If You've Already Lost Face, Why Be Afraid of Losing It Again?

Mao Liling had once been GOD's jungler, and she had held a place of her own in FKL. She was the first female player from the Chinese competition region, and she had overcome countless difficulties to reach the very top.

Because of her gender, she had been hit with a wave of online abuse as soon as the team officially announced her. After that, whenever they lost a match, she was always the one who got the worst of the abuse. For a time, she had gone back and forth to the hospital to see a psychologist.

It wasn't until she finally won the world championship that the discrimination against her eased somewhat. Still, some people's deeply rooted views could not be changed, and in the end, she made peace with it.

Even now, FKL's two active female players continued to face discrimination because of their gender.

Cat had once said, "Flowing water doesn't race to be first; it strives to flow on without end."

Watching Wu Jin's precise mechanics and exceptional game sense, Mao Liling felt the ripples in her heart spread wider and wider. She was glad that girls who loved esports had not let their gender stand in the way of their progress.

Seeing his wife smile so happily, Jiang Yun's gaze shifted beneath his tousled hair, gentle yet full of strength.

He understood what made Mao Liling so happy.

He was happy too.

Still, they had to win the game.

The married couple exchanged a glance and put on "villainous" smiles.

In a team fight in the top lane, Wu Jin attacked the enemy carry first, slipping through the crowd to latch precisely onto the ADC and shove him back toward her own team.

Mao Liling waited for Wu Jin's crowd control to end, then immediately used her ultimate to sweep Wu Jin up. Feathers pierced Sea Shark's body over and over before she flung him to the ground.

On Wu Jin's side, aside from her, only the top laner had a positive KDA. Everyone else was at a disadvantage, and now that she was crowd-controlled, the others were scattered and beaten apart.

Seeing that she was certain to die, Wu Jin used a movement skill to get behind the enemy marksman and unleashed a combo, taking him down before falling herself.

When the team fight ended, only the top laner was still alive on Wu Jin's blue side, while the enemy had lost only their marksman. As expected, two more of the blue side's towers were taken down.

"A spin dryer."

Wu Jin was referring to the Ashen Hidden Cat was playing.

"Pfft hahahahaha, that's such a fresh way to describe it hahahahahahaha!"

"Help, now that you mention it, I can see it too. Such a control freak, giving Jin a hug right off the bat."

"If you kids like forced love, go ahead and place an order. Link number one in the little yellow shopping cart below."

"Jin, when did you secretly go behind my back and memorize memes?"

Wu Jin tore open a packet of gummies and stuffed her cheeks until they bulged like a hamster's. Once she respawned, her hands would be too busy to feed herself, so she had to stock up first.

The sight melted the hearts of the fans in the livestream again. The sharp-eyed, quick-handed mom fans had already started making reaction images.

Too slow, and you'd miss out.

After Cat made a mistake and Wu Jin took her down, she finally had time to type.

Undying Cat: Hi, Jin, I'm Cat, GOD's former jungler~

Only then did Wu Jin realize who she was, and she immediately greeted her back.

Undying Cat: You're pretty good at jungling. Take that brat Time down and rise up to become the boss!

The fans: ...Cat, you still speak without caring whether anyone else lives or dies, huh...

GOD-Jin: Sure.

The fans: Jin?! What do you mean, "sure"?!

Far from home and preparing for tomorrow's match, Shi Mu had just finished showering when he sneezed. He glanced at the time while rubbing his hair with a towel.

Nine at night.

He sent Wu Jin a few messages, but when she didn't reply for a long while, he opened the livestreaming app. As it happened, the platform recommended GOD-Jin's stream to him.

He clicked in. The girl looked serious, traces of coolness showing in her eyes, while her bulging cheeks kept moving as she chewed. He laughed; the upper and lower halves of Wu Jin's face really did have styles of their own.

Noticing the IDs on the opposing team, he raised an eyebrow.

Weren't those two lovebirds on a trip?

The other side had a huge lead. Although Wu Jin fought desperately to turn the tide and keep their losses to a minimum, her teammates simply couldn't keep up, so they lost in the end.

Mao Liling sent her a friend request, saying they could duo queue sometime.

Wu Jin replied with an okay and quickly started another game. She sat there without budging, playing for another three hours.

Afterward, she was about to queue again when her phone rang. She glanced at the contact name and answered.

"Hello? A-Jin."

"I'm here."

Hearing her voice, Shi Mu's handsome peach blossom eyes curved into crescents, and the corners of his mouth turned up of their own accord.

"Go to the kitchen, pour some milk into a glass, and heat it in the microwave."

Wu Jin instinctively glanced at the time on her computer screen. It was already midnight. She lowered her eyes, and her long, curled lashes cast a shadow.

"Okay."

"Good night, A-Jin. Get some rest early. You still have class tomorrow."

With the college entrance exam approaching, Shi Mu was worried that Wu Jin didn't have enough time to study, so he hired another tutor to give her lessons in the afternoons. That meant Wu Jin had eight hours of lessons a day, while also having to train at the game on her own.

Shi Mu had originally only mentioned the idea to Wu Jin, but the girl had agreed at once, leaving him wondering whether he was pushing the kid too hard.

Wu Jin had no objections, nor did she feel tired. There were a full twenty-four hours in a day; after eight hours of tutoring, she still had sixteen hours to train.

"Okay."

After saying that, Wu Jin ended the livestream and went into the kitchen to heat herself a glass of milk.

She took a sip and set it on the edge of the desk. Moving her mouse, she switched to another game account and started playing again. She played until the sky began to turn blue, then glanced at the time. It was nearly six.

Wu Jin stood up, climbed the stairs one step at a time, and returned to her room. She fell into her comfortable bed, wrapped the blanket around herself, and sank into a deep sleep.

The match was in Jing City. Back on familiar ground, Wantonly was completely at ease, and on the first day after they landed, he took everyone to an authentic roast duck restaurant.

This time they were playing GUT, one of the top four teams, which had made the top ten at Worlds. But their top laner had recently come down with the flu and was in the hospital.

The two teams, both coincidentally missing their starting top laners, gazed at each other in silence, with only a thousand streams of tears.

Just kidding.

GUT and GOD weren't on particularly good terms, mainly because Clear had a grudge with GUT's jungler, Spirit. GUT was also a Jing City team, and its members always carried an inexplicable air of superiority that rubbed the other teams the wrong way.

As a result, the two teams didn't interact much offline.

The moment Spirit spotted Clear in the crowd, Spirit came over with a smile. "Well, well, Blondie, you got beaten so badly last time and you still dare show up for a match?"

"I thought you'd hide under the covers and cry for a few days."

The other GUT members covered their mouths and laughed. They had all watched GOD's last match, in which GOD had been beaten so badly in the deciding game that they couldn't fight back.

Clear had a fierce temper, and anger surged through him at once. He let loose, "The fuck are you looking for **trouble for? You think I'm giving you face? Get the hell away from me. Looking at your face makes me sick!"

Shi Mu waited until Clear finished cursing before stopping him and shielding him behind his back. He smiled faintly.

The staff were all there. If things got out of hand, someone might film it and put it online, and that could affect Clear.

"You got swept at Worlds, and your team still hasn't disbanded?"

"Then again, if you've already lost face, why be afraid of losing it again?"