“Waiting for your love…”

Shen Yanming still managed to finish the whole sentence, but his voice became increasingly softer in the latter half, almost turning into a strange humming sound.

Helplessly, He Changkong said, “Where did you learn all these odd phrases?”

“Just saying random stuff,” Shen Yanming scratched the back of his head and gestured, “You’re like Tang Seng1“Tang Seng” is a character from the Chinese classic novel “Journey to the West” (西游记), also known as “Monkey” in some translations. Tang Seng is a Buddhist monk who embarks on a journey to India to obtain sacred scriptures. Throughout the journey, he is protected and accompanied by the Monkey King (Sun Wukong) and other disciples. , and I’m like a spider demon from the Pan-Silk Immortal Cave. You focus on chanting Buddhist scriptures and are unmoved by external things, while I’m making a fuss by your side. You’re so annoyed with me that you want the Monkey King to come and deal with me.”2This metaphorically to describe someone who remains calm and unaffected by external disturbances, similar to how Tang Seng focuses on his Buddhist practices during his adventurous journey.

Shen Yanming just randomly made up an example that was not quite appropriate. He didn’t mean anything by it, but the listener might have different thoughts. He Changkong was stunned for a moment, thinking that the kid might find him bothersome.

Of course, He Changkong was no Tang Seng, at most, he was a wandering scholar from a folklore tale. The scholar didn’t encounter a fox demon who sucked people’s essence, but he did encounter a talkative little dog. The scholar originally focused only on studying the sage’s books, but whenever he saw the little dog circled around him and sweet-talked, he found it interesting, and his thoughts were distracted. As a result, the content of the book turned into tiny black bugs, making it hard for him to see clearly.

However, he still had to pretend that he was diligently studying, so he always put on a stern face and ordered the little dog to be quiet.

In short, every time Shen Yanming said something embarrassing, He Changkong would interrupt him, not because he disliked it.

He Changkong thought again, perhaps he was just too rigid, and that’s why he felt distant from his friends. Maybe in the eyes of others, he was too uptight…?

Of course, the most important thing was that He Changkong didn’t want Shen Yanming to misunderstand, so he added, “I’m not Tang Seng, there is no Monkey King, and you are not a spider demon.”

Shen Yanming didn’t expect He Changkong to seriously refute an analogy he casually made up. After staring at He Changkong for a couple of seconds, he burst into laughter, “Hahaha, why so serious?”

He Changkong said again, “I don’t think you’re annoying. You speak interestingly, just say whatever you want.”

Shen Yanming replied, “Of course, I know you don’t find me annoying…”

Suddenly, he had an epiphany.

Originally, he thought that when He Changkong said “stop” or “enough” or used ellipses, there would be a lot of frustration in it.

But now that he thought about it, there might indeed be some frustration at times, but most of the time… Could it be that He Changkong was embarrassed by what he said?

After realizing this, a mischievous idea suddenly swelled within Shen Yanming. Just as He Changkong opened the door and asked if he wanted to come inside, Shen Yanming said, “Innocent student here, providing door-to-door services. Satisfaction guaranteed, and if not, we’ll make an exchange…”

If what he said earlier was a momentary lapse of reason, then what he said now was a deliberate act with a mischievous intention.

After saying it, Shen Yanming didn’t forget to observe He Changkong’s reaction.

He Changkong: “…Hmm.”

Shen Yanming: “Hahahaha.”

The appearance of being slightly embarrassed, unable to fully accept such words but still trying to maintain a serious face, was just too amusing.

Shen Yanming didn’t enter He Changkong’s room. He stood at the doorway with his feet outside, but half of his body leaned in as he scanned the room. He Changkong’s room was arranged in a simple manner, without any unnecessary decorations. It even gave the impression that the room could be rented out as a hotel after removing a few daily necessities.

As his gaze shifted, Shen Yanming reconsidered his previous thought.

Beside He Changkong’s wardrobe, there was a small bookshelf! It was filled with books, and their arrangement seemed a bit disorderly, indicating that the owner of the bookshelf often flipped through them.

There was even a book lying half-read and upside down on the bedside table.

Shen Yanming felt overwhelmed when he saw the books. “Ge, you read books in your spare time too…”

He Changkong replied, “I have a habit of flipping through books before going to sleep.”

Shen Yanming casually asked, “What kind of books do you read?”

He Changkong responded, “Just casually reading through everything. Lately, I’ve been reading ‘The Silent Majority .'”

“Oh~” Shen Yanming pretended to understand, as if he were about to offer some commentary, but instead, he confidently said, “I haven’t read it.”

He Changkong knew that Shen Yanming wasn’t particularly fond of reading books, so he didn’t continue the topic, asking, “Did you come to find me for something?”

Only then did Shen Yanming remember why he came here. He suddenly felt embarrassed and didn’t say it directly. Instead, he gestured for He Changkong to extend his hand.

He Changkong complied and held out his hand, palm facing up in front of Shen Yanming.

Shen Yanming quickly placed the neatly folded piece of paper in He Changkong’s hand, then swiftly turned around and ran back. While running, he didn’t forget to say, “Good luck tomorrow!”

He Changkong unfolded the piece of paper and saw Shen Yanming’s handwriting. Every stroke was written with force, not particularly beautiful, but it showed effort, like a primary school student carefully copying characters from a calligraphy book. Even the spacing between each character was evenly and consistently arranged.

The two sentences were placed in quotation marks, making it look unlike something Shen Yanming had written himself. He Changkong searched through his memory and realized they were song lyrics.

The lyrics were from an old song, which was quite unexpected.

The next day, Shen Yanming went to the venue with the rest of the TMM members. Although he could watch the match from backstage, he insisted on blending in with the audience, claiming that it would give him a sense of being a small fan. Watching from backstage made him feel like a staff member, which wasn’t as exciting.

Of course, the tickets were sold out early, but he managed to get one after some efforts.

Wearing a black mask, he arrived at his designated seat, and even though he tried to conceal his identity, two girls nearby recognized him and enthusiastically waved at him.

“Luan luanzi!”

Shen Yanming found one of the girls somewhat familiar and tried to recall where he had seen her before. Then, the girl pulled out something that made him shiver—the cat ears!

Shen Yanming was shocked, “It’s you again!” It was the same girl who organized the fan support and distributed various fan merchandises.

With an eager look, she handed the cat ears to Shen Yanming. “Try them on, real men like to wear these.”

Shen Yanming remained cautious. “You said the same thing last time.”

Do you think I’ll be provoked by you again?

The girl responded, you were a real men last time, but not this time, huh.”

Shen Yanming: “…”

Fine, I got provoked. Shen Yanming reluctantly took the ears and put them on, even shaking his head to make them wiggle. “Men enough?”

His question was met with giggles from the two girls.

Before the match began, there was some time to spare, so Shen Yanming decided to chat with them. However, it mostly involved the girls asking questions, and Shen Yanming doing most of the answering.

For instance, Girl A said, “Last time, I didn’t know you were Luan luanzi. I regretted it afterwards. I should have asked for your autograph!”

Shen Yanming replied, “Why? You failed an exam and didn’t dare show it to your dad to sign, so you asked me for an autograph instead?”

Girl A: “… I’m already working, okay! Wait, who are you taking advantage of?”

Shen Yanming: “Hahaha, no, no. You guys are my dads3he is using the term “dad” in a slang or playful way to refer to the girls as his close friends or buddies. It’s a casual and affectionate expression, often used among friends to show camaraderie and a sense of familiarity. It doesn’t have a literal meaning of being someone’s father but rather signifies a friendly and close relationship. , really”
Saying that, Shen Yanming signed her notebook with his childish handwriting.

Girl B hesitated and asked, “Did you really make it into TMM?”

Shen Yanming answered, “Yes, I’m going to clean the toilets at the base.”

The girls: “???”

As the conversation drifted, the commentator finished the opening remarks, and everyone’s attention returned to the game.

This game was between TMM and GLX. GLX was considered a mid-tier team in this region’s rankings—not too strong, but not bad either. They had undergone major changes in their roster this year, aiming to make it to the top eight. However, they unexpectedly ended up facing TMM in the first round of the qualifiers.

As players, they naturally couldn’t be pessimistic, but fans privately discussed their situation. Some said GLX was unlucky to draw TMM, and they would probably only have a chance in the revival rounds.

The revival rounds offered a second chance for teams eliminated in the first round. However, there were only two slots available for advancement, making the competition fierce.

Unexpectedly, just before the match, TMM had some issues and had to change their roster. Furthermore, nobody knew whether the new members’ mentality was stable or not.

This gave GLX a glimmer of hope. In the esports world, there were strong teams, but no team remained a powerhouse forever. The decline of many teams often started with roster changes.

Shen Yanming and other TMM fans were feeling nervous. The starting lineup for TMM had remained unchanged for a long time, consisting of championship-caliber players. However, an accident occurred at the start of the new season, leading to a roster change.

Bringing in fresh blood was undoubtedly a good thing, and they had practiced with the substitute players before. The substitute, Kuma, was incredibly talented during his time in the youth training camp, so theoretically, there shouldn’t be much concern.

But Shen Yanming was a person who held the script of a prophet.

In the previous life, after Lan left, TMM initially replaced him with Kuma. Although Kuma’s skill was undeniable, his mentality wasn’t quite stable. Before big matches, he tended to crack under pressure, and once he collapsed, his performance deteriorated, leading to a vicious cycle. He Changkong probably knows this too, but at the moment, there was no better candidate to take the position than him, and the roster had already been decided. If they wanted to make a change, they had to wait until the next round of the round-robin matches.

Thinking too much won’t help.

The match began, they picked their characters and entered the game. In the first round, they played it safe, just like TMM always did. There were no new strategies; they split into two lanes, with Kong Shen following Nightmare, and Pudding taking Kuma to find the Crown on the other side.

The start went well this time, and Pudding quickly found the map. Normally, players had to explore the map to find the Crown’s location. However, having the map made it much easier, as it directly marked the spot where the Crown was. There was also a rare occurrence in the game where fake Crowns could appear, but it was unlikely in most matches. In a match where a player discovered the map, there was a 0.5% chance of encountering a fake Crown. In those cases, both teams would scramble for the crown, only to find out later that it was a fake after placing it on the throne.

However, due to the low probability of encountering a fake Crown, players usually followed the map’s guidance when they found one.

The opponents didn’t know they already had the map, so to confuse them, TMM decided to stick to their original plan of splitting into two lanes. Pudding would secretly take the Crown through the shortcut to the endpoint, while Nightmare’s team acted as bait to lure the enemies away.

Everything seemed to be going well until Kuma encountered the first trouble while taking the shortcut.

For some unknown reason, his hand trembled, and he accidentally aggroed a nearby sleeping dragon with a basic attack. This was a random boss that, when disturbed, would breathe fire, dealing massive damage. If used well, it could be a deadly weapon against opponents. However, if mishandled, it could turn players into cannon fodder.

The problem was there were only two of them, and there were no opponents nearby. There was no reason to disturb the dragon.

However, the dragon was agitated, but Kuma managed to dodge its first fireball attack.

However, as the fire spread, the area became completely exposed. With the loud noise from the dragon’s attack, the players from GLX quickly realized that two sneaky players were trying to steal their Crown.

The dragon’s fireballs were random in number, and as the second one was about to be shot, it continued chasing Kuma. Seeing Kuma unable to dodge in the open, Pudding quickly made a decision. He dropped the Crown and used a taunting skill to draw the dragon’s attention, then started kiting the dragon.4kiting the enemy: refers to a strategic maneuver where a player, typically playing a ranged character, keeps moving away from an approaching enemy while still attacking them. The player maintains a safe distance, preventing the enemy from getting close enough to deal damage effectively. The enemy in this context is a dragon.

Anyway, he’s got thick skin, even if he can’t dodge it completely, he can still be saved even after being hit by the flames, unlike the fragile mage who can’t withstand much damage, once they’re hit, they’re done.

He’s indeed skilled at kiting, and even the commentators praised him several times: “Despite all the cover around being destroyed by the flames, Pudding’s positioning is still excellent. At the moment when the fireball is about to hit, he chooses to roll forward and directly dives under the boss’s feet.”

The character Pudding chose for this round is called Ancient Mage, appearing massive in size, but under his control, the gigantic mage turned into an agile chubby character, zigzagging around under the dragon’s belly.

All they needed to do was wait for the dragon’s anger to subside, or for the opponents to arrive and redirect its attention to them.

Two opponents came their way—an assassin and a healer. A team fight was not feasible as the rest of their teammates were having fun on the other side of the map.

No big deal, Pudding plans to dodge the fireball and then attract the aggro.

However, the opponents had also planned the timing well. While Pudding rolled, the healer froze Kuma in place, and the assassin launched several damaging skills, taking away half of Kuma’s health.

Then, the enemy assassin used a knockback skill, pushing Kuma towards the dragon.

The timing is perfect, just as the dragon spits out its final fireball, and Pudding is still on the other side, unable to come back and help Kuma block the damage.

Kuma fell to the ground.

The arena erupted in a commotion.

Author’s Message:

Kong: Luan jiang, come backstage and find me wearing your cat ears later, over.

Thank you for reading! 

Hope you enjoy the rest of your day

If you like reading my translations, do consider supporting me with ko-fi

1“Tang Seng” is a character from the Chinese classic novel “Journey to the West” (西游记), also known as “Monkey” in some translations. Tang Seng is a Buddhist monk who embarks on a journey to India to obtain sacred scriptures. Throughout the journey, he is protected and accompanied by the Monkey King (Sun Wukong) and other disciples. 2This metaphorically to describe someone who remains calm and unaffected by external disturbances, similar to how Tang Seng focuses on his Buddhist practices during his adventurous journey.3he is using the term “dad” in a slang or playful way to refer to the girls as his close friends or buddies. It’s a casual and affectionate expression, often used among friends to show camaraderie and a sense of familiarity. It doesn’t have a literal meaning of being someone’s father but rather signifies a friendly and close relationship. 4kiting the enemy: refers to a strategic maneuver where a player, typically playing a ranged character, keeps moving away from an approaching enemy while still attacking them. The player maintains a safe distance, preventing the enemy from getting close enough to deal damage effectively. The enemy in this context is a dragon.

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