Don't talk, there's a girl

Luo Ye was from Beijing, and one of his classmates was from there too, so the two quickly got in touch.

After all, being so far from home, it was nice to have someone from the same hometown looking out for you.

But after exchanging contact details, Luo Ye regretted it.

Because Xu Xiaojia was a chatterbox.

"I forgot to check WeChat."

Before Luo Ye could send that short reply, Wang Dachui urged him, "What's taking so long, bro? Hurry up and log in."

"Okay."

Closing WeChat, Luo Ye logged into Honor of Kings.

Luo Ye was pretty good at the game. He wasn't one of the very best, but among random players, he was the kind of ace jungler who could carry a team.

"I'm carrying this!"

Wang Dachui's Marco Polo threw his ultimate into a team fight, leaving a bunch of enemies at low health before dying a glorious death-the perfect setup man.

Then Luo Ye's Kai stormed into the fight, cutting them down one after another and effortlessly collecting kills.

"Dachui, how many times have I told you? I engage, and you pick up the kills. That way, neither of us dies. But you just had to start the fight yourself," Luo Ye said.

"Hah, don't talk. My Marco engages with finesse and dies with finesse. It's all in the details. You couldn't learn this."

Luo Ye: ?

With a giant question mark practically floating over his head, Luo Ye got everyone ready for a second match.

During their two weeks of military training, Luo Ye had led the group all the way to the Peerless tier, with over thirty stars in King rank.

After gaming, he still had to spend around three hours writing and updating his novel. As a result, he barely got any proper rest and sported dark circles every day.

Today, the guys in Dorm 515 were getting ready to game again.

"Don't start yet. It's no fun without girls. Let me see if there are any girls in Nearby Players," Wang Dachui said.

"You want to carry girls with your skills? Don't think you're amazing just because you reached Peerless. Luo Ye carried us all to this rank."

Suddenly, a request for an invitation appeared on Luo Ye's game screen.

Hotpot Lover...

She plays Honor of Kings too?

Luo Ye accepted the request.

Seeing a girl's profile picture suddenly appear, Wang Dachui exclaimed excitedly:

"Don't talk, there's a girl!"

He thought she was someone he'd invited from the lobby. After all, he'd just invited a whole bunch of girls.

Hotpot Lover joined the party.

"Hello, hello! Got a mic?"

Wang Dachui turned on voice chat and asked her directly.

"Yes."

Hotpot Lover said only one word, but Wang Dachui was thrilled.

It was a cool, aloof, mature woman's voice-the kind that got your heart racing the moment you heard it.

"Holy crap, look at my luck! One invite and I land a mature beauty."

Luo Ye was utterly speechless. Can't you see she's on my friends list?

"Start," Wang Dachui said impatiently.

The four Peerless players with thirty-odd stars entered the game with Hotpot Lover, who had forty-eight stars in King rank.

But Wang Dachui soon discovered that the girl had only spoken that single word in the party lobby...

During the match, she communicated entirely through text.

At hero selection, Hotpot Lover considerately picked support. A girl had to understand social etiquette, after all. With four macho guys around her, where was she supposed to shine?

She chose Yao and followed Luo Ye's jungler right from the start.

She'd originally planned to find time to help the marksman, but then she discovered that this Marco Polo was absolute trash.

A total noob.

How did a noob like this reach Peerless?

So Yao decided to stick with the jungler the entire time.

Marco Polo was left alone in the bottom lane against the enemy marksman and support. Occasionally, he also had to deal with ambushes from their mid laner and jungler, and even the enemy clash laner's Guan Yu often circled around behind him.

"Help!"

After going zero and six, Wang Dachui turned on voice chat again and pleaded miserably, "Yao, hurry over here!"

Princess Yao remained unmoved.

If the marksman couldn't pull his weight, a support following him was just a buy-one-get-one-free deal, handing the enemy two kills at once.

In the end, they unsurprisingly lost. Even though Luo Ye had scored a quad kill, he couldn't overcome his teammates dragging him down. And Hotpot Lover, who seemed fairly skilled, had picked Yao, who barely dealt any damage.

"I'm done, I'm done. I've been gaming all day. Any more and my brain will turn to mush."

Shen Qiao quit the game.

Seeing this, Wang Dachui, whose Marco Polo had finished zero and eleven, finally realized where the problem lay. With a miserable expression, he said, "I'm done too. I'll go practice against bots."

Li Haoyang scratched his head, hesitated, then quit the game as well. His fingers began tapping away at his screen, though no one knew who he was chatting with.

Only Luo Ye and Hotpot Lover remained.

"I'm done."

Luo Ye typed those words, then quit the game.

The next moment.

"Hotpot Lover has invited you to join a party."

Luo Ye was pulled back in again.

"Three stars away from Glory."

She typed that sentence into the chat box.

"No problem. I'll carry you."

"No, you play support."

Hotpot Lover's reply left Luo Ye completely bewildered.

Before he could react, she'd already started matchmaking.

She wants me to play support? Luo Ye was baffled.

Still, he didn't mind which role he played.

He selected Luban Master at the start.

We've got this one.

Third-slot teammate: Can you play Luban Master? If not, switch. Don't drag us down.

Hotpot Lover: Shut up.

Third-slot teammate: Hah, pretty protective, aren't you, girl? Is he your man?

Hotpot Lover: ...

The enemy will reach the battlefield in thirty seconds.

Luo Ye followed Hotpot Lover's marksman the whole way, making full use of Luban Master's skills.

By the end, even Luo Ye's support had more kills than their third-slot teammate.

Soon, with three consecutive wins, Luo Ye and Hotpot Lover's powerful partnership brought her up to Honor of Kings rank.

"Nice support."

Hotpot Lover typed those words.

"You made some great plays too."

After exchanging compliments, Luo Ye typed, "You play Honor of Kings too? I thought you only played battle royale."

Hotpot Lover: I play both.

She'd only logged in out of habit to take a look and happened to see that Luo Ye was online too.

After all, she either queued solo or played with other girls.

Only in battle royale did she have a gaming buddy who played with her.

Luo Ye opened Hotpot Lover's profile and discovered that she was actually ranked seventh in Jiangcheng with Sun Shangxiang.

That wasn't the important part. What mattered was that she was in Jiangcheng too.

Luo Ye: Are you in Jiangcheng too?

Hotpot Lover: Jiangcheng University.

Seeing this, Luo Ye felt a little surprised. Could she be a colleague Gu Mingxuan invited back then?

Luo Ye: Hello, teacher.

Hotpot Lover: ...

When Su Baizhou saw that greeting, she nearly burst out laughing.

This young junior was quite something, managing to make the Iceberg Goddess laugh.

Hotpot Lover: I'm a student.

Seeing those words, Luo Ye was stunned.

Gu Mingxuan actually invited his student to play games with him back then?

Then, finding typing too much trouble, he simply turned on his microphone:

"Hey! I didn't expect us to go to the same university."

Luo Ye had never used his mic when playing battle royale with her, but since they went to the same university, Hotpot Lover might soon become a real-life friend.

Hotpot Lover didn't turn on her mic. Instead, she left the party lobby so fast that Luo Ye didn't even have time to react.

Meanwhile, in the girls' dorm.

Startled by Luo Ye's voice, Su Baizhou hurriedly quit the game.

She never turned on her mic in games and usually muted anyone who did.

She was terribly shy online, so after all this time, Luo Ye was still the only gaming friend she'd made... and even that connection had come through Gu Mingxuan.

Still... having an online friend become a real-life friend was nerve-racking, but also rather interesting.

For some reason.

The events of that rainy day flashed through Su Baizhou's mind, along with that young man's boyish face...

The Iceberg Goddess's expression briefly stilled, and a faint smile appeared at the corners of her mouth.