Chapter 14

Chapter 15: The loneliness of a master (Part two)

Amid the uproar, everyone temporarily forgot Lin Luoran, the only girl present. She stood quietly to one side, watching the match between the two, her lips occasionally curving into a faint smile. Had anyone noticed that captivating sight, they probably would have forgotten even this thrilling match.

Su Can was the only person not paying attention to the match. He stared at Lin Luoran, somewhat lost in thought.

This scene did not exist in his memories. It was like that rule that had remained unchanged since his rebirth: you might not remember your deskmate's name, would not forget what your deskmate looked like, and might even overlook the full name of the homeroom teacher who had left such a deep impression on you, but you would certainly remember the prettiest girl in your class, in your school, or among everyone you had ever met.

Su Can had absolutely no recollection of seeing this girl before. Yet her bearing outshone that of any girl he had seen to date. She was the kind of person who could make your heart race with a single glance, even though she was only fifteen or sixteen.

So, after his rebirth, he had also unwittingly altered the course of fate. According to the original timeline, for instance, he should have gone out gaming with Xue Yiyang and Liu Rui yesterday and stayed home today. As it happened, his refusal yesterday had prompted the other two to postpone their gaming until today as well. Naturally, this had led to the two being humiliated, the three of them coming out together to settle the score, and their encounter with this group.

Lin Luoran clearly noticed Su Can staring at her. Displeased, she instinctively looked his way, and their eyes met. In the past, any boy subjected to the gaze of Lin Luoran's beautiful eyes would have blushed and looked away within a few short seconds. After all, a beauty's gaze had considerable destructive power. But Su Can was now half lost in thought. Even faced with those eyes beneath her fluttering lashes, he did not look away.

One second.

Five seconds.

Twenty seconds.

One minute.

"Hey." It was Lin Luoran who spoke. No one had imagined that a heavenly voice suddenly ringing out during such an intense, fiercely contested match could be so invigorating.

So much so that all the chatter and shouting subsided. The gaming room became as quiet as the still of night, with only the tide-like roar of the simulated football crowd coming from the television.

Then Lin Luoran's heavenly voice continued, "What's wrong with you?"

The beauty who should, by all appearances, have been a well-behaved, quiet, elegant girl had delivered an opening line that, put together, went, "Hey, what's wrong with you?"

It was therefore easy to imagine why everyone present looked thunderstruck, blasted to a crisp outside while still tender within.

Su Can, on the other hand, stood frozen like some hapless fool, merely inviting sympathetic looks from everyone. No matter how one put it, being disliked by a girl like her was nothing to celebrate; one could only feel sympathy.

When that heavenly voice delivered its insult, Xue Yiyang's taut nerves were like a bowstring drawn straight and tight, tugging at everyone's hearts, only to snap with a sudden twang. The abrupt release of that immense pressure gave him a strange, peculiar sense of relief. He had used every trick he knew to marshal his players, pursuing and blocking Wang Weiwei's attacks, but his opponent ultimately drove into his heart like a sharp blade that could not be resisted. That final goal announced Xue Yiyang's defeat.

The crowd looked ashen. Xue Yiyang sat silently in his seat for a long time without rising, his face dark as he murmured, "I lost..."

Only the television kept showing the spectacular replay of the final goal. Those in the gaming room who belonged to their circle looked miserable, every one of them silent.

For the moment, everyone forgot Lin Luoran's rebuke of Su Can. Just as Xiao Wu and the others on Wang Weiwei's side were preparing to find ways to humiliate them, someone patted Xue Yiyang's shoulder. He looked up, and Su Can smiled faintly. "Let me play."

His tone allowed no questioning, rather than carrying the uncertainty of something like, "Let me have a try."

Xue Yiyang gave him a dispirited glance. "What good would that do? You think I don't know how you play?"

Liu Rui tugged at Su Can's arm. "Stop bothering him. Haven't we embarrassed ourselves enough?"

Liu Rui was the oldest of the three, a year older than the other two, and usually took the lead when they spoke. Su Can was like a little brother among them, so Liu Rui dismissed his suggestion, believing he would only invite humiliation. After all, Xue Yiyang was the best player of the three. When Liu Rui played against him, Xue Yiyang might score three goals before he could score one. If it were Su Can, Xue Yiyang could very well score five without conceding a single goal.

That was roughly the gap in their abilities. Letting Su Can play would make no difference.

"Just let me play one match," Su Can insisted.

"Against me?" Before Xue Yiyang could answer, Wang Weiwei laughed beside them and waved a hand. "I don't have time to coach you. Looks like I won't get a chance to pick up the tab today..."

Wang Weiwei then unplugged his controller, stood up, and looked at Xiao Wu beside him. He also gave Lin Luoran a victor's proud smile. "Let's go. There's nothing in this little city that surprises me. Let's find a bar and sit down for a while."

"Trash."

The five people who had turned to leave froze, their shoulders going rigid.

Then Wang Weiwei, along with Xiao Wu, whose face had grown somewhat dark and twisted, and the other two boys, turned around. They looked in disbelief at Su Can, who had dared say that to them.

Xue Yiyang and Liu Rui immediately regarded Su Can with awe. This guy was unbelievable. The others had not even started insulting them, and he had already beaten them to it.

Su Can really had no other choice. If he let Wang Weiwei and the others leave just like that, they might as well stop showing their faces here. Not to mention how these people kept dismissing Xiahai City as some rural backwater, some tiny city, as though that made all of them country bumpkins. For his own dignity, and for the dignity of the people who lived in this city eleven years ago, Su Can had to shoulder this burden no matter what. Otherwise, all the football gaming skills he had painstakingly practiced in his later life would lose their chance to shine.

Everyone whispered as Wang Weiwei and the others turned around. The two boys beside Xiao Wu had already clenched their fists. "What the fuck did you say? What, you can't take it? Want a fight?"

Wang Luo Ran, however, remained composed, her dark eyes gazing elsewhere without focus. Her lovely voice emerged softly. "Even a lack of grace ought to have its limits."

"You really want a match?" Wang Weiwei stared blankly at Su Can for a while before smiling as he spoke.

Su Can nodded.

"Xiao Wu, go play with him. Mind you, don't beat him too badly. He'll lose face and refuse to accept it again." Wang Weiwei addressed Lin Luoran's older male cousin.

Without another word, the slightly chubby Xiao Wu, dressed in baggy hip-hop clothes, pulled out his controller and plugged it into the PlayStation. He turned toward Su Can, gritting his teeth. "Watch me tackle you to death, you piece of trash!"

Xue Yiyang and Liu Rui patted Su Can's shoulders with expressions as though they were looking at an alien. "Brother, you're on your own!" Some people simply liked looking for trouble, deliberately smashing a couple of bricks over their own heads. In Xue Yiyang's and Liu Rui's eyes, Su Can was clearly just such a person.

Sitting down and picking up the controller, Su Can calmly recalled the gaming skills that had since grown rusty. Busy with work, he had not touched his PlayStation 2 at home for a long time. Still, Pro Evolution Soccer had been one of his favorite games. From its first rise in popularity at this point to the successive updates of his own time, it had already gone through several generations.

From any perspective, the controls in this newly released first generation of Pro Evolution Soccer were somewhat simple. He was not looking down on experts like Wang Weiwei and his friends; he simply understood that even so-called experts were limited by their era. After all, in terms of experience, he had played games like this for ten years, while they had played for less than one at most. Besides, all the little tricks in the first Pro Evolution Soccer had been thoroughly explored later on. Every bug and exploitable feature was already clearly known. His grasp and understanding of the game had long since far surpassed those of these brats before him.

Ten minutes into the match, the chubby Xiao Wu was already struggling to cope. Using the players at his disposal, Su Can sensibly deployed defense-focused tactics, wearing him down into the second half and throwing him into disarray. Every attack Xiao Wu mustered sank like a stone into the sea, neutralized one by one by Su Can, as though he had become trapped within a tai chi circle.

The chubby boy repeatedly pulled out a handkerchief to wipe the sweat from his forehead.

Little did he know that Su Can had adopted a defensive formation merely to give himself more time to adjust to the first-generation PlayStation controller and techniques, which were ten years behind what he knew.

Once he had familiarized himself, Su Can paused the game and adjusted his tactical setup, giving the chubby boy time to drink water and wipe away his sweat. He patted his trousers with his palms, leaving a smear of sweat with every wipe.

The initially amused expressions of Wang Weiwei and his friends gradually became serious. They would never have guessed that this boy was so good at defense. At least against the attack-minded chubby boy, he had yet to concede a single goal.

Next, Su Can changed his formation again, adopting an attacking lineup. He had already familiarized himself with the controls. The real match was only beginning now.

Liu Rui patted Su Can's shoulder, his expression growing serious as well. He could see that Su Can's skills had improved considerably. "Since you're good at defending, don't switch formations so casually. This guy really knows how to attack. Just hold steady and don't concede, and you'll have done us proud."

Having suffered thoroughly at the chubby boy's hands earlier, he naturally offered Su Can a warning now.

But Su Can went his own way and chose an attacking formation anyway. Play resumed, and under his direction, the shifting attacks immediately became dazzling. Players they usually dismissed suddenly became incisive, one after another. Even those with poor accuracy dribbled exceptionally well, and the attacks flowed with incomparable smoothness. Three goals were put past the chubby boy without reply, like three knives driven in beside his heart, leaving him momentarily stunned and silent.

"No way?" The crowd whispered.

Xue Yiyang and Liu Rui were ecstatic. When had Su Can's skills improved this much?!

The chubby Xiao Wu stood up and moved aside. Wang Weiwei had already sat down and silently plugged in his controller. Turning toward Su Can, he said solemnly, "I'll play you."

An uproar, applause, and cries of astonishment followed one after another.

Wang Weiwei used every trick he had. Even his specialty sliding tackles were thwarted one after another by Su Can's nimble hands.

Wang Weiwei went from an initial all-out bombardment to a retreat utterly devoid of confidence, then shifted into total defense, with no prospect of a counterattack in sight.

"Marseille Turn?!" someone cried as, under Su Can's control, a third-tier player dribbled past sliding tackles from two opposing star players in an instant.

"Double Fake Shot! This game can actually pull off a technique like a Double Fake Shot! Oh my God, now it's a Triple Fake Shot!" The crowd cried out, overlooking the fact that it was Su Can, not the game, producing these spectacular techniques that might appear only fleetingly in a truly classic football match.

Countless people had their eyes opened, seeing difficult, complex techniques appear in this game for the first time. They flowed from Su Can's hands as though he were giving everyone present a thrilling masterclass in classic match play.

A resounding four-one victory!

Xue Yiyang and Liu Rui jumped up where they stood, shouting wildly, and the entire gaming room erupted.

He had lost! Wang Weiwei had finally lost!

Su Can curled the corners of his mouth slightly and offered a word he felt he could say at this moment.

"Trash."