The light from the phone screen glowed dimly in the dark bedroom, illuminating Jiang Yingxue's slightly flushed earlobes and tightly pressed lips.
The notification saying her friend request had been accepted was like a pebble tossed into a tranquil heart-lake, sending out ripples named "nervousness."
"He... accepted it."
She turned the scorching phone screen facedown and abruptly pressed it into the soft, plush blanket, as though the tiny electronic device might burn her.
Her heart pounded rebelliously in her chest, as if it wanted to break free.
Her slender fingers hid beneath the warm down comforter, unconsciously tracing the motion of pressing "send" through the air over and over. The clumsy yet persistent gesture was like silently reciting a spell that required immense courage to cast.
Aloof? That didn't exist.
It was merely a hard shell Jiang Yingxue awkwardly donned whenever she faced an unfamiliar world.
Severe social anxiety was her true core.
Talking to unfamiliar people was no less than a spiritual trek for her. Every word had to be repeatedly weighed and rehearsed in her mind, and what finally came out was often nothing more than the shortest syllable—or silence altogether.
Over time, even her family became certain that she was naturally cold and distant.
Today, her younger sister Jiang Yingqing had rushed home in a flurry, chattering about a classmate "on par with the Top of the Peak" who wanted to add her on QQ and carry her to victory. Jiang Yingxue's instinct had been to refuse.
A friend request from a stranger? Just thinking about it made her fingertips go numb. But... the four words "Top of the Peak" were like a magical little hook, catching the deepest desire in the heart of this veteran gaming addict. Which Honor of Kings player could refuse the temptation of a top-tier expert?
Especially when she was stuck at zero stars in King rank, with a dismal win rate, and had been mockingly dubbed a "Points Warrior."
Struggle and hesitation followed as the instinctive fear of social interaction clashed fiercely with her desire to rank up.
In the end, her yearning for the summit of the Rift narrowly overwhelmed her inner dread.
She had practically closed her eyes and used all her strength to press the "Send Friend Request" button. Then, as though she had completed some important mission, she quickly hid her phone away.
Her phone vibrated. She drew a deep breath and mentally prepared herself before daring to look.
Ling Yun: Hello, sis. My name is Ling Yun, and I'm Jiang Yingqing's classmate. She told me you like playing Honor of Kings. Want to play a couple of rounds later?
Attached below was a screenshot of his record—Peak Tournament and ranked matches combined, an eye-popping twenty-seven consecutive victories! The dazzling green and splendid MVP emblems silently proclaimed his absolute strength.
Jiang Yingxue felt her breathing stop for a moment.
So... so strong! Even more incredible than her sister had bragged! The "polite refusal" she had prepared was instantly thrown to the ends of the earth.
A powerful urge to personally experience being carried by a top-tier expert surged within her.
The words "The other party is typing..." in the input box kept flickering for a full three minutes, like a snail that had been paused but was struggling desperately to move again.
In the end, Jiang Yingxue exhausted a lifetime's worth of concentration on typing before cautiously tapping out a single word:
Jiang Yingxue: Okay.
They went online almost simultaneously.
Ling Yun opened Jiang Yingxue's profile picture. Her ID was "Snow Falling Without Trace," and she was a zero-star Grandmaster. He opened her match history—this season's matches: 1,527. Win rate: 41.3%.
"A Points Warrior confirmed... With this kind of perseverance, she's also in the late stages of gaming addiction."
Ling Yun laughed helplessly, while also understanding her desire to rank up.
"Sis, is it convenient to use voice chat?"
In the team lobby, Ling Yun opened his microphone first. His voice was clear and natural.
There was silence on the other end of the headset for several seconds.
Jiang Yingxue stared at the tiny microphone icon, her finger hovering over the switch, her fingertip slightly cold.
Use voice chat? Real-time voice with a boy she had just met? Her social-anxiety radar was blaring wildly.
She had only just thought of refusing when the halo of his twenty-seven consecutive victories and his promise to carry her downplayed it.
Would refusing... make her seem too rude? Would he stop carrying her?
As an intense inner struggle raged, her longing to win effortlessly and fear of appearing impolite finally made her press the microphone button with difficulty. Her voice was as soft as a mosquito's buzz, with barely concealed tension:
"C-convenient. Turn it on."
They entered the hero-selection screen. Ling Yun preselected Ma Chao without hesitation and confidently displayed his one-hundred-percent win rate over twenty-seven matches.
The other teammates all praised Ling Yun for being awesome.
"Sis, play Sun Bin and follow me. We'll work well together."
Ling Yun suggested it.
Jiang Yingxue silently nodded and selected Cai Wenji... er, Sun Bin. In her nervousness, she had almost slipped and picked the wrong hero.
On the loading screen, the enemy top laner Yang Jian had an outrageously arrogant ID: [Unrivaled Top Laner].
As soon as the game began, a line of text appeared in the map channel from [Unrivaled Top Laner].
Yang Jian: "The enemy has Ma Chao? You dare pull out that trash-tier hero? Just wait. I'll draw first blood in one minute!"
Jiang Yingxue's brows drew together slightly, and her fingers unconsciously curled.
What an impolite person!
That was what she thought, but all she did was quietly remind him over voice chat, "He... he's going to gank you."
Her voice remained tense, without much emotional fluctuation.
Before Ling Yun could respond, he heard an extremely faint little hum from the headset, carrying the slightest trace of breathiness.
Immediately afterward came Jiang Yingxue's voice, striving to remain calm but clearly tinged with indignation: "That Yang Jian on the other side... he's so full of himself." She paused, seeming to gather a little courage. "Should we... kill him a few more times?"
Ling Yun laughed. "That's exactly what I had in mind! Sis, go help stabilize the marksman first. Watch me solo him and teach him a lesson."
Ling Yun's level-one Ma Chao left the base with an Iron Sword equipped. The instant the minion waves met, he activated Sprint.
The Cold Radiance Spear darted through the air like a silver bolt of lightning, precisely taking down two front-row minions and instantly reaching level two.
Yang Jian had indeed gotten carried away. Relying on his level-one strength, he charged forward through the minion wave and tried to fight head-on, using a full combo to cut Ma Chao's health in half.
However, a level-two Ma Chao empowered by Sprint was a true killing machine!
"Goodbye!"
Ling Yun chuckled softly.
His second skill, [Lone Spear at Sunset], crashed down behind Yang Jian, blocking his escape. His first skill, [Blade of Desolation], caught the falling Cold Radiance Spear, and an enhanced basic attack stabbed out! He recalled the spear, stabbed again, then again! The sequence flowed like water, every thrust hitting flesh! Yang Jian's health bar vanished like an avalanche.
[First Blood!]
The kill notification sounded at 0:45—fifteen seconds faster than Yang Jian's promised "first blood in one minute."
Yang Jian typed in the fountain's public chat, trying to save face: "You got lucky! Once I reach level four, I'll definitely solo-kill you!"
Ling Yun couldn't even be bothered to type a response. He called to Jiang Yingxue, "Sis, the momentum's here. Follow me!"
The next few minutes became a live broadcast of Yang Jian's nightmare.
The moment he revived and returned to lane, clearing minions? That wasn't happening!
A clock domain filled with the aura of death—the [Time Flow] ultimate from Sun Bin—descended over his head. Silence! Slow!
Then Ma Chao, with Sprint and [Ten Thousand Blades Return to Sheath] activated, charged out of the river brush like a silver god of death, carrying the force of wind and thunder!
"Whish! Whish! Whish!" Three spears! Yang Jian's screen turned gray once more.
[Unrivaled Top Laner (Yang Jian)]: "F***! Kidney-deficient loser! Calling teammates! No skill! Dare to solo?"
"Pfft!"
A clear laugh came through Jiang Yingxue's headset before she could hold it back, like a tightly stretched string suddenly loosening a little. It carried a hint of satisfying relief.
"He... he's mentally broken!"
Her voice was noticeably more relaxed than before, even carrying a small, unconscious note of pride.
Ling Yun laughed too. "That's a classic line. When they can't win, they start insulting your kidneys and calling for backup."
The rest of the game completely entered Ling Yun's rhythm.
Farming lanes, controlling dragons, invading, ganking. Jiang Yingxue's Sun Bin followed right behind him, speeding them up, restoring health, silencing enemies. Their coordination grew more and more seamless.
At eight minutes, Ling Yun's Ma Chao had surpassed ten thousand gold, looking down on the entire battlefield.
Meanwhile, that [Unrivaled Top Laner], Yang Jian, had a glaring 0–6–0 record. Amid his teammates' affectionate "greetings," he angrily went AFK.
Barely eight minutes had passed when the enemy crystal exploded with a roar.
"Victory!"
"That feels great!"
A clearly delighted, relieved exclamation came through the microphone.
Jiang Yingxue herself froze for a moment. Had that slightly proud and satisfied voice that had slipped out just now really come from her?
She instinctively covered her mouth. Her cheeks felt hot, but as she watched the stars appear on the screen, the joy of ranking up instantly washed away her embarrassment.
"Again?" Ling Yun asked with a laugh.
"Mm!" This time, Jiang Yingxue answered much more quickly and crisply.
More than an hour flew by amid battles across the Rift.
Under the absolute carrying power of a top-tier expert like Ling Yun, Jiang Yingxue experienced the unprecedented thrill of "ranking up as easily as drinking water."
Her rank shot up like a rocket, climbing from zero stars in King rank all the way to ten stars! Her nervousness had long since been replaced by excitement and immersion.
Her movements became increasingly uninhibited, and she also started talking... more and more.
After a fierce team fight, Ling Yun's Gongsun Li escaped with a sliver of health, while Jiang Yingxue's Cai Wenji hurried after him with her tiny legs pumping desperately.
"Ling Yun! Wait for me! I'll heal you!"
She controlled Cai Wenji, using her second skill, [Lyre Melody], to bounce between and control the pursuers. Immediately afterward, the light of her ultimate, [Song of Forgetting Worries], enveloped the barely surviving Gongsun Li, and she watched his health rapidly rise.
"Hehe!" Jiang Yingxue's voice carried a hint of mischief and satisfaction. Almost without thinking, she blurted out, "My healing's huge, right? Didn't it feel amazing?"
The moment the words left her mouth, she froze.
Oh no! What was she saying?!
"Healing"... "felt amazing"... How could she have said something so suggestive and playful to a boy she had just met?!
Her socially anxious soul screamed, but her fingers remained on the scorching phone screen. In the game, Cai Wenji was happily spinning circles around Gongsun Li, who had survived with a sliver of health and killed his pursuers.
Ling Yun's suppressed chuckle came through the headset, followed by a light cough. "Ahem... indeed... it was crucial. Thanks for saving me, sis."
He paused, his tone carrying clear curiosity and teasing. "But Yingqing told me that you're... very aloof? This... isn't quite what I imagined."
He deliberately emphasized the words "very aloof."
Jiang Yingxue's face turned completely red. Fortunately, they were separated by the internet.
Her fingers unconsciously twisted the hem of her pajamas. Her voice dropped, tinged with embarrassment and confusion over her own "abnormality." "I... I'm not really that aloof. I just... I just don't like, and I'm not very good at, talking to... strangers."
She paused, seemingly organizing her words to explain her unusual chattiness that night. "But... but I don't know why. When I play games with you... I just... start talking more."
She found it unbelievable herself. Normally, even when duo-queuing with an online friend she had just met, she was mostly a silent "tool."
So that was it! Social anxiety! Ling Yun suddenly understood.
Thinking of her hesitation when adding him, her silence before turning on her microphone, and how relaxed—or even uninhibited—she had become once familiar with him, everything made sense.
He was suddenly speechless over that unreliable girl Jiang Yingqing. So, after spending every day together, even her own sister hadn't realized that her older sister had social anxiety rather than aloofness?
"I understand."
Ling Yun's voice carried a knowing smile. Considerately, he didn't continue probing into her social anxiety and instead asked, "Are we continuing, sis?"
"Hmm..." Jiang Yingxue checked the time, then felt the interwoven exhaustion and excitement in her mind.
Although she was reluctant to stop, she still said, "I'm a little... a little sleepy. Tomorrow... can we play again after you get out of school?" Her tone carried a hint of cautious inquiry.
"Sure, no problem."
Ling Yun readily agreed.
"What time tomorrow? I might need to play the Peak Tournament at night to climb the rankings."
"Still... after midnight?" Jiang Yingxue asked tentatively. She knew when the Peak Tournament closed. "You should... have time then, right?"
"Sure! It's settled, then." Ling Yun made the decision. "Send me a message on QQ when the time comes, sis. I'll be there whenever you call."
"Mm! Okay!" Clear happiness filled Jiang Yingxue's voice. "Then... good night?"
"Good night, sis."
After leaving the game and turning off voice chat, Jiang Yingxue leaned against the headboard and stared at the ten-star King emblem on the screen, feeling as though she were dreaming. Her cheeks still held a trace of warmth, yet her heart was filled with a strange, long-lost lightness and happiness. She had played with a stranger for so long and said so many things... and it had actually... felt pretty good? She touched her still-warm ear, and the corners of her lips unconsciously curved upward into a small smile.
Meanwhile, Ling Yun set down his phone and rubbed his slightly aching eyes.
The exhaustion from using his Spiritual Sense the night before, combined with carrying a girl to victory at high intensity that evening, had indeed left his mental strength somewhat overdrawn.
He quickly took a shower, and the warm water washed away his fatigue.
The moment his head touched the pillow, heavy sleep surged over him like a tide, dragging him into deep sleep almost instantly.
He barely had time to let his amusement at Jiang Yingxue's personality reversal and his complaints about Jiang Yingqing flash through his mind.
The next morning.
The sky was just beginning to brighten, and light spilled into the room through the gap in the curtains.
Ling Yun slowly woke. Contrary to the fatigue he had expected, his mind felt exceptionally clear and his body light and strong, as though every muscle was brimming with vigorous life. Even his breathing carried a refreshing vitality.
The physical improvement and spiritual nourishment brought by the Qi Cultivation Middle Stage were remarkably effective.
He rose briskly and washed up. Cold water splashed across his face, completely dispelling the last trace of drowsiness.
He changed into his brand-new military training uniform. The camouflage colors made his posture look even more upright, and the outline of his broad shoulders and narrow waist was faintly visible.
"Tsk." Ling Yun raised an eyebrow at himself in the mirror without the slightest modesty, a smug curve lifting the corners of his mouth.
"Being handsome really means nothing can hide you. If I go to military training like this, won't I outshine even the Drill Instructor?"
After admiring himself, Ling Yun grabbed his schoolbag, mounted his slightly worn mountain bike, and rode toward school into the cool morning breeze.
As he passed the familiar old-fashioned jianbing stand by the school gate, the rich scents of egg and sweet bean sauce drifted over, and his stomach honestly growled.
"Boss, add an egg and sausage, and put on extra chili sauce!"
Ling Yun stopped his bike. With his current physical condition, he might not suffer from low blood sugar even after not eating for several days, but the food-loving spirit carved into his bones—and his pursuit of delicious food—made it impossible for him to endure the "torture" of standing at attention on an empty stomach.
The hot, fragrant jianbing guozi settled into his stomach, making him feel secure and giving him more energy.
Today was the day formal military training began. The campus was less noisy than usual and carried a more orderly atmosphere.
The new students in matching camouflage uniforms gathered toward the field like fresh green saplings.
Ling Yun didn't return to the classroom. He followed the crowd directly toward the spacious athletic field.
The air was filled with the scent of grass and a unique vitality born from the interweaving of youth and discipline.
Before you continue