Chi Shuo wasn’t surprised that Xiao Bai discovered his identity so quickly. As the captain of Tianhuan, his photos were everywhere online. Tianhuan’s official Weibo even had a group photo of their main squad pinned; Xiao Bai could find it with a casual search.

Since Xiao Bai already knew who he was, there was no need to hide it anymore.

Chi Shuo rapidly typed a reply: “Sorry, I didn’t mean to deceive you on purpose. Claiming to be a coach at the venue today was just to let you lower your guard and come with me to the youth training base for the esports talent test.”

Ye Shaoyang asked: “So, Captain Chi went behind your coach’s back to seek me out privately?”

Chi Shuo: “En.”

Ye Shaoyang: “…”

This captain was quite interesting. In most teams, players only needed to focus on playing matches well. The specific teammates paired with you were entirely decided by the club’s upper management and the coaching staff.

This was his first time seeing a captain personally step forward to contact an amateur player.

Ye Shaoyang was somewhat curious and typed: “Why do you want to invite me to join Tianhuan? I looked up Tianhuan’s info. Your mid-laner, Qu Jiang, is not weak at all, and the ones retiring next season are the marksman and support. Since you already have a candidate for the marksman, shouldn’t you be considering finding a powerful support right now?”

Chi Shuo pondered for a moment, then simply pressed the voice record button and said directly: “Qu Jiang’s individual strength isn’t weak, but there are issues with our synergy. Furthermore, our current team composition has already been thoroughly researched by the coaches of all the major teams. The jungle is repeatedly invaded in the early game. If the support tries to protect the marksman, they can’t protect the jungle, and Qu Jiang lacks the synergy to coordinate with me on counter-invades. He plays control and artillery mages very well, but his hand speed is average, making mage assassins his weak point.”

Chi Shuo quickly sent another message: “Your style is different from his. If I partner with you, we can accelerate the tempo of the game and find a way to secure a breakthrough when suppressed in the early game. This is also why I sought you out privately.”

Ye Shaoyang pressed the voice play button. The Alpha’s voice was just as deep and pleasant as he remembered. These two messages from Chi Shuo also accurately pinpointed Tianhuan’s biggest problem.

—The jungle was targeted far too miserably.

Ye Shaoyang carefully recalled the match recordings he had just watched, and he had to admit that when Tianhuan encountered strong teams, they lost miserably, basically collapsing in the early game.

This type of MOBA game was fundamentally a competition of economy. The economic foundation determines the superstructure. Only with gold could one buy better equipment and deal higher damage. Aside from the gold rewarded by minions in the three lanes, all remaining resources were in the jungle. Once the allied jungle was constantly invaded by the enemy, plundering the jungler’s economy, it would create a chain reaction leading to the collapse of the entire game.

By squeezing the jungle, the enemy would continuously snowball, creating a dilemma where Tianhuan couldn’t hold on in the early game and couldn’t win team fights in the late game. No matter how strong Chi Shuo’s individual skills were, he couldn’t 1v3, right? With the enemy racking their brains to target him, he was actually quite helpless.

There were only two ways to solve the dilemma of the jungler being targeted:

First, the marksman had to have strong self-preservation skills, allowing them to stay in the bottom lane alone so the support could go protect the jungle.

Second, the mid-laner had to be strong enough to help Chi Shuo defend the allied jungle, or even proactively strike to blow up the enemy’s jungle.

Tianhuan met neither of these two conditions.

Ye Shaoyang said with understanding: “So, you want me to join Tianhuan to help you guard the jungle? Or to play mid-jungle synergy with you and proactively invade the enemy’s jungle?”

Chi Shuo sent over a paragraph: “Yes. Your understanding of the game aligns with mine, you can keep up with my tempo, and your mechanics and game sense when playing mage assassins are exceptionally outstanding. You can synergize with me as the mid-jungle duo to drive the tempo of the entire match. Combined with your excellent talent test scores, I believe we can become great teammates.”

Ye Shaoyang asked directly: “Then what about Qu Jiang? He has played matches in Tianhuan for three whole years without making any obvious mistakes. If I play mid, what happens to him?”

Chi Shuo had already thought about this question and replied: “Have him switch to the support role.”

Ye Shaoyang: “…”

Ye Shaoyang didn’t want to steal someone else’s position. It wasn’t easy for any pro player. Going to Tianhuan and displacing their original mid-laner—this action would draw too much aggro. Imagine if he were Qu Jiang, having played earnestly for three years, only for a random amateur to suddenly run over and steal his mid-lane spot. How could he possibly feel good about it?

But if Qu Jiang was asked to switch to support, would he be willing?

Chi Shuo said softly, “Having Qu Jiang switch to support isn’t a spur-of-the-moment idea; I’ve actually considered this for a long time. First, Qu Jiang understands the players of Tianhuan very well. Next season, the marksman Tianhuan is fielding is a rookie, and rookies will inevitably run into all sorts of problems during matches. With Qu Jiang protecting the rookie marksman, I will feel much more at ease.”

“Second, Qu Jiang’s style leans towards stability. Whereas I want to seek change.”

Chi Shuo said calmly, “For the current Tianhuan, only by proactively changing can we hope to break through this predicament.”

Ye Shaoyang fell silent.

Having also been a captain, he could understand Chi Shuo’s difficulties. Tianhuan had to find a way to change. If they continued like this, their results would only get worse. The once powerhouse team Tianhuan was like a beast trapped in a cage, unable to flex its muscles. Chi Shuo couldn’t utilize even thirty percent of his sharp stealth assassination skills, and their 5v5 team fights were constantly blown apart.

This feeling was actually quite agonizing—clearly possessing formidable martial arts, but unable to exert any strength.

When encountering this kind of bottleneck period, most players would choose to follow the coach’s arrangements. Players who actively seek change have to bear immense pressure, whether from within the team or from the outside. On this point, Ye Shaoyang actually really admired Chi Shuo’s decisiveness and resolution.

Ye Shaoyang asked seriously: “I play the mid-lane, Qu Jiang switches to support to protect the rookie marksman; the top laner is still Tianhuan’s veteran Qin Yizhu, you as the jungler drive the tempo, and I coordinate with you to roam and gank, seeking a breakthrough amidst adversity. Is this Captain Chi’s ideal lineup?”

Chi Shuo said: “You can also proactively drive the tempo from the mid-lane, and I will coordinate with you.”

Ye Shaoyang was somewhat surprised: “Me driving the tempo? You’d feel at ease with that?”

Chi Shuo said: “Of course. I believe that with your talent, you will quickly become a tier-one mid-laner.”

Where exactly did Captain Chi get so much confidence in him?

On second thought, Ye Shaoyang suddenly understood: “In that Kings tier promotion match, was my minion wave management and shotcalling thought process identical to yours?”

Chi Shuo: “Correct.”

Ye Shaoyang: “…”

That was quite the coincidence! There were plenty of players with synergistic mechanics, but when it came to judging the macro situation, finding a teammate with the exact same mindset was incredibly rare! Should we take this team fight? Who should push this minion wave? Should we try to contest this dragon? Every single decision could potentially impact the outcome of the match.

A team usually only has one decision-maker acting as the main shotcaller on the field. When two decision-makers with identical philosophies come together, it would be extremely terrifying. Because at critical moments, they wouldn’t even need to speak to make the exact same judgment.

For example, if the enemy launches a surprise attack—fight or retreat?

Waiting for the shotcaller’s arrangement would definitely be too late; it all relied on instant reaction. If Chi Shuo and Ye Shaoyang’s judgments aligned at that moment, they wouldn’t need to communicate; they could instantly counter-engage and perhaps turn the tables for a kill.

This was the importance of decision-making synergy.

Ye Shaoyang finally understood why Chi Shuo would take the risk of meeting him privately. He did indeed fit Chi Shuo’s definition of a “good teammate”—daring to fight, daring to clash, playing mage assassins smoothly, their mid-match decisions often aligning perfectly, and capable of forming a synergistic mid-jungle coordination.

If it were him encountering such a player, he too would want to test their talent to see if they could go pro, and then pull them into his own team!

Ye Shaoyang sorted out the cause and effect, simply opened voice chat, and said seriously: “Captain Chi, thank you very much for your recognition. However, asking me to join Tianhuan is currently only your one-sided wish. Qu Jiang doesn’t know yet, right? And Tianhuan’s coaching staff probably hasn’t agreed either, right?”

Chi Shuo saw a voice message pop up on his phone screen and pressed play. The voice coming through the earpiece was incredibly calm, lacking any trace of nervousness or restraint.

It seemed Xiao Bai had already begun to seriously consider joining Tianhuan.

Chi Shuo walked to the window, held down the voice record button, and said: “That’s right, I contacted you privately and haven’t had time to tell them yet. Tianhuan has a match this Thursday, a loser’s bracket showdown for the playoffs. You should know what this means for us. I didn’t want to affect the players’ mental states, so I haven’t mentioned it for now.”

Ye Shaoyang also found typing troublesome, so he just pressed the voice button to chat with him: “I understand, it’s best you don’t say anything yet. You guys have played matches all year; making it to the playoffs isn’t easy. Don’t affect the team’s condition for the match.”

Chi Shuo said softly: “Yes, so I plan to wait until the playoffs are over before discussing this matter with them in detail.” He paused, then said gently: “Actually, Qu Jiang isn’t a petty person. He’s a player who came out of Tianhuan’s youth camp and has a deep affection for the Tianhuan club. I believe that as long as your skills are truly strong enough, he will welcome you joining and be willing to make some changes for the team’s future.”

“Coach Lin is a first-generation pro player of Tianhuan with a very good temper. I have a way to persuade him. He has the final say over the entire coaching staff. As long as Coach Lin is handled, the club manager will be much easier to deal with.”

“If it really comes down to it, I can also ask my master to step in. My master holds shares in the Tianhuan club; he can settle all the shareholders. This is also why I dared to promise you that I would fight for the best signing conditions for you.”

“…” Listening to Chi Shuo’s earnest voice, Ye Shaoyang felt a complex mix of emotions in his heart.

Chi Shuo’s sincerity towards him could be described as pouring his heart and soul out, right? To even plan to bring his retired master out of seclusion showed just how highly he valued him.

The calmness and sincerity of this Tianhuan captain gave Ye Shaoyang an incredibly favorable impression of him. He could hear that Chi Shuo had constantly been seeking a new way out for the Tianhuan team. With such a dedicated and responsible captain who looked at the big picture, as long as the team members were outstanding enough, what was there to fear?

The professional league inherently depended on the players’ performance. No team dared to guarantee: “I will definitely win the championship.”

Having also been someone who led a team, Ye Shaoyang knew very well that for a team to produce results, aside from the players’ individual skills not dragging them down, all five people had to be united in heart and mind. He believed Chi Shuo had the ability to stabilize Tianhuan’s morale. In that case, this team might just be able to make a push and step towards a higher place.

Ye Shaoyang remained silent for a long time before saying seriously: “Captain Chi, I can’t agree to this right now. How about this: let’s both leave ourselves some leeway and not speak too absolutely. Don’t tell them that Xiao Bai is definitely joining Tianhuan. First, bring up the idea to test the coaching staff’s tone and ask Qu Jiang’s attitude. If they resolutely object, I don’t want Captain Chi offending too many people because of me.”

Chi Shuo was Tianhuan’s captain. To fall out with the club over someone whose joining was uncertain? That was something Ye Shaoyang absolutely did not want to see.

Chi Shuo was somewhat surprised: “You’re considering this for my sake?”

Ye Shaoyang smiled: “After all, Captain Chi was very frank and directly told me Tianhuan’s current situation. Regardless of whether we can become teammates in the future, at the very least, we can be friends, right?”

Chi Shuo nodded: “En. Don’t worry, I know my limits and I know how to talk to them.” He paused, his voice turning gentle: “You can also look into the information of other teams. There inherently aren’t many teams that your style can blend into; Tianhuan is actually your best choice. I will pave all the roads for you, so that when you are willing to sign in the future, there will be no obstacles in your path.”

Ye Shaoyang felt a warmth in his heart and said seriously: “Then I will also improve myself as quickly as possible during this time; I can’t make you lose face. Currently, I only know how to play three heroes, and I have too few national server badges. Wait until I get more than 8 national server badges, then when you go talk to them, you’ll be able to speak with much more justification.”

Listening to Xiao Bai’s serious voice, a hint of a smile surfaced in Chi Shuo’s eyes. He pressed the phone’s talk button and said in a low voice: “Correct. If you want to become a tier-one mid-laner, you have to learn all the mid-lane heroes and master at least 8 of them. Although the pro circle doesn’t value national server badges, for you, it is the best way to prove yourself.”

The reason many pro players didn’t have national server badges was simply that they lacked the time. The pro circle never cared about how many national titles you held; they only looked at your performance in matches. But for an amateur, the number of national server badges was the best report card.

Ye Shaoyang turned back to look at the bookmark gift box sitting on the desk. Six metallic Goddess bookmarks of different colors were neatly arranged, giving off a soft, lustrous gleam under the light.

This was the meeting gift Chi Shuo had given him. When he accepted the gift earlier, he had said that since the boss thought so highly of him, he had to at least get the national server badges for these six heroes.

Not just the top ten national badge.

But the golden trophy badge for “National Rank One.”

Only if he was outstanding enough would Chi Shuo have the capital to negotiate with the club. Was Tianhuan his optimal choice? He couldn’t be entirely sure just yet. Right now, there was only one thing he was certain he had to do—

Improve himself.

Become the amateur national server king that every esports club in the China region would know about.