Chapter 17
Su Yi had been doing digital art for about two years. She was an art student in high school and had always been passionate about anime and games. Her early works on Mengciyuan were rough and gained little attention, but as she practiced, her skills matured significantly. Ever since the official League of Legends Weibo account reposted several of her pieces, her modest follower count had skyrocketed.
Upon hearing this news from Tai Yi, Lightning—a die-hard ACG fan—immediately pulled out his phone to scroll through Su Yi’s Weibo. Looking utterly bewildered, he asked, “Yi Mei, are you the artist who drew that championship skin fan art for our team??”
Su Yi: “Yep, that’s me.”
Lightning: “Holy crap? There’s even a selfie—it really is you!”
Coffee stared at his phone screen, clicking his tongue. Patting Xu Ruiqi on the shoulder beside him, he laughed with a distinctly mischievous grin. “My dear Captain Riki, how come you never mentioned that Yi Mei is a talented fan artist?”
Xu Ruiqi coughed guiltily twice, pretending to admire the scenery outside the window without saying a word.
“Excellent.” Lightning sat back in his chair, pointing at Su Yi with admiration. “With Yi Mei’s fan art blessing us, plus you and Wind God as our chaotic bot lane duo competing, we’ve basically got the S7 championship in the bag.”
Su Yi: “…………”
*Wait… so her artwork can not only be admired but also ward off evil spirits now? And Lightning was planting flags way too early—it wasn’t even 2017 yet.*
*Also, what was with the ‘chaotic duo’ label?*
“And look at this drawing—it’s identical to Wind God’s keychain!” Lightning scrolled to one of Su Yi’s older posts and held up his phone toward Han Lingfeng. “Wind God, take a look. Isn’t this exactly like your keychain?”
Han Lingfeng didn’t even lift his eyelids. After a brief glance, he turned back to his own business. “I know.”
“You know? Know what?” Lightning blinked.
Han Lingfeng: “I know the season reset is coming soon. If you don’t try harder, you’ll be stuck in Diamond on the Korean server this season.”
Lightning: “…Crap! Will you duo queue with me on the Korean server then?”
Han Lingfeng: “No thanks. Su Yi and I are doing fine on the Chinese server.”
Su Yi: “…………”
Lightning sounded intensely jealous. “Ah, getting a new support and forgetting your old mid-laner. Heartless, absolutely heartless.”
Su Yi found his phrasing oddly uncomfortable, creating a momentarily awkward atmosphere. Hunching over, she swiveled her chair around and met Han Lingfeng’s striking dark eyes. His gaze was deep and fixed on her for quite a while, making Su Yi’s face burn red.
Deliberately avoiding his stare, she asked, “Wind God, what are you looking at?”
Han Lingfeng pursed his lips slightly. “That Jinx drawing…”
“Huh?”
“It’s very well done.”
“………… Oh.”
“Keep it up.”
“……………. Okay.”
It was clearly praise, so why did it sound so strange? Su Yi stared blankly at the man before her, still processing his words, when he added, “Queue up. I’ll carry you to Challenger.”
Remembering that her LP was closing in on the lowest-ranked player on the Ionian Challenger ladder, Su Yi excitedly rolled up her sleeves, gripped her mouse, and entered battle mode.
…
By the time they finished playing, it was past midnight. The system had already finalized the top 200 Challenger players on the Chinese server. Su Yi was only a few dozen points behind the last-ranked player; if things went smoothly, she could reach her dream rank by tomorrow night.
At this point, Tai Yi began ushering the young men and women to return to their rooms, wash up, and get some sleep.
After finishing her shower, Su Yi stepped out carrying a damp towel, intending to hang it on the balcony to dry. To her surprise, Han Lingfeng happened to be walking out of his room at the same moment, toweling his wet hair.
The night breeze gently brushed against Su Yi’s face, and the scene inexplicably reminded her of the first day she’d slept in Han Lingfeng’s room.
Su Yi quickly hung her towel on the rack and spun around to leave, but Han Lingfeng called out to her. “Su Yi.”
“Huh?” She turned back.
In the night breeze, Han Lingfeng’s lips curved upward, warmth lingering in his eyes. “Welcome officially to Team SNM.”
“…………”
Although Han Lingfeng usually wore an expression of complete disinterest—whether gaming or competing—that smile… Su Yi had to admit, his face was genuinely breathtaking.
A blush slowly crept across Su Yi’s cheeks. Shyly, she murmured, “Thank you.” Then, remembering something, she looked up at him, gathering her courage. “Um… Wind God, can I ask you a question? No, two…” She held up two fingers in a peace sign.
Han Lingfeng: “Nice peace sign pose.”
Su Yi: “…………”
*Wind God, aren’t we missing the point here?*
Su Yi immediately retracted her hand.
Leaning against the railing with a white towel draped around his neck, Han Lingfeng looked at her. “Go ahead. I’ll answer seriously.”
Su Yi pursed her lips, stepping closer to ask cautiously, “Wind God, have you been following my work for a long time? I mean… the fact that I’m an artist, specifically our team’s championship fan art.”
Not *SNM’s team*, but *our team*.
Han Lingfeng paused, thought for a moment, then answered candidly, “Yes.”
“Really?” Hearing the answer she’d hoped for, her eyes lit up like stars, childlike in their wonder.
“Mm. Whether it was my Jinx, Lightning’s Viktor, Coffee’s Irelia, or Riki’s Rengar… and…” He stopped mid-sentence and countered, “I recall our support that year was Demon, who has since retired. His signature champion was Thresh, so why did you choose to draw Zyra instead?”
At this, Su Yi cupped her face, smiling proudly. “Because I really love Zyra! She’s kind of my main. After switching to mid lane, I grew fond of Orianna and LeBlanc too. Honestly, there was a bit of personal bias in that drawing.”
“Personal bias?”
Su Yi declared righteously, “Zyra is prettier than Thresh, isn’t she?”
“…………”
That certainly sounded like something a young girl would say.
Han Lingfeng smiled helplessly, then asked, “And the second question?”
Clearing her throat, Su Yi looked at him somewhat bashfully. “Is my Jinx drawing really… adorably dumb?”
“…………” Han Lingfeng spent five seconds in deep contemplation before meeting her eyes with his answer. “Mm, it does resemble you quite a bit.”
“Huh?”
“Get some rest early. Tai Yi is taking you to the studio tomorrow morning for your promotional photos.” With that, Han Lingfeng walked into his room and slid the balcony door shut behind him.
Leaving Su Yi standing there, utterly devastated—
Why did it feel like Wind God had just called *her* adorably dumb? Was that… just her imagination?
…
The next day, Su Yi woke up bright and early. After signing the contract last night, Tai Yi had arranged for a tailor to alter Su Yi’s team uniform overnight. Her ID was embroidered on both the chest and back. She paired the jersey with a black pleated skirt, and after breakfast, set off with Tai Yi for the photo studio.
Fortunately, thanks to all the streaming sessions Xia Qiqi had dragged her to previously, Su Yi remained relatively composed in front of the camera, though still slightly nervous. The shoot went smoothly, and the photographer assured her the promotional photos would be ready in a few days.
Su Yi sat in a chair sipping juice provided by the receptionist, while Tai Yi took a phone call in the hallway.
Moments later, Tai Yi rushed back in, wearing an expression of radiant despair.
“Some idiot from the logistics department got rear-ended. I have to go sort it out. Damn it! Why is it always MY car getting hit?!” Tai Yi raged, pulling at his hair like a distressed mushroom-headed character about to cry and bang his head against a wall.
Su Yi’s mouth twitched as she joked, “Guess that proves the other driver isn’t very experienced.”
Tai Yi sighed. “The accident site isn’t far—just the next street over. Mind waiting for me in the café downstairs?”
Since the studio crew would soon be heading elsewhere for outdoor shots, Su Yi didn’t want to linger unnecessarily, nor did she want to trouble Tai Yi with detours. She suggested, “How about I just take the subway back? I’ve already checked the route.”
Tai Yi exhaled. “Wait downstairs for a bit while I check the situation. If it’s too complicated, you can take the subway… But your jacket…”
He pointed at Su Yi’s red-and-white jacket emblazoned with the SNM logo and her ID on the back: EMAIL.
Su Yi waved dismissively. “It’s fine. Lots of similar merch jackets are sold online. People will just assume I’m an SNM fan.”
“But the ID…”
“Don’t worry. Who’d ever guess EMAIL is a girl?”
Tai Yi ultimately relented.
As expected, there was a five-car pileup on the adjacent street, though thankfully no major injuries. Tai Yi eventually called Su Yi, telling her to head back via subway on her own.
Exiting the building, Su Yi happened to pass a guy in a gray hoodie walking toward her. He seemed flustered, his gaze darting nervously. Finding it odd, Su Yi tilted her head for a second look, feeling an inexplicable sense of familiarity.
Thinking harder, he resembled someone specific…
Who was it again?
Mid-thought, Su Yi heard the click of phone cameras followed by clusters of young men and women gathering nearby, chattering excitedly: “Qi Shen!” “Omg, why is my husband here?” “Quick, take pictures!”
Oh! This was CNZ’s Qi Shen! The captain rumored to be an even stronger jungler than Xu Ruiqi!
But what was he doing here?
Standing at the intersection, watching the crowd chase after Qi Shen, Su Yi shrugged sympathetically. *Being famous in esports must be exhausting. Wonder if I’ll have fans like that once I become well-known?*
Chuckling happily to herself, Su Yi dashed toward the subway station.
Meanwhile—
Surrounded by gawking bystanders, Liang Qi immediately ducked into a nearby alleyway.
*What the actual hell?!* He’d simply taken a day off to buy some stuff at the mall, only to be chased relentlessly by fans and cornered into hiding in an alley. What kind of nightmare was this?
Squatting sulkily in the corner, Liang Qi suddenly recalled seeing a very familiar-looking outfit earlier.
It was red and white, resembling SNM’s team uniform. And he’d spotted a familiar ID printed on it… EMAIL or something…
EMAIL?
But that person was a girl! Probably just a bored fan…
Pondering this, Liang Qi dialed his teammate Xiao Yao. “Hey, Yao Fei, I’m trapped by fans just trying to run errands. Bring the car and pick me up… Near the subway entrance opposite the department store… Listen, I just saw a girl leaving SNM’s photo studio wearing their team jacket with that Email ID. Don’t tell me SNM actually recruited a female pro player?”
Before Liang Qi could finish, Xiao Yao erupted in furious yelling on the other end—clearly still traumatized from being destroyed by SNM’s bot lane during the tryout. All Su Yi heard was his roar: “Crap, Qi Shen, have those fans addled your brain?! How could SNM possibly recruit a girl to play pro? If that Email player really is a chick, I’ll livestream myself eating shit!”