[Openly in Love]: "Bro, do you play professionally?"
Xu Cheng was about to leave the game when he saw the message. He froze.
Then—
Bad memories came flooding back in an instant.
It had been just a month ago. He'd only recently started playing LOL, and after reaching King Rank, he'd received an invitation from a so-called Club.
Back then, Xu Cheng had been young and naive, with a fondness for heroes. He'd felt a little pleased to be recognized.
The youth academy manager from that so-called Club had been just as enthusiastic, thumping his chest as he painted a grand dream for the inexperienced Xu Cheng...
And then...
He'd typed those words—
[Bro, send me 5,000 first. You need to pay a deposit.]
His dream had shattered into pieces.
Xu Cheng stared at the message, and before his eyes, he seemed to see that greasy, fat face he'd never actually met...
After a long moment, with a sense of solemn purpose and ceremony, he typed a message—
[Send me 5,000 first. You need to pay a deposit.]
"Huh?"
Ming Kai froze.
Xu Cheng's ID had already gone dark.
"Holy shit... I'm not a scammer!"
Ancestor Saiwen finally caught on and panicked!
[Hahahaha]
["Send me 5,000 first" is too damn good...]
[Data Monster is hilarious. First time I've seen someone say that to Factory Director.]
[Does he not know that LPL001 is standing right in front of him?]
[Data Monster! The god of messing around!]
The live chat was flooded with comments. Factory Director snapped out of it, then immediately sent Xu Cheng a friend request.
He quit the game at lightning speed.
He didn't even hear Xi Ye, Ah Shui, and the others calling out to him—
As if! How could he poach someone in front of all these people?
Did they think Zhuge Kaiming had gotten where he was all these years for nothing?
And as for this little Data Monster...
Zhuge Kaiming had made brilliant plans that secured victory for years and was famous throughout the LPL. Surely he could handle him?
The moment his friend request was accepted, Factory Director perked up. Putting everything else aside, he hurriedly sent a message:
[I'm really not a scammer]
The other person seemed busy with something else. It took a long time for him to reply: [How can you prove it?]
"Uh..."
Factory Director was at a loss.
He was... Ke Li Er La Wu... soon to be LPL001, Sai Wen himself, one of the biggest names in the league. And he had to prove he wasn't a scammer?
Did the other guy not recognize his ID?!
[Bro, I really am Clearlove. Look at my ID. You can trust me!]
[?]
[Clearlove? Who's Clearlove?]
Pfft!
Factory Director spat out his drink, his face a picture of bewilderment.
The piglets in the live chat, along with Xi Ye, Ah Shui, and the others, who'd been curious for ages and had secretly crept over to watch, were all stunned too.
"Holy shit, 'Who's Clearlove?' Earlier, he seemed not to recognize Ah Shui either... Does he really not know, or is he pretending?"
"Do you even have to ask? He's obviously pretending. Forget Ah Shui—whoever plays LOL knows Factory Director."
"Still... I really like how he acts like nobody matters..."
[So cocky!!]
[He's way too cocky!]
[I'm shocked. Is Data Monster really joking, or does he not even know who Factory Director is?!]
["Who's Clearlove?" That's going to be this year's most iconic quote!]
[Get it recognized as cultural heritage! Get it in the dictionary!]
[No, bro, I mean, I'm me, I...]
Factory Director typed the words, then suddenly realized he couldn't prove that he was himself!
No...
The problem wasn't whether he could prove it. It was that the other guy apparently didn't know who he was...
Was he pretending?
Like so many others, Factory Director immediately had the same thought.
It couldn't be helped. S6 was already over, and Factory Director had become "famous throughout the world" for his S6 performance. Even people who didn't play LOL had to mock him for 4396 and say he'd disgraced Chinese esports. How could someone this strong, a Passerby King, not know who he was?
[How about this? I'll add you on WeChat, and we can video call. Sound good?]
[No.]
[I... Then where are you right now? I'll come find you!]
Factory Director was ready to go all out.
Damn it, he refused to believe the other guy was completely impervious to reason!
Sure enough, this time Xu Cheng didn't turn him down. He thought for a moment, then said:
[Uncle here is at Machine 4396.]
??????
Factory Director's pupils suddenly contracted.
"Pfft, hahahaha...!"
Ah Shui had been watching from the sidelines. The moment he saw those digits, he completely lost it, laughing until he felt like he was betraying his own father!
The others were all biting their lips, cheeks puffed out, struggling not to burst into laughter!
It really wasn't their fault. The hottest meme lately was 4396.
The other guy had just thrown it right in Factory Director's face. It was a full-on point-blank ultimate, a raid launched right up in his face.
The entertainment value was no less than getting NTR'd to his face...
And also...
What was with calling himself "Uncle"?
Did he just level up their family relationships by several generations?
[Ah, sorry, my input method messed up. I'm at 4396, 4396. Come find me!]
[Shit!!!]
[What's wrong with you? Why are you insulting me?]
[So you're insulting me, huh? Fine, blocked.]
???
Factory Director stared dumbfounded at the screen, watching as the other guy blocked him. He was completely thrown into disarray.
He'd been a professional player for years, and this was the first time he'd run into something this ridiculous—
Was this guy even human?
No. He was a monster!
Meanwhile, Xu Cheng started another normal game. Only after it was underway did he leisurely get up and head to school.
On the way, he checked the time. His first match today had run a little long, and he was getting there late.
Fortunately, he'd always been the type to plan ahead. He'd left himself ten minutes to spare.
"Should be just enough."
Xu Cheng muttered to himself, then thought back to his first match of the day—
The quality had been undeniable.
It was much higher than he'd expected. Judging by his understanding of player skill, today's match had been at least as good as a King Rank game.
Of course, it couldn't compare to the very best. It was probably just a tiny bit above the lower end of King Rank, like a few games he'd played before.
And only a tiny bit. Judging by that Riven who'd been so dumb he wouldn't even take a kill today, it couldn't have been any better.
"It's hard to imagine how strong the players who are consistently in the top ten on CN Server must be... And the pros, too..."
Xu Cheng sighed, his eyes full of longing, his heart pounding with excitement!
At the same time.
Xu Cheng had no idea that his idols—the supreme, untouchable masters he revered—were all sitting there with expressions like they'd just eaten shit.
Xu Cheng had gone viral.
No—more accurately, tonight's match had gone viral.
It had been predictable.
The organizers had made such a huge spectacle of it, bringing in top names like the pig and the dog, while also "mobilizing" players across the country to queue up. There was no way it wouldn't go viral.
The problem was that tonight's event had become far more popular than expected!
And the people everyone had expected to be the stars—Factory Director, Little Dog, Ah Shui, and the others—had all ended up as supporting characters.
[Bro! We're rich now!]
This ID was completely unfamiliar to the Esports Circle and viewers across the internet, and it was kind of funny, too. Yet now it had become the hottest name of the night!
With countless marketing accounts and the organizers quietly fanning the flames, a towering figure appeared on the scene—a super genius, arrogant to the extreme, who punched Factory Director, kicked Xiao Hu, and carried Xiao Hu and Xi Ye around in his hands!
This book has already been signed. If you're thinking of investing, folks, you can do so with confidence~
Also, today I'm breaking the new-book-period rules and releasing five chapters! All the stats matter during the new-book period, so if you think the story's pretty good, please support the author. Thank you, everyone!
Before you continue