind God.”

“You’re welcome. You’re a girl, after all.”

“Mm…” Su Yi scratched her cheek, feeling a bit shy.

She hadn’t expected Han Lingfeng to notice her empty cup, especially since she’d moved it aside. She suddenly recalled an old online article profiling him—it described him as calm, meticulous, and humble despite constant praise; a perfect commander in every sense.

If he ever retired from playing professionally, he’d probably make an excellent coach.

“What are you thinking about?” Han Lingfeng asked her.

Snapping out of her daze, Su Yi pursed her lips and countered, “Hey, Wind God… do you think winning or losing really matters in games?”

“…”

“At least before joining the team, I felt like winning or losing didn’t matter that much. But competing in matches…”

Han Lingfeng looked at her and considered his words. “Winning or losing isn’t what matters in competitive play.”

“Huh?”

“What matters is winning.”

When Han Lingfeng said those words, Su Yi saw the resolve in his eyes. Every team in the LPL poured sweat and hardship into their craft for one ultimate goal: the championship trophy on the S-Series stage.

Because—

The world owed them a championship.

…

One evening half a month later, SNM’s official Weibo quietly posted an announcement:

[SNM Esports Club V: SNM_EMAIL is coming online soon. Are you ready?]

Meanwhile, the person in question was completely oblivious, locked in a fierce duo queue battle on Summoner’s Rift with Han Lingfeng. Thanks to their jungler’s disastrous shotcalling, they got aced in the Baron pit, allowing the enemy team to push straight through and destroy their Nexus.

Su Yi took off her headset and tugged at her hair in frustration. “What is wrong with this jungler?! I did everything I could! Losing like this is agonizing, ahhh—”

Beside her, Han Lingfeng remained perfectly calm, seemingly accustomed to such outcomes. “Lots of people grind ranked at the end of the season. Running into one or two trolls is normal.”

*Wind God, I’m venting here. Why are you explaining this so calmly?*

After exiting the game, Su Yi checked the Chinese server leaderboard. Han Lingfeng was still number one. In second place was CNZ’s Qi Shen, trailing by only about seventy or eighty points.

Wow, Qi Shen was chasing relentlessly. Terrifying.

Su Yi rubbed her chin, clicking her tongue in awe. Just then, a thick stack of A4 papers landed squarely on her keyboard.

Su Yi: “…………”

She looked up blankly at Manager Tai Yi standing beside her. “Manager… what’s this for?”

Tai Yi gave her a ‘have you gone brain-dead from gaming?’ expression, then turned to Han Lingfeng. “Wind God, didn’t you tell Su Yi about signing the contract tonight?”

Han Lingfeng also removed his headset and tilted his head. “I assumed Riki would tell her.”

Currently grinding Korean server, Xu Ruiqi heard his name and immediately replied, “No way, Wind God. You and my sister are glued together like conjoined twins playing bot lane every day. I thought you’d already told her.”

Han Lingfeng: “…………”

Su Yi: “…………”

So… what was going on?

Looking at this group of unreliable youths, Tai Yi rubbed his throbbing temples. “This is the official contract. Congratulations, Su Yi—you passed the tryout.” He extended his hand toward her, expecting a handshake.

But the girl in front of him was completely unresponsive, leaving Tai Yi’s hand hanging awkwardly in midair.

Mouth twitching, Tai Yi stared at her. “Su Yi, shake my hand… otherwise this is incredibly awkward for me.”

“Oh oh oh! Sorry, Manager!” Only then did Su Yi snap out of it, grabbing Tai Yi’s hand and shaking it vigorously.

Tai Yi smiled. “Look how excited you are. I’ve already notified the PR department to post on Weibo, though most fans who spectated our tryout scrim had already guessed.”

Su Yi: “So… you’ve officially announced that a girl is going pro in the LPL?”

Tai Yi’s friendly smile instantly turned sly. “Not yet. We only released your ID. You haven’t taken your promotional photos yet, so it’s not a formal announcement.”

Su Yi: “…Promotional photos?”

*Crap!* How had she forgotten about promotional photos? That meant wearing makeup, right? Her face was decent enough for public viewing, she hoped… She had no idea how fans would react upon learning a girl was going pro.

Whatever the reaction, it probably wouldn’t be entirely positive…

“By the way, Su Yi, do you have a Weibo account?” Tai Yi asked.

Su Yi nodded. “Yes, I do.”

“Perfect. After taking your photos tomorrow, save scanned copies of your contract and both sides of your ID card. Then apply for verification on Sina Weibo. Set your verified title as: Support Player, SNM Esports Club. That way, when we make the official announcement, we can tag you and help boost your follower count.”

“…………..”

“Also, I need to expedite your registration paperwork with the league. Contracts and documents have to be mailed to the US for review. If we don’t hurry, you won’t be eligible to play in the Spring Split starting mid-January.”

“…………..”

Seeing Su Yi remain silent, Tai Yi frowned. “Do you have objections?”

“No,” Su Yi hesitated, then explained cautiously, “It’s just… my Weibo account was once reposted by the official League of Legends account, so…”

Tai Yi paused, pulling out his phone to open Weibo. “The official account reposted you? That’s great!”

Su Yi glanced at Han Lingfeng, who was watching her intently, then back at Tai Yi, and finally admitted, “Well… they reposted League of Legends fan art.”

Tai Yi: “…………”

Su Yi: “Actually… I’m an artist on Mengciyuan.”

Mengciyuan was a well-known community platform focused on ACG culture. Many users posted illustrations, cosplay photos, and creative writing there.

After Tai Yi scrolled through her entire Weibo feed using the username she provided, he gave Su Yi a complex look and raised his thumb. “Impressive, Yi Mei. Our team really signed someone extraordinary.”