A prize within reach

Meanwhile.

Inside the apartment.

"Mmm..."

Lu Chen stretched, rose from his gaming chair, and loosened his wrists.

"Finally... done!"

For a player like him, with hardly any competitive experience.

The best way to get his foot in the door of an LPL team was to reach rank one on the Chinese or Korean server.

And reaching the top with such an outrageous win rate would turn that foot in the door into a golden ticket!

Just then, Rita's voice came from outside the door. "Little Chen, dinner's ready."

"Coming."

Lu Chen tidied his desk and headed out.

At the dinner table, Rita propped her head on one hand and looked at the young man across from her. "By the way, doesn't your contract expire tomorrow?"

Lu Chen paused and swallowed his food. "Yeah."

"So, you really won't consider becoming a caster?"

Rita sighed helplessly. "You know RNG isn't going to renew your contract, right?"

If a club actually wanted to renew a player's contract.

They would start discussing it with the player one to three months before it expired.

When there wasn't so much as a word, as in Lu Chen's case.

It meant the club had already left him to fend for himself. Once his contract expired, he would be shown the door.

"Of course!"

To Rita's surprise, the young man across from her didn't look dejected at the mention of it. Instead, he grew excited.

As though not renewing his contract with RNG was a good thing.

Lu Chen smiled confidently. "Once my contract ends, I'll be free to join whichever club I want."

"..." Rita took a deep breath and rolled her pretty eyes. "I don't want to crush your confidence, but you really don't seem to have any idea where you stand."

As though something had occurred to her, she asked, "Do you know about that mysterious solo queue player who recently hit rank one on the Chinese server?"

"Chen,Yu?" Lu Chen raised an eyebrow. "Of course."

"Good." Rita cut straight to the point. "A genius like that is someone who can actually take his pick of clubs, okay? You're someone even RNG's academy team doesn't want. What team would take you in?"

She knew those words hurt.

But she couldn't just watch Lu Chen sink deeper and deeper into this trap!

Esports was a field where talent truly mattered.

Without talent, all the hard work in the world would get you nowhere!

All people saw were the players standing onstage, basking in the lights and their fans' cheers.

But how many saw the brutally cruel side of this world?

Countless young men, full of dreams and convinced they had talent, threw themselves into it without hesitation.

Yet in the end, they could only fade into mediocrity, squandering their entire youth below the stage, where the lights would never reach them.

Even among the players who made it into the LSPL, how many were selected by LPL teams?

Let alone someone like Lu Chen, who couldn't even get into the second-tier LSPL...

Esports really wasn't a field where hard work alone could bring success.

"Everything you said makes sense..."

Lu Chen tilted his head, his expression turning a little odd, and laid his cards on the table. "But... I'm the Chen,Yu you're talking about."

"?"

Rita blinked, a giant question mark practically popping up over her head.

Then she rolled her eyes, a little annoyed. "Stop messing around. I'm being serious! If you're Chen,Yu, I'll even be your girlfriend!"

Lu Chen shrugged. "Who's messing around? I'm being serious. What do you think the name Chen,Yu means?"

"Chen,Yu? What could it mean..." Rita still hadn't quite caught on.

Lu Chen pointed at himself, then at her, and said with an amused smile, "Me, Lu Chen-Chen. You, Feng Yu-Yu. Get it?"

At last, Rita understood.

A moment later, a blush suddenly bloomed across her cheeks.

"You, you, you... what do you mean by that?"

"What do I mean?" Looking at her adorable expression, Lu Chen couldn't resist leaning closer. "It's my way of thanking you for taking me in, of course."

Rita was practically dizzy. She hurriedly reached out and pressed her hands against Lu Chen's shoulders. "D-don't try to sweet-talk your way out of this! Explain yourself. What's going on?"

Was it a coincidence?

Or... was it really him?

At that thought, Rita hardly dared to think any further.

That solo queue king, Chen,Yu, who had stunned everyone in the LPL and sent so many clubs scrambling into action.

Could he really be the young man right in front of her, who couldn't even secure a starting spot on RNG's second-string academy team?!

The gulf between the two was so enormous that Rita felt dizzy for a moment, unable to think straight.

The thing was, it was too much of a coincidence!

His name just had to be Chen,Yu!

"I knew you wouldn't believe me."

Grinning, Lu Chen took Rita's small hand and led her toward his bedroom.

"Y-you, what are you doing?!" Startled by his sudden move, Rita could barely get her words out.

"What am I doing?" Lu Chen turned back, an amused smile in his eyes. "Proving it to you."

"Proving it?" Rita was a little dazed. She had thought he was about to try something naughty!

Lu Chen shrugged helplessly. "If I show you my account, that'll settle it, won't it?"

A moment later.

In the bedroom, in front of the computer.

Rita's rosy lips parted slightly, her eyes filled with disbelief.

On the screen, an account with the ID Chen,Yu sat quietly before her.

Challenger, 1,580 LP, rank one on the entire server!

Naturally, the most eye-catching detail was that outrageous win rate-85%!

"...Mm."

Only after a long while did Rita turn and stare blankly at Lu Chen, her thoughts unreadable.

Lu Chen waved a hand in front of her eyes and asked with a laugh, "What's wrong? Too shocked to speak?"

"Why, you little rascal!"

To his surprise, Rita erupted.

She reached out and grabbed Lu Chen's ear, saying through gritted teeth, "And here I was, worrying so much about you! I was terrified you wouldn't find a job after your contract ended. I begged everyone I could just to get you a trial opportunity as a caster!"

"And all this time, you were hiding something like this from me!"

"Ow! Ow, ow!"

The corner of Lu Chen's mouth twitched. Thinking fast, he suddenly remembered what Rita had said earlier. He abruptly leaned down, turned the tables by bringing his face close to hers, and wrapped an arm around her shoulders.

"What are you doing?!" Rita's eyes widened in alarm.

"Hehe..." Lu Chen grinned. "You just said that if I were Chen,Yu, you'd do what again?"

Rita blinked and searched her memory before suddenly remembering what she had said.

[If you're Chen,Yu, I'll even be your girlfriend!]

Those words echoed through her mind.

Her face immediately flushed scarlet, and she snatched her hand back as though she had been shocked. "I-I only said that because I was angry. Yes, that's right, I was angry..."

Lu Chen wasn't about to let that stop him.

How could he let a prize already within reach slip away?

He shamelessly leaned closer. "I don't care. I took you at your word!"

For a moment, the air between them grew intimate.

Rita's pupils trembled slightly, but in the end, she blushed and closed her eyes...