Paid Tutoring, History's Biggest Fool [Request Monthly Ticket]

Over the next few days, Xu Cheng never found quite the right moment or angle to leave the group.

Thankfully, ever since he gave his verbal promise last time, the sisters in the group were all delighted and stopped pressing him.

Xiao Yu, in particular, cheerfully prepared a warm and cozy little bedroom in her rented apartment for Xu Cheng.

Waiting for his visit, which seemed indefinitely far off.

For Xu Cheng, ever since he agreed with Factory Director to go over every evening after school to duo queue with him, his life had unknowingly gained a few more familiar faces.

Calling it boosting was really just Factory Director's "paid tutoring."

What was paid tutoring?

It meant spending big money, worrying like an old father, yet humbly playing the role of a son.

Of course, looking at it from the other side—

After all, Xu Cheng was the new Big Daddy he had already reserved and recognized as the one and only.

Considering the risk of Xu Cheng developing back problems in the future, all of this sat perfectly at ease with his conscience.

[Bro, your game sense is amazing, yeah, that's the idea...]

[Uh, of course you're teaching me, I'm just impressed by your learning ability, bro, it's insane!]

[Macro play, I heard the Korea Team uses this kind of rotational style the most, bro, are you familiar with it?]

[Bro, team games should be like this... you're too good.]

[Bro...]

Every night, while the two were duo queueing, Factory Director would "casually" feed Xu Cheng some basic knowledge about the Professional Arena and the essential know-how a qualified Challenger-tier player should have.

From the Korea Team's flawless team rotations on a grand scale, down to a single ward placement or a movement during Laning and the butterfly effect it could trigger.

Afraid that being too eager might raise suspicion, Factory Director could only pretend to do this casually.

At the same time, he paired it with his own Protect-the-Dad Playstyle, leading by example time and again, subtly influencing Xu Cheng.

Later on, Factory Director grew bolder, using the excuse of extra tutoring to log on early every day and wait for Xu Cheng. The moment he saw Xu Cheng log in, he'd pull him into a Dark Room for one-on-one "coaching sessions."

He even stopped streaming, despite Boss Ai De Zhu's strong insistence.

No way—these were all the years of experience he, Zhuge Kaiming, had accumulated. How could he let outsiders hear them?

And so, the days passed one by one.

Xu Cheng went from his initial indifference, to growing interest, and then to full immersion and obsession.

Because of Factory Director's dedication, Xu Cheng himself didn't even notice the change.

His previously barren "High-End Game Knowledge," and even the basic common sense of the Professional Arena, were slowly accumulating at a visible pace.

Every day that passed, he could feel his strength growing.

This growth wasn't a real increase in power, but more like an expansion of his thinking.

To be honest, Factory Director was already old. When it came to mechanics, Xu Cheng alone could beat ten of him.

All he could teach Xu Cheng was some experience and macro play.

But that was precisely what Xu Cheng lacked most—and what was most precious in a professional player's entire career—

Yet Factory Director wasn't satisfied with this.

What he wanted was to pass on to Xu Cheng the experience that could be made up for through human effort.

And moreover, to equip him with the best and most systematic training, so as not to waste this talent.

He was already old...

The string of numbers from S6 had shattered the toughest spirit he once held in his heart, all his drive and energy.

Looking at Xu Cheng now, he saw his younger self, saw hope and a vessel.

So, after a week of paid tutoring, Factory Director directly dragged Xi Ye over, and even tricked Uzi into coming—

In truth, Xi Ye, who knew the inside story, was extremely reluctant at first.

After all, he didn't have the same grand vision or aspirations as Factory Director. Xu Cheng was just a talented Newcomer. He was an established pro player—no relation, no obligation—why should he help?

But one sentence from Factory Director moved him.

"How long do you think it'll take for the LPL region to win an S Tournament championship?"

Without team distinctions or personal stances, as LPL001, who had chased his dream for six years and still come up empty, Factory Director had the right to say that.

Xi Ye himself wasn't sure what moved him.

In any case, he was roped in.

Then, he started following Factory Director's arrangement, casually revealing to Xu Cheng some top-tier pro player experience and details about Laning.

During this time, Uzi would occasionally come by to watch, also pretending to casually share his insights on Laning.

His Laning strength was undeniable—compared to Xi Ye, he was a true world-class Laning player, with Individual Ability so strong it needed no hype or criticism.

Xu Cheng gained a lot. Sometimes he felt that playing games with these people allowed him to subconsciously pick up a few things.

So he also lowered his fees a bit out of conscience.

Finally, half a month later.

This strange yet meaningful period of paid tutoring came to an end.

That afternoon.

Xu Cheng arrived at the internet cafe, in front of the familiar Machine 4396.

He turned it on and logged in.

By now, this had become a habit of his during this time.

[Big bro's here.]

Factory Director greeted him.

[Mhm.]

Xu Cheng was as aloof as ever.

[How's the learning going today?]

[Not bad.]

[Haha, I was never any good at learning back in my day...]

Factory Director let out an awkward laugh, while cautiously probing...

After all this time, through all this interaction, even the laughter and scolding.

The relationship between the two had indeed grown a bit closer than before.

But only a bit.

[Didn't you say the boosting was over? You've already settled the payment. Why did you call me here today?]

[Nothing else, just a small favor I wanted to ask you, big bro.]

Factory Director was streaming today—

He had no choice.

After half a month of no streams, his contract wouldn't let it slide.

Since the paid tutoring was over, he wasn't afraid of anyone stealing his techniques anymore.

[A favor? What?]

Xu Cheng asked curiously.

[It's like this. I've got a little game here that I need you to play seriously. Is that okay?]

[Sure, no problem.]

Xu Cheng agreed without hesitation.

His attitude brought a fatherly smile to Factory Director's face in the stream—a mix of relief and bitterness.

He almost teared up.

Damn it.

Paid tutoring was no easy gig.

Over this period, he'd taken plenty of ridicule from the few friends in the know.

Playing the role of a worried father while doing the grunt work of a son—he was truly the Big Sucker, no doubt about it.

But thankfully, all the effort was worth it.

Sincerity was always the ultimate trump card!

[I'll send you the little game first, big bro. Download and install it.]

Factory Director said eagerly, then sent Xu Cheng an installation package.

He glanced at the stream's chat and viewer count—

His heart skipped a beat.

5 million viewers, breaking War Flag's historical record.

After half a month of buildup, the news and hype around the Grandmaster and the Data Monster had only grown.

Half a month without showing his face had driven countless curious viewers crazy.

Now that Xu Cheng had appeared, the stream's popularity had directly shattered the record.

'Am I riding on his coattails too?'

Factory Director had such an absurd thought and laughed at himself.

[Alright.]

Over on his end, Xu Cheng finished installing the little game and curiously opened it. He found it was just a simple obstacle-dodging hand speed test and reaction test game.

[Here's the deal, I'll patch you in, just go ahead and do it.]

Factory Director said to Xu Cheng, a look of anticipation in his eyes.

This mini-game was the tool most commonly used by clubs in the scene to test youth training players.

It was also an essential step for rating and grading players.

He'd actually been curious all along—with the talent Xu Cheng had shown, what level could he reach?

He didn't dare say he'd surpass Faker, but at least he should be better than he himself was back then, right?

And if he was even bolder, surpassing peak Uzi wasn't impossible?

Today's fifth chapter!

Thanks for the support, everyone! Love you all (^^) Good night, everyone~