After arriving at the hotel and putting down their luggage, the group gathered together for an emergency training session that lasted quite a while. Considering they still had a match the next day, Yishui ended training at 10 PM and told everyone to return to their rooms to rest.
Lu Xiangyang and Shen Kuangye were staying in the same room.
After going back, the two of them washed up quickly and lay down on the bed. The heater in the room was turned up high, and Lu Xiangyang casually draped his calf over Shen Kuangye's leg. With his hands clasped behind his head, he tilted his head to look at him and asked,
"Gege, are you nervous?"
Shen Kuangye's expression remained calm. "I'm okay."
Lu Xiangyang suddenly burrowed into his arms. Shen Kuangye instinctively grabbed his hand and felt that it was damp with sweat.
"But I feel a little nervous," Lu Xiangyang murmured softly.
"Am I too timid?"
Shen Kuangye turned his head and smiled.
Lu Xiangyang didn't understand what he was laughing at: (..)
"It's normal to be nervous," Shen Kuangye said. "There's no need to think of it as being timid."
After all, regular-season matches and offline finals were completely different.
The atmosphere on-site—the sea of support banners and countless expectant gazes—could be motivation, but they could also turn into invisible pressure.
"Then were you nervous the first time you played offline?"
Lu Xiangyang rested his head on his shoulder as he asked.
"Of course," he replied.
Actually, Lu Xiangyang's situation was already much better. Shen Kuangye remembered that during his first offline match, he was so nervous he couldn't sleep—tossing and turning alone in his hotel bed all night. It wasn't just about honor for him; it was also tied to Lu Ning's medical expenses. He was carrying too much on his shoulders.
So when he went on stage, his hands were shaking.
"Then how did you adjust?" Lu Xiangyang asked.
Shen Kuangye glanced at him from the side and reached out to gently close his eyes.
"Don't think about anything. Force yourself to sleep."
Lu Xiangyang muttered softly, "I can't fall asleep."
The moment he closed his eyes, all he could see were scenes of tomorrow's match. And it was a do-or-die game—if they lost, they wouldn't even get a chance in the revival round.
The anxiety was overwhelming. Even having his favorite Shen Kuangye beside him didn't help.
Shen Kuangye suddenly said, "Do you want to know what new characters might be released in the future?"
At that, Lu Xiangyang perked up immediately, nodding eagerly.
A faint smile curved Shen Kuangye's lips as he began listing them one by one. As Lu Xiangyang listened, he couldn't help but click his tongue in disbelief, whispering,
"That's way too broken… feels like you could just spam top-left bottom-right and win."
"Yeah, pretty broken," Shen Kuangye agreed.
He spoke very slowly. Nestled in his arms, Lu Xiangyang gradually grew sleepy as he listened.
By the time Shen Kuangye finished describing a character that could decode, fly, and heal, he looked down—Lu Xiangyang had already fallen asleep.
His hair was slightly messy, a few strands falling across his forehead. His breathing was steady and soft, warm breaths brushing lightly against Shen Kuangye's neck.
Shen Kuangye tightened his arms slightly, his fingers unconsciously threading through the boy's soft hair, gently and slowly combing through it—so light, as if afraid of disturbing the quiet moment.
Drowsiness crept in as well. It wasn't just Lu Xiangyang who couldn't sleep.
Yet Shen Kuangye's arms remained firmly wrapped around the person in his embrace, never loosening even a bit—as if it were instinct. His eyelids grew heavier and heavier, until they finally closed.
—
EAR's match was in the third round. Their opponent: MIRA.
A former Autumn Championship team from a few years ago. Their performance had declined somewhat, but they remained steady.
Yishui decided to send in the survivor team first to secure a strong point advantage.
Before everyone left, Xing Xing had them form a circle, stacking their hands together as he shouted loudly, "Let's go!"
"We worked so hard to make it into the playoffs—we have to survive the first day no matter what!"
He hugged each of them before they left. When it was Shen Kuangye's turn, Xing Xing patted his back twice.
The female host's voice rang out from outside:
"Alright! Next, let's welcome the players of Team EAR onto the stage! First up—EAR—BOOK!"
Li Shu slowly walked out from backstage, waving toward the camera. The crowd erupted into cheers, and in the distance, EAR's light boards swayed as fans shouted in unison:
"Go EAR!!"
Next came Pei Xunan and Cheng Rang.
"Finally, let's welcome EAR's last player—WILD!"
The moment the name was announced, the entire venue exploded.
The young man wore a fitted black-and-red team uniform that accentuated his tall, straight posture—broad shoulders and a narrow waist. His steps were steady; the faint sound of his shoes against the ground was drowned in the noise, yet somehow added a powerful beat to the frenzy.
Shen Kuangye's cool, handsome face appeared on the big screen. He gave a slight bow toward EAR's sea of red, sending the crowd into even greater madness.
It wasn't just the live audience—the official livestream chat was just as chaotic.
[AHHHH!!]
[Husband! How can you be this handsome! I regret not going offline so much 😭]
[Feels like something's missing… like me being on a leash around his neck.]
[Wait, EAR made it to finals?? Weren't they last place before?]
[That was months ago. EAR is totally different now. You have no idea how insane their two new players are—one can kite forever, the other's hunter stats are basically hexagonal. They've hit their golden phase now.]
[We've got three twin stars now—GO EAR!!!]
[A game like Identity V has tournaments??]
[If you can talk, why can't Identity V have a pro league?]
[Mods, someone's spamming echoes, mute them.]
[Even if they beat MIRA, they still have ELLA and Circe ahead.]
[Can you not pour cold water before the match even starts?]
[If EAR wins the championship I'll eat my words. Just because they made offline doesn't mean they can dream of the title.]
For Li Shu and the others, it was their first offline match, and they were all a little excited. Even Pei Xunan couldn't help glancing at the audience.
In contrast, Shen Kuangye. The "newcomer"—remained calm from start to finish.
The Autumn Finals followed a BO5 format (best of five). EAR ranked sixth, facing fifth-place MIRA. The losing team would be eliminated.
From the ban-pick phase, everyone held their breath, staring at the big screen.
EAR picked a standard anti-Opera Singer lineup: First Officer, Acrobat, Fire Investigator, and Barmaid. The map was Sacred Heart Hospital.
Shen Kuangye was still playing the kiting role—Acrobat with Flywheel Effect and Borrowed Time.
He wiped the slight sweat from his hands with a tissue, subconsciously glancing at the hunter seat, then at Li Shu and the others beside him, feeling a faint sense of unreality.
Before this, he could never have imagined returning to this arena as a survivor.
But now things were different. He had teammates—and Lu Xiangyang.
He adjusted his headset and prepared to enter the match.
"I'll kite at shack, then rotate to ruins."
Just as expected, the Opera Singer came straight for him at the start.
"Got it."
"Okay."
Shen Kuangye's kiting was exceptional, but against Opera Singer, it was better to play it safe.
"Blink in 5 seconds!" Cheng Rang quickly reminded.
The pressure from the Opera Singer's movement prevented Shen Kuangye from reaching ruins, so he had to rotate toward the hospital instead.
Commentator Zuiying analyzed, "Blink is ready now—Opera Singer is going to Blink for—wait, predicted?!"
Everyone saw it—just as the Opera Singer blinked, the Acrobat used Flywheel to perfectly predict it. Then he threw a red ball, blocking the hunter's path into the hospital—briefly disabling her ability, weakening her chase, and widening the distance between them.
A full-health Acrobat inside the hospital was a nightmare.
From the start until now, the hunter hadn't landed a single hit. Clearly getting anxious, her skills began to falter.
At the endgame, she finally caught the Acrobat and placed him on a rocket chair near the hospital's T-wall.
"Are they going to greed for it?" commentator Aurora asked.
A three-man escape was already decent—but EAR showed with their actions:
They wanted a four-man escape.
"First Officer, come—I still have one mud ball," Shen Kuangye said.
"Coming, coming!"
In the end, First Officer rescued without taking damage and gave Acrobat Tide Turner. The Fire Investigator also placed a ball nearby. The Opera Singer hit the Acrobat once, but with the speed boost, he rushed forward and used a ball to launch himself straight into the gate.
Four-man escape.
"FOUR ESCAPE!!" Zuiying exclaimed.
"That means EAR's hunter only needs a draw next to maintain their advantage. But as we all know, in BO1, hunters usually have the edge, so most hunter players aim for at least a multi-catch or even a four-catch in the early rounds."
"Exactly," Aurora nodded.
"Now let's look at the post-match stats—WILD's Acrobat kited for 142 seconds…"
Shen Kuangye removed his headset and walked off the stage amid cheers.
As soon as they got backstage, Li Shu let out a "Wuhu!" and excitedly threw an arm around Shen Kuangye's shoulders.
"That kite was insane! I was already thinking how to support you, and then boom—1695!"
After celebrating, he turned to Pei Xunan:
"That no-damage rescue was so cool!"
Then he went to bother Cheng Rang, who had quietly decoded the whole match:
"Old Cheng, you didn't pop a single calibration all game—so strong!"
Cheng Rang: "..."
He said expressionlessly, "If you can't think of anything to praise, you don't have to."
Li Shu pouted. "Waaah, you're so cold."
Amid the commotion, Shen Kuangye noticed Lu Xiangyang's tightly clenched hands had loosened, and his expression relaxed a bit.
Li Shu grinned and slung an arm around Lu Xiangyang.
"Just relax. The moment I heard our fans cheering, I felt like I could kite 100 ciphers!"
Lu Xiangyang couldn't help but laugh.
"Next, let's welcome EAR's hunter—SUN!"
The host's voice rang out again. Lu Xiangyang took a deep breath and stood up. There was pride in the young man's eyes.
Before leaving, he turned back—his gaze landing on Shen Kuangye.
"Wait for my four-catch."