Qin Rui came with his laptop to the study alongside Ye Shaoyang. Fetching a dining chair, he set it right beside his cousin’s gaming chair, booted up the game, and sent out a party invite.

8:30 PM was prime peak hour for active players, and in under five seconds, they matched into a game. Since tiers below Diamond did not feature a BP (Ban/Pick) phase, players could only see their own teammates’ selections once the match started.

Among the five players, Ye Shaoyang’s [Xiao Bai] was in the Bronze tier, Qin Rui’s [Xiao Rui] was in Gold, while the remaining [Bro is Just a Legend], [Your Smile], and [My Heartbeat] were all in Silver. The latter two IDs were blatantly a couple’s match.

Following the principle of average tier matchmaking, this match was bound to be a Silver-tier showdown.

Ye Shaoyang’s account possessed only five heroes. He instantly locked in the mid-lane mage “Frost Goddess,” whom he had just practiced in the training camp. A beauty clad in a snow-white mage robe with golden wavy curls appeared on screen.

Seeing his cousin lock in a mage, Qin Rui instantly picked a support hero—”Forest Envoy,” a cute little girl with a high ponytail and pointed elven ears, whose skill kit was packed entirely with healing abilities.

Immediately following, teammate [Your Smile]

picked a mage hero, [My Heartbeat] picked a marksman, and [Bro is Just a Legend] selected an assassin. The lineup turned into 1 Assassin, 2 Mages, 1 Marksman, and 1 Support.

[Your Smile]: I’m playing mage. Xiao Bai, can you switch to a different hero?

[My Heartbeat]: Support, switch to a tankier hero. Your Forest Envoy is squishy as hell

[Your Smile]: Listen to my boyfriend. Switch to a tank, hurry, hurry!

[Xiao Rui]: Sorry, I’m not really good at other supports.

[Xiao Bai]: Silver matches don’t need to be so picky. Just play what you’re good at.

[Xiao Bai]: How are we supposed to play with two mages?

[Xiao Bai]: It’s fine.

[Xiao Bai]: I’ll take the top lane and yield the mid lane to you. Ready up.

Seeing that he wouldn’t compromise, the couple reluctantly pressed the ready button as if throwing a tantrum.

The match began.

Ye Shaoyang was right. Low-tier Silver matches didn’t care for team compositions, nor did they involve complex tactics. As long as there was a skilled veteran player, they could go on a rampage and carry their teammates to an easy win.

Strictly speaking, this was his first official ranked match in Gods’ War. The game right after transmigrating didn’t count—his mind had been in a complete daze back then, and after getting mysteriously assassinated, he hadn’t taken the game seriously at all.

This time, however, he was taking it seriously.

He had tested the hero “Frost Goddess” in a few bot matches in the training camp and was already thoroughly familiar with her.

As the game started, Ye Shaoyang calculated the timing and lay in ambush in the top-lane bush. The moment the enemy solo laner appeared in sight, he decisively threw out a Q skill, shaving off 10% of the enemy’s health. While this damage seemed minor, laning was all about poke and seizing opportunities; sometimes, a minor health gap like this could turn the tide of battle at a critical moment.

The enemy didn’t care about this small health loss at all. Ye Shaoyang rapidly auto-attacked to last-hit the minions.

In the blink of an eye, he hit Level 2 and learned his W skill, “Deep Freeze.” Predicting the enemy warrior’s movement, he froze the target precisely in place, following up immediately with his Q skill to further consume their health.

This time, the health loss reached 30%.

Realizing the opponent was far more skilled, the enemy warrior cowered under the tower, not daring to step out.

The two maintained a peaceful truce, farming minions on their own.

That was until Ye Shaoyang was the first to flash with a level-up glow.

His Frost Goddess had reached Level 6.

A hero reaching Level 6 was a crucial power spike in Gods’ War. Every hero in the game possessed four active skills, and at Level 6, they could learn their ultimate ability.

Frost Goddess’s ultimate was named “Ice Storm,” which summoned a wide-area blizzard that dealt massive frost magic damage, doubling the damage if the target was frozen. It paired perfectly with her W skill “Deep Freeze” and Q skill “Chilling Assault” to deliver a lethal three-skill burst combo.

This was the most fundamental mage combo, and Ye Shaoyang had long mastered it to second nature.

While the enemy warrior cowered under the tower, Ye Shaoyang hid inside the side bush to await an opportunity.

Right at that moment, a system announcement echoed in his ear—

First Blood!

Double Kill!

A small skirmish erupted in the bottom lane, and the couple fell victim to the enemy assassin’s blade.

Qin Rui ran fast, returning home on low health.

Dense text began flooding the team chat channel—[Your Smile]

: Can noobs stop coming to ranked matches? @[Xiao Rui]

[My Heartbeat]: Knowing you’re trash, can’t you stop ruining people’s ranked games? Bot matches suit you better.

[Your Smile]: The enemy support knows how to coordinate, while our support only knows how to run away, lol.

[My Heartbeat]: Idiot support! Surrender quickly, speed up the next game.

Seeing these insults directed at him, Qin Rui’s expression turned somewhat ugly.

Biting his lip, he returned to the fountain to recover his state before heading back to the bottom lane.

The couple continued their barrage of abuse.

[Your Smile]: We were teamfighting at the front, and you were watching from the side? Have you no shame baiting your teammates?

[My Heartbeat]: Besides running away with your tail between your legs, what else can you do?

[Your Smile]: Could you be a coward-ass Omega who only knows how to run during teamfights?

[My Heartbeat]: Exactly! A single heal and neither of us would have died! Look at your pathetic, spineless self!

[Your Smile]: I suggest you uninstall the game. Fucking dumbass ****.

The words coming out of their mouths grew increasingly nasty.

Ye Shaoyang’s biggest fault was that he was fiercely protective. If the two had been insulting him, he might not have bothered to care. But seeing his cousin’s eyes turning red from being cursed at, he could not stand for it.

Ye Shaoyang glanced at Qin Rui: “You’re not going to curse back?”

Qin Rui lowered his head, his voice tinged with grievance: “I… I’m not really good at cursing, it’s too crude.”

Ye Shaoyang raised an eyebrow: “…Is that so?”

In the very next instant, his fingers flew across the keyboard as he typed a rapid-fire response—

[Xiao Bai]: The moment you die, all you know is to flame the support. Do you have zero fucking self-awareness regarding your own skill level?

[Xiao Bai]: What? You wanted our support to double-die with you two lovebirds in a double suicide?

[Xiao Bai]: Running headfirst into teamfights while behind on gold, missing every skill, flashing into walls—your play is utterly painful to watch.

[Xiao Bai: Shut your mouths and go AFK in the fountain, I’ll carry our support myself.

This [Xiao Bai] spammed messages ridiculously fast.

Four messages popped up in an instant, leaving the couple completely flabbergasted, their minds unable to keep pace with his speed.

Ye Shaoyang spoke up: “Xiao Rui, come to the top lane to find me.”

Qin Rui paused, then immediately trotted straight from the jungle over to the top lane.

By now, the top-lane minion wave had arrived, and the enemy warrior indeed couldn’t resist showing up to clear the minions. Before he could even kill a single minion, a lotus-shaped ice crystal rose beneath his feet, followed instantly by an overwhelming blizzard!

The warrior’s health bar drained like an open floodgate, dropping to zero in seconds.

A prompt popped up on screen—

[Xiao Bai] has killed [Playboy]!

When Qin Rui arrived, what met his eyes was the scene of the warrior collapsing in a pool of blood.

He looked back at his cousin in disbelief, only to find Ye Shaoyang’s expression entirely calm.

After killing the enemy warrior, Ye Shaoyang took a round of jungle resources before returning to the crystal to recover and purchase items. Returning to top lane once more, the revived warrior was farming minions again; with a quick WQR combo from Ye Shaoyang, the warrior laid flat on the ground once more.

[Xiao Bai] has killed [Playboy]!

The couple finally snapped out of it, unleashing a barrage of obscene insults against Xiao Bai in global chat, filling the chat box with censored asterisks as they insulted Ye Shaoyang’s ancestors. The remaining teammate, [Bro is Just a Legend], maintained an attitude of completely minding his own business—no rotations, no arguing, just wandering in the jungle from start to finish.

Ye Shaoyang stopped wasting time arguing with the couple, focusing entirely on playing the game.

Prompts continuously popped up across the screen—

[Xiao Bai] has killed [Playboy]!

[Xiao Bai] has killed [Playboy]!

Before long, the entire top lane was completely cleared out by Ye Shaoyang.

Realizing things were going south, the enemy team grouped up to flank the top lane. Ye Shaoyang set up an early ambush inside the jungle bush near the top high-ground tower, with Qin Rui hiding in the bush alongside him, topping off his health bar.

The five enemy players marched past his face in a single line.

Beginners didn’t understand spread positioning, nor did they know how to check bushes with skills, directly face-checking the bush instead.

Ye Shaoyang pressed his keyboard at lightning speed—

Deep Freeze, Chilling Assault, Ice Storm!

The fluid three-skill combo was cast within 1 second, the precise prediction instantly freezing all five enemies into ice statues.

Equipped with luxury items, Ye Shaoyang’s economy was completely crushing.

As the overwhelming blizzard cascaded down, the five frozen enemies were unable to move and were completely wiped out in one fell swoop!

Messages flooded the screen in rapid succession—

[Xiao Bai] has killed [Playboy]!

[Xiao Bai] has killed [Lemon Pudding], Double Kill!

[Xiao Bai] has killed [Snowy], Triple Kill!

[Xiao Bai] has killed [Falling Flowers], Quadra Kill!

[Xiao Bai] has killed [Flowing Water], PENTA KILL!

[Xiao Bai] is Godlike!

[Xiao Bai] is Dominating the Match!

The couple: “………”

Wait, what just happened??

They had originally planned to surrender this game, but before the surrender button could even pop up…

They won just like that?!

WON?!

The two who had been arguing so intensely didn’t even understand how the top lane had been completely steamrolled.

Ye Shaoyang rapidly sold all his items, swapped to a physical weapon with the highest attack speed, and pushed the nexus with his minion wave. While auto-attacking the nexus, he typed: “We won, happy now?”

The couple: “…”

Happy??

Shouting insults while getting hard-carried by a teammate did not feel happy at all!

[Xiao Bai]: I carried my support to a win, what does that have to do with you two?

[Xiao Bai]: Flaming for five minutes after dying once, do you play games with your mouths?

[Xiao Bai] Bye, Felicia.

His typing speed was blazingly fast. As his three soul-piercing questions flooded the public chat, his timing was calculated to perfection: the second he finished typing “Bye, Felicia,” the nexus exploded with a loud BANG!

The game ended, and a golden “Victory” banner popped up in the middle of the screen.

The chat box was no longer accessible for typing.

No matter how much resentment that couple harbored, they had no way to type back and flame him.

This was Ye Shaoyang’s signature style: “Slap your face through actual performance without giving you a chance to talk back.”

Qin Rui: “…………”

He turned his head to look at his cousin, his face full of disbelief: “Brother, since when did you become so amazing? Didn’t you just start playing this game the day before yesterday?”

Ye Shaoyang put on a thick face and said in all seriousness: “Although I’ve only played for two days, I realized I’m actually quite talented at gaming. Thanks for pulling me into the pit.”

He couldn’t very well say he was from another world and had won a national championship before. Using “talent” as an explanation made the most sense—after all, talent was a mysterious thing, so it wouldn’t sound suspicious.

Never played games before, introduced to Gods’ War by his cousin at age 21, discovered a natural gift for gaming, and decided to become a pro player—this story should hold up, right?

Even if someone doubted it, they couldn’t find any evidence; he really had been dragged into this game by his cousin just a few days ago.

That was only a low-tier Silver match, but it at least proved that his understanding of the game was correct. What delighted him even more was that this body’s hand speed was equally fast, capable of handling high-intensity professional esports leagues.

Although 21 was indeed a bit late for an esports player, he had played countless matches in his past life, possessing rich tournament experience, high team adaptability, and a mental fortitude that needed no worrying.

He believed that as long as he produced results, a talent-scouting coach would surely be willing to sign him.