Chen Guo still didn't understand. Even if Ye Xiu didn't mind, how could the other party be willing to accept him into the team?
"What exactly is going on?" Chen Guo asked.
"I guess when they first added me to the team, they were planning to set me up somehow, but then they saw I played well and figured I'd be really useful to them, so they let it go," Ye Xiu said.
"And you're just willingly working for them like this? Have you got any ambition at all?" Chen Guo felt indignant on Ye Xiu's behalf.
"It's nothing much. It's fine." As Ye Xiu spoke, on screen a spear swept across, felling the Spider King that five players had been ganging up on. Chen Guo saw a neat row of system messages scroll across the information bar: his teammates Tian Qi, Yue Zhongmian, Muyun Shen, and Qiansheng Li had all chosen to pass on the equipment the Spider King had dropped.
"What does this mean?" Chen Guo was astonished.
"I'm a big help to them, see, so they insist on letting me pick equipment first. Sigh, what can you do!" Ye Xiu said this even as he decisively chose to pass as well. With first pick, he had already assembled a full set of blue gear, but these guys still insisted on letting him look over everything first.
Chen Guo was dumbfounded. So Ye Xiu had actually been understating it — this wasn't working for them, this was him being their boss! First pick of equipment after a boss fight — that was a privilege reserved for the absolute core of a team. And even then, it only happened among friends who knew each other, as a way of rewarding whoever had contributed the most. But the people in this team? Before going to sleep, they'd apparently been scheming against each other as enemies. How had one night's sleep turned them all into his underlings?
"You'd better explain clearly what exactly is going on here." This time Chen Guo refused to let it go; she was determined to get an answer.
"It's just that I was a big help!" Ye Xiu said.
"How big?"
"I led them to the first kills of the Spider Cave and the Spider Lord," Ye Xiu said.
"You got three first kills in one night?" Chen Guo was shocked. Her Chasing Haze had been played for five years, and she had never once seen a first kill. This guy had played for just one all-nighter plus a morning — less than twelve hours — and had racked up three first kills. The contrast was blinding.
"Good luck," Ye Xiu said, stretching and getting up from his seat. On screen, the whole team had already left the dungeon, and faint farewells came through the earphones. Ye Xiu grabbed the earphones from Chen Guo's hand, pulled the mic to his mouth, hollered a couple of goodbyes, and then logged off.
"I'm sleepy. I'm going to bed," Ye Xiu said.
"Don't you want to eat something first?" Chen Guo said, looking him over. Honestly, she couldn't see any trace of "sleepy" on Ye Xiu's face. Sure, after an all-nighter plus a whole morning he looked a bit listless, but the problem was that when they'd first met yesterday, this guy had already looked half dead and dispirited, so she really couldn't tell what damage this long without sleep was supposed to have done.
"No need. I'll eat after I sleep!" Ye Xiu shut down the computer, called out, and ran off. Chen Guo had given him the key to the suite upstairs yesterday. He opened the door, returned to his own pitiful little storage-room, and burrowed under the covers to sleep. That room, as it happened, was quite well suited for sleeping in the daytime — once the door was shut, with only the light from that little window near the ceiling, there was basically no glare to disturb him.
Ye Xiu was asleep soon after lying down. He slept soundly and long; when he woke again, the sky was once more pitch black. It was hard to imagine that a guy who had just been through such a major upheaval in his life could sleep so carefree. Sitting up from the bed, Ye Xiu didn't turn on the light. He fished out a cigarette, lit it, smoked it quietly, then got up and left the room.
Both bedroom doors of the suite were locked. Ye Xiu knew that Chen Guo lived in one, and the other belonged to a girl called Tang Rou, said to be the longest-serving employee at Xingxin Internet Café, having worked there for nearly two years, though she was on leave these past few days and not around. As for the other café employees who needed lodging, they lived in the residential complex nearby, where Chen Guo rented an apartment specifically to house her staff. Ye Xiu was currently on the waiting list for that place; Chen Guo had said that as soon as anyone quit, he'd have a shot at getting a bed there.
When he went to the bathroom, Ye Xiu saw a sticky note pasted on the mirror. He glanced at it idly, only to find that it was addressed to him. Chen Guo had already prepared toiletries for him and set them on the rack.
Ye Xiu peeled off the sticky note, feeling a little bemused. Mainly, he hadn't expected this new boss to have such a thoughtful side. As for being moved or anything like that — for such a small thing, that wasn't warranted. Gratitude was about right.
After washing up and tidying himself, Ye Xiu came out and checked the time. It was already past nine; having not eaten all day, he needed to forage for some food. Stepping out of the suite into the café, he immediately sensed something was off. The second floor was the premium area with higher rates, but right now it was a little too deserted. Puzzled, Ye Xiu headed downstairs, and strangely, it grew darker as he descended — the first floor of the café had its lights off.
"What's going on?" Ye Xiu looked around blankly and saw that although the first floor's lights were off, there were plenty of people — many of them even crowded into the aisles. High up on the south-facing wall hung a 200-inch projection screen, playing images from a projector, the sound echoing throughout the café. Everyone was silent. Those seated at the computer stations and those standing in the aisles seemed to have forgotten what an internet café was for, treating the place like a cinema and quietly watching the projection screen. Ye Xiu soon heard the commentator's voice on the footage too, and two names he knew all too well appeared again and again.
Ye Qiu. One Autumn Leaf.
What the projection was playing was none other than footage from his own Glory professional career, while the commentator pulled out all the stops in a sentimental narration of the achievements and honors he had amassed.
Three-time league champion, three-time league Most Valuable Player, two-time Star of Output, one-time One-Hit Kill.
In both team and individual play, Ye Qiu was a peak of the Glory Professional Alliance — the target every current Glory pro player sought to surpass.
"Now, let us together commemorate a series of the magnificent plays the Battle God One Autumn Leaf, under Ye Qiu's control, gave us." After the commentator finished in a low, mournful voice, the screen began showing footage of the Battle God One Autumn Leaf sweeping all before him. These were dazzling plays that at any other moment would have set the audience alight with excitement. But now, everyone in the café was silent. No shouts of admiration, no cheers — people simply watched in silence, scene after scene flashing past. They knew that all of this, as of noon today, had become the past.
At noon that day, the Excellent Era club had held a press conference announcing that their captain, Ye Qiu, had decided to retire.
This perennially mysterious master hadn't even attended his own retirement press conference. Everyone had only seen the statement of retirement bearing Ye Qiu's own signature, presented by Excellent Era's manager, who went on to say that the retired Ye Qiu had politely declined offers of other positions within the club and had already left Excellent Era on his own.
The footage flashed on and on — battles, slaughter, records — with the commentator providing narration at the appropriate moments, until it gradually reached the bleak recent state of Ye Qiu and Excellent Era. Among the café's audience, the sound of quiet sobbing had begun to rise.
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Finally we have a cover! I forgot to shout about it yesterday. Thanks to Classmate Hao for drawing it, Classmate Banyue for the text placement, and Classmate Shuiyin, Classmate Zage, Xiumu Zhichong, Classmate Bayunjiu, and Classmate Baishuaishuai for so enthusiastically providing many options — and of course, Classmate Hudie, who actively offered suggestions. You're all talented people!