After the regular season ended, the entire Tianhuan team returned to the hotel. Coach Lin struck while the iron was hot and reviewed today's matches.
The mid-support synergy in the second game was executed very well. The key reason for losing the first game was that Cheng Xing was cut down by the opposing dual warriors too many times, failing to output damage in team fights. In the third game, it was because their mid-jungle duo failed to deal with the opposing marksman in team fights, allowing Zhao Xinping to snipe their key carry.
"The marksman is a very important damage output point in team fights. Once the mid laner and jungler unleash their combo, they have no skills left; sustained damage still relies on the marksman." He looked at Cheng Xing, who was listening attentively, and smiled. "Xiao Xing, although you've improved quickly, there's still a gap compared to top-tier marksmen. You need to continue working hard."
Cheng Xing nodded immediately. "Mn, I'll practice hard!"
Coach Lin said, "Everyone else, don't slack off either. The regular season is over, and our Tianhuan has advanced to the winner's bracket as the second seed in Group S. I'm very satisfied with this result. The most critical part is still the playoffs, so go back and prepare well."
After the review ended, everyone returned to their rooms to rest.
Ye Shaoyang and Chi Shuo walked around the corner together to the door of their rooms. Just as Ye Shaoyang was about to swipe his card to open the door, he heard Chi Shuo suddenly call him: "Shaoyang."
Ye Shaoyang turned around and met Chi Shuo's deep gaze.
Before he could speak, Chi Shuo took a step forward and hugged him gently.
Ye Shaoyang: "…?"
Wait! Hugging Captain Chi in the excitement of the arena earlier was because I lost my sense of propriety and forgot I was an Omega in the heat of the match. But now, the passion of the competition has passed, and after 2 hours of review, everyone has calmed down. What does Chi Shuo mean by hugging him now?
Ye Shaoyang froze in place, bewildered.
Chi Shuo's embrace was very warm, his voice low and gentle: "Thank you."
Ye Shaoyang coughed awkwardly to cover his embarrassment. "Cough, thank me for what?"
Chi Shuo chuckled lightly, let go of him, looked into his eyes, and said, "Didn't you say that if we lose a match, you'd shoulder it with me? It's the first time I've realized that having someone help share the pressure is quite nice."
Especially being with the person I like.
If they win, they accept the applause together; if they lose, they bear the doubts together.
Chi Shuo had carried the heavy burden on his shoulders alone for many years. Although he didn't say it, he was actually very tired. Sharing it between two people made it instantly much lighter.
After the match ended today, the hug Ye Shaoyang gave him warmed Chi Shuo's entire heart.
Shaoyang was truly a treasure he had found.
So, after the review ended, he also wanted to hug the person he liked most.
The hallway late at night was very quiet; they could clearly hear each other's breathing.
Meeting Chi Shuo's gentle and deep gaze, Ye Shaoyang's heartbeat suddenly accelerated slightly. He quickly looked away and feigned relaxation: "I'm your teammate. Helping the captain share the pressure is what I should do."
Chi Shuo asked in a low voice, "Just teammates?"
Ye Shaoyang cautiously added, "Or, good brothers?"
Chi Shuo froze for a moment, then chuckled aloud. "Brothers?"
Ye Shaoyang's cheeks burned.
Brothers my ass! He is an Omega, Chi Shuo is an Alpha; it doesn't count as same-sex. He always forgets this setting; the concept of "both being men" is deeply ingrained and can't be changed immediately.
Chi Shuo didn't say much more. He reached out to tidy Ye Shaoyang's slightly messy bangs and said softly, "Go back and rest early. The regular season is over, and there are still 2 months until the playoffs. Let's prepare well."
Ye Shaoyang nodded vigorously. "Mn, goodnight Captain Chi."
After returning to the dorm, Ye Shaoyang's phone suddenly rang. He opened it to find a photo and a message from Chi Shuo: "This is a group photo of Tianhuan after winning the runner-up in the World Tournament in Season 6."
Ye Shaoyang clicked it open. The Chi Shuo back then still carried the rawness of youth, expressionless in the photo, looking cool. Standing in the middle, Ming God had a gentle smile. beside him were Old Nie and A-Ning from four years ago, as well as the top laner Brother Long. The five of them held the silver World Runner-up trophy.
But obviously, they weren't content with just being runners-up; their smiles were somewhat forced.
Ye Shaoyang replied with a smile, "You were so cool at 18?"
Chi Shuo said, "I just didn't know how to smile much, plus I wasn't happy about getting second place at the time."
Ye Shaoyang thought the unhappy teenage Chi Shuo was quite cute. He looked carefully at the 18-year-old Chi Shuo. In these few years, Chi Shuo had really changed a lot. From that ignorant and sharp teenager, he had become the calm and composed Captain of Tianhuan today. The rawness and childishness on him had faded completely. Today's Chi Shuo was the strongest reliance for everyone in Tianhuan.
Ye Shaoyang replied, "This year, let's also go to the World Tournament and take a group photo. Smile then, okay?"
Chi Shuo: "…I'll try."
He sent a smiley face emoji and said, "Sleep, goodnight."
Ye Shaoyang saved the group photo smoothly before going to bed.
In the next room, Cheng Xing sat cross-legged on the bed, frantically sending private messages with Qu Jiang: "Brother Qu, Brother Qu, don't you think something is wrong with my Master and Brother Yang?"
Qu Jiang: "What's wrong?"
Cheng Xing scratched his hair in distress and said: "Just, when they look at each other, when they hug, it feels like no one else can get a word in."
Qu Jiang sent a row of sad emojis: "You just realized?"
Cheng Xing: "Huh?"
Qu Jiang sent a row of emojis covering their mouths and laughing, saying: "Old Qin and I are both Level 7 check-in members of the #SunAndMoonShineTogether# Super Topic."
Cheng Xing: "What?!"
Qu Jiang threw a Super Topic link to Cheng Xing. Cheng Xing clicked in, and his worldview shattered instantly.
Damn! Master and Brother Yang actually had CP fans long ago, and the fans' imaginations are as if it were real.
Especially after today's match ended, the scene of Brother Yang gently hugging Master was screenshotted and analyzed by fans. It was truly too sweet.
[Ahhh kill me to cheer them up!]
[If I were Captain Chi, I would also fall in love with Yangyang, a super warm guy.]
[In the past, when losing matches, Captain Chi shouldered it alone, calmly comforting teammates. But today, Yangyang hugged him immediately, comforting him. It's really so warm, like a little sun.]
[Family, Captain Chi hugged Yangyang back immediately, holding him a bit tight, possessiveness maxed out.]
[Sisters, I'm moving the Civil Affairs Bureau here.]
[It will really be hard to end this without getting married!]
Cheng Xing watched dumbfounded.
Civil Affairs Bureau? Marriage?
Grass, so there are so many people shipping Master and Brother Yang as a CP!
No wonder Cheng Xing also felt something was wrong recently. Having been Chi Shuo's apprentice for a few years and watching Tianhuan's journey, he also knew how difficult it was for Master. In past matches, whether win or lose, has Master ever hugged other teammates?
Never!
Master had that kind of indifferent, calm, and serious personality, at most patting teammates on the shoulder to show comfort. But this season, after that match where the jungle carry reappeared, Master excitedly hugged Brother Yang for a long time. In subsequent matches, the number of times these two hugged each other increased.
Recently, Brother Yang suddenly stopped hugging Master, seemingly deliberately avoiding suspicion? But today, after losing the match, Brother Yang couldn't help but hug Master again?
So it wasn't him overthinking; there really was something going on between them, right?
Cheng Xing said excitedly: "So, you and Old Qin saw it long ago?"
Qu Jiang said seriously: "Of course. After all, I've been teammates with Chi Shuo for three years, so I understand his temper and habits fairly well. I used to be a mid laner too, and he never hugged me like that. [CoveringMouthSnickering.jpg]"
Qu Jiang followed up: "Moreover, Yangyang is an Omega. Logically speaking, Captain Chi should avoid suspicion even more. But he didn't avoid suspicion; instead, he hugged Yangyang many times. I interpret this as: can't help himself."
Qu Jiang continued to analyze: "As for Yangyang, he's always been big-hearted. I think his hugging Chi Shuo comes from camaraderie. After all, he often hugs us too, completely lacking the self-awareness of an Omega."
Qu Jiang: "In summary, I think they probably haven't officially established a romantic relationship yet, but it's an undeniable fact that Captain Chi likes Yangyang. To help the captain get a partner, we must absolutely not hold them back."
Cheng Xing: "…Brother Qu, do you want to switch careers to become an emotional analyst?"
Qu Jiang thought for a moment and said, "This suggestion can be considered. After I retire, become an emotional blogger, make video edits, and post some chicken soup for the soul?"
Cheng Xing was speechless.
But looking carefully at Qu Jiang's analysis, he felt it made a lot of sense. Master really likes Brother Yang, right? Otherwise, with Master's cold personality, how could he take special care of Brother Yang?
He would proactively hug him, proactively carry his luggage every time they went to the airport, change his schedule to wake up early in the morning for him, and accompany him to the snack shop for breakfast.
Previously, Chi Shuo never woke up early, never hugged teammates, and never went out for breakfast.
But for Brother Yang, all these principles were thrown out the window. If not like, what else could it be?!
Cheng Xing said excitedly: "Then Brother Yang is my Master's wife?"
Qu Jiang sent a row of knife emojis: "If you dare call him that, believe it or not, he can hammer you to death?"
Cheng Xing laughed, hehe: "Wouldn't dare call him that to his face. Ahhh, now that you say it, I'm really looking forward to them getting married!"
Qu Jiang said, "When the time comes, I'll be responsible for editing the wedding video. I'm no worse than professional wedding videographers in this aspect. Old Qin can be responsible for purchasing fruits and melon seeds; he's very good at these things."
Cheng Xing: "Then what am I responsible for?"
Qu Jiang: "You're responsible for being the mascot?"
Cheng Xing: "…Kill me to liven up Master's wedding?"
In the next room, Ye Shaoyang, who went to bed early and woke up early, had no idea that his three teammates had already created alt accounts to follow the #SunAndMoonShineTogether# Super Topic, becoming CP fans and worrying their hearts out for Tianhuan Captain's plan to get a partner.
Waking up the next morning, Ye Shaoyang opened Weibo.
He was surprised to find that after Tianhuan lost the last regular season match to Beimu, not many people were scolding them online. Most comments on the official blog were encouraging.
"Entering the winner's bracket as second place, the best result in years. Old fans are satisfied!"
"Although the first and third games were lost, the second game was won beautifully. It shows Tianhuan isn't unable to defeat Beimu. The future is promising; optimistic about you in the playoffs!"
"Regular season results don't matter; the key is the playoffs. Stay steady."
"Xiao Xing needs to continue improving on this point. Tianhuan still has room for improvement. Fighting."
Although the ridicule from anti-fans was annoying, rational fans still made up the majority.
Ye Shaoyang reposted the official blog post, thanking everyone for their support.
Following that, he saw an official announcement from the League Tournament Committee appear on the homepage—
[S10 All-Star will officially begin on July 15th.]
[Voting Rules: Each person can obtain 5 votes per day, which can be cast for the same player or different players; voting requires real-name registration, vote manipulation is prohibited.]
[Voting Time: July 1st 8:00 AM – July 14th 8:00 PM exactly]
[Ultimately, the 15 most popular players will be selected by online voting to participate in the Huaguo Region All-Star.]
[The competition rules for this year's All-Star will be announced on July 15th. The All-Star schedule lasts for 3 days, and the venue is the Imperial Capital E-sports Center. Ticket purchase channels are open; tickets can be purchased in advance on the official website.]
Ye Shaoyang clicked into the official website and saw that as soon as this news was released, tickets were snatched up.
It showed that the popularity of the All-Star event was much higher than regular matches.
The so-called "All-Star" was to invite the most popular e-sports players together to hold an entertainment event, serving as a thank-you meeting for fans. There would definitely be many benefits like lucky draws, autographs, and group photos on site.
Whether one could enter the All-Star depended entirely on popularity.
Ye Shaoyang clicked open the voting leaderboard to take a look—
Chi Shuo's popularity was terrifying. Within just one hour of the official voting channel opening, he shot directly to first place with 3 million votes; Ye Shaoyang's fans weren't willing to fall behind either, sending him directly into the top five.
It seemed that entering the All-Star this year was secure.
Ye Shaoyang also quite wanted to go play in the All-Star.
As a rookie, his high popularity had already refreshed the historical records of the Gods' War League.