You’re Causing Chaos Again

When it came to Luanzi ge, everyone in the lounge stopped what they were doing and looked at Fish. Even the coach was quite curious. “That one who has quite a bloody and violent style as a streamer?”

Fish had only chatted with Shen Yanming for a few moments, but they already felt like old friends. Hearing the coach’s comment, he couldn’t help but feel dissatisfied and took it upon himself to defend his friend, “Luanzi ge isn’t violent and bloody at all, he’s very easygoing.”

As he spoke, Fish took out a small bag of candy from his pocket and waved it in front of everyone. “He even gave me candy.”

Pudding, who was applying fake eyelashes in the corner of the sofa, turned his head and glanced at the bag of candy in Fish’s hand. In a leisurely tone, he said, “He bought you over with just a bag of candy? I saw a girl from our wild fan club on Weibo who posted a picture of the same candy packaging as the one in your hand.”

The packaging of the candy was quite fancy, catching Pudding’s attention.

Pudding usually dressed in lolita dresses or JK uniforms when going out, but when it came to the match, he had to obediently wear their team uniform. Even so, he still maintained his delicate appearance, with his hair tied up in a ponytail, and his makeup was fresh and flawless, making it difficult to tell his gender at first glance.

Fish blushed when he heard Pudding’s words, “Maybe they just bought the same candy?”

Pudding absentmindedly tidied up his appearance and said, “How would I know… Why are you blushing?”

Fish felt a bit embarrassed. “Pudding ge, your makeup looks great today.”

“Don’t get any funny ideas, little fish. Our dear Pudding has had more girlfriends than your elementary school classmates,” Meng Yan raised an eyebrow and also took out his phone, extending his hand to show Fish. “I saw this Weibo post in the supertopics too, there’s even a group photo. The girl said that the candy was given by this guy. Take a look, is it the Luanzi ge you mentioned?”

Fish leaned closer to take a look, but before he could see clearly, He Changkong, who had been standing beside them without them noticing, spoke first. “It’s him.”

Pudding closed his compact powder case with a snap. “Oh, so this Luanzi Ge is a Sea King1Sea King: metaphorical term used to describe someone who is generous and extravagant . Looks like he bought a whole box of candy and is giving it out everywhere.”

Fish: “…”

He Changkong: “…”

Meng Yan noticed something and asked He Changkong, “How do you know it’s him? Have you met him? When did you meet him?”

Meng Yan and He Changkong have been classmates since middle school, and later they joined the professional team together. Over the years, they have been almost like old buddies who spend their days and nights together.

Although Meng Yan couldn’t claim that he knew He Changkong’s whereabouts like the back of his hand, he was certain that He Changkong had probably only recently know this Luanzi ge, and they definitely hadn’t met in person yet.

He Changkong was momentarily at a loss for words. He really didn’t know how to explain.

But soon, Meng Yan figured it out, “No way, you guys have already progressed to exchanging photos already?”

Meng Yan felt it was difficult to say anything, so he pulled He Changkong aside and whispered, “What’s going on? Do two grown men usually exchange photos when making online friends? And you still say there’s nothing fishy between you two…”

He Changkong was unable to retort.

Coach Afeng chimed in, “Are you two old acquaintances?” He had already warned He Changkong twice before, not to help unimportant people online.

At that time, He Changkong had replied — “He’s not an unimportant person.”

Afeng knew the players well, and He Changkong was always more of a lone wolf.

So, the fact that He Changkong was so concerned about this person piqued Afeng’s curiosity.

He Changkong really didn’t know how to explain, so he simply replied, “Um…”

After all the chatter finally died down for a moment, He Changkong seized the opportunity to ask Fish how he had met Shen Yanming.

Fish briefly explained the process of their encounter, and He Changkong began to understand. It seemed that Shen Yanming mistook Fish for the person who had always played games with him online.

Fish excitedly added, “He even invited me to the internet cafe tonight to play games together… I’ve admired him for a long time and have been wanting to play a game with him.”

He Changkong: “…”

He Changkong wanted to ask which internet cafe they were going to meet at. Originally, if none of these misunderstandings had happened, it should have been him who made plans to go to the internet cafe with Shen Yanming. Now that they had met in person, he could have tried to persuade Shen Yanming face-to-face.

But just as the words were about to leave his mouth, He Changkong remembered Shen Yanming’s awkward expression when he realized he was talking to He Changkong himself… If it weren’t for these misunderstandings, Shen Yanming would never have invited him to the internet cafe in the first place.

Furthermore, he thought that if he personally asked, it might not only fail to convince Shen Yanming to come to their team, but it might also scare him away.

Recalling the progress of his persuasion efforts so far, He Changkong had to admit that his social skills were really lacking.

He moved his mouth slightly but ultimately didn’t say anything.

Coach Afeng smiled when he heard Fish’s remark. “If you want to play with him, you don’t have to wait until tonight. After the first team finishes their match, don’t the second team have an interactive session?”

The opening ceremony focused on entertainment, and besides the exhibition match by the main team, there were other activities to engage the players. For example, what Afeng mentioned was a segment where the second team members would go on stage and play a friendly match with the audience.

It served to liven up the atmosphere and allow the new players to make an impression on the audience.

Usually, the players would randomly select a seat number for the draw, but every year some players would invite celebrities or streamers in the audience to join them. In one year, there was even a player who directly invited a popular idol, who was known for being addicted to gaming, to watch the match. The team and the idol ended up trending together, breaking through the boundaries of their respective fandoms.

Fish patted his belly, making a crisp sound, “That’s right, I can just invite him to come up later!”

The lounge was filled with lively chatter, except for Lan, who remained silent throughout. Suddenly, he spoke, sounding a bit abrupt, “Let’s prepare for the game later?”

Fish scratched his head. “…Then, I won’t disturb you guys.”

After saying that, Fish happily walked out.

He Changkong glanced at Lan.

In the previous life, after Lan left, he had mentioned in a media interview that the new team made him feel like home, completely different from before. Later, fans interpreted it as Lan feeling a lack of belonging in TMM, claiming that everyone in TMM was doing their own thing, and even the relationships between the players were not good, which was why their performance kept declining.

For a period of time, TMM’s official account was flooded with fans expressing this sentiment.

Lan never denied it either and would occasionally mention how great his new team was, subtly taking a jab at TMM.

At that time, He Changkong couldn’t understand. When Lan was in TMM, his relationship with everyone seemed fine. So, why did he leave so decisively and even subtly taunt his former team?

Now that he had been reborn, he had come to realize that Lan’s dissatisfaction with TMM probably existed long before.

Like now, while everyone was chatting casually, Lan didn’t utter a word and seemed to feel that they were bothering him.

But He Changkong didn’t say much either. “Hmm, let’s prepare for the match.”

After the energetic opening performance and some segments that the players found rather redundant, the two teams participating in the exhibition match finally appeared on stage with the introduction from the live commentators.

Shen Yanming had a good seat, surprisingly located in the front row by the aisle. It was a perfect distance, allowing him to see the people on the stage clearly and easily watch the live game on the big screen without straining his neck.

After the animated introductions of the two teams’ achievements, the players from both teams began shaking hands.

Watching them shake hands, bubbles of excitement surged in Shen Yanming’s heart.

It went without saying that the TMM team had his idol, Kong, and someone he admired a lot, Meng Yan. On the XXL side, there was his friend from the previous life, Zhang Xixi. Of course, they had no connection now, but that didn’t stop Shen Yanming from focusing his attention on him.

Combined with the fact that all the other players were of a world-class caliber, this match, without a doubt, would provide the audience with a top-notch viewing experience.

Shen Yanming thought that once the players finished shaking hands, they would take their respective positions and the match would begin. However, the female commentator, who had a long train on her dress, smilingly descended from the stage, followed closely by the camera crew.

The sweet voice of the female commentator rang out, “Let’s randomly invite a few audience players to cheer for their supported teams!”

Shen Yanming was starting to feel impatient, thinking to himself, why all these unnecessary delays? Let’s start the match already. Everyone was waiting to watch the game.

But as luck would have it, the female commentator ended up standing in front of Shen Yanming and handed him the microphone, saying, “This young man here is wearing a TMM jersey. Are you a fan of TMM?”

Shen Yanming: “…”

Shen Yanming adjusted the bangs on his forehead and cleared his throat. He put on an awkward yet polite smile towards the camera and said, “Yes, TMM, Fight!”2FIght: “冲冲冲”(Chōngchōng chōng) is a Chinese slang phrase commonly used in online gaming and sports contexts. It is an expression of encouragement or motivation, urging someone to charge forward, be aggressive, or make a strong effort. It can be translated as “Go for it!”, “Charge!”, or “Fight!” in English.

The female commentator asked, “Do you have anything else to say?”

Shen Yanming glanced towards the stage, unsure if it was just his imagination, but Kong seemed to be looking at him.

Shen Yanming’s mind momentarily went blank. “S-say… say what? Um… um, Zhang Xixi, fighting!”

The female commentator: “???”

Could it be that he’s a fake TMM fan?

Thank you for reading! 

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1Sea King: metaphorical term used to describe someone who is generous and extravagant 2FIght: “冲冲冲”(Chōngchōng chōng) is a Chinese slang phrase commonly used in online gaming and sports contexts. It is an expression of encouragement or motivation, urging someone to charge forward, be aggressive, or make a strong effort. It can be translated as “Go for it!”, “Charge!”, or “Fight!” in English.