ARML CH39

Inside the soundproof booth on the main stage, Old Nie and Song Yuning hugged each other, forcing back their tears. Both of them had already submitted their retirement applications. This match was their final game before leaving the league.

Unfortunately, they lost.

In the crucial Baron team fight of the deciding game, they were instantly dived and killed by the enemy fighters. It’s impossible to describe how agonizing it felt. Old Nie, usually a joker, couldn’t control his feelings of disappointment at this moment. He was about to leave this arena he loved so much. His condition could no longer keep up with the high-intensity matches… it was frustrating, but there was nothing he could do.

Chi Shuo stood up, took the initiative to walk over to Old Nie and A’Ning, gently hugged the two teammates, and said in a low voice, “Don’t feel guilty. Losing the match wasn’t because of you two. When Da Zhao and Xiao Zhao Flash to dive the backline, no Marksman in the league could escape.”

Old Nie hugged Chi Shuo tightly, eyes brimming with tears: “Do your best next season.” Chi Shuo nodded: “We will.”

The five of them hugged together. Old Nie and Song Yuning’s eyes were red, but Chi Shuo’s expression remained calm. No matter how much pressure he was under, he was used to hiding it deep in his heart.

Players are not allowed to bring their phones into the soundproof booth. He wouldn’t see the message Ye Shaoyang sent him until after the match.

Zhao Xinping of the Beimu team brought her teammates over to shake hands.

Chi Shuo turned around and shook hands with them politely. Zhao Xinping didn’t say a word, but Zhao Xin’an ran over to comfort Old Nie: “Sorry man, winning that last game against you guys was also a stroke of luck. You’re going to stream after retiring, right? Let’s play ranked together when you have time!”

Old Nie didn’t know whether to laugh or cry: “Is your stream unbanned yet?” Zhao Xin’an scratched his head: “Ah, not yet. I won’t curse on stream anymore, fuck.”

Old Nie had adjusted his emotions and gently patted Zhao Xin’an’s shoulder, indicating he didn’t mind.

The five Tianhuan players composed themselves and walked to the center of the stage to bow before exiting.

This was also the last time the two players, Nie Cheng and Song Yuning, would stand on the professional league stage.

Watching their retreating backs, Ye Shaoyang felt a tinge of sourness in his heart. Retirement is the ending every esports player will face. Although Old Nie and A’Ning didn’t exactly “retire at the peak of their success,” having played with Tianhuan for so many years, their backs remained straight as they left for the final time. These past few years must also be an unforgettable experience for them, right?

At the post-match commentator desk, the commentators also gave high praise to the match: “Today’s match was truly spectacular! The victorious Beimu team performed excellently. Their double side lane composition is fierce, and the synergy between the Zhao siblings remains flawless. However, we must also give a round of applause to Tianhuan.”

“Tianhuan’s tenacity in adversity is admirable. Their journey in this season ends here. We hope this team will adjust well after going back and present us with even more spectacular matches next season!”

“Viewers, the broadcast for the S9 Playoffs lower bracket match between Tianhuan and Beimu ends here. See you next Saturday.”

The big screen started playing the match highlights, and the audience began leaving the venue in an orderly fashion.

Ye Shaoyang led his younger brother quickly out through the VIP channel. The subway in Star City stops running at midnight. It was 11:30 PM now, still in time to take the subway home.

The two didn’t speak on the way back. After returning home, Qin Rui said while changing his shoes, “Brother, didn’t Captain Chi invite you to join Tianhuan earlier? Have you thought about it? Are you going to help them?”

Xiao Rui was still driven by emotion. Perhaps seeing Tianhuan lose made him feel a little sad, so he wanted his brother to go help. Ye Shaoyang bent down to finish changing his shoes, smiled, and patted his younger brother’s shoulder: “Joining a team isn’t child’s play. I’m not joining Tianhuan to be a savior and help them… Rather, Tianhuan and I can achieve mutual success.”

Qin Rui looked up at Ye Shaoyang, seemingly not quite understanding his brother’s words.

Ye Shaoyang said, “The choice between a player and a team is always mutual. A team looks for players that suit them, and a player must also join a team that suits them. You’ll understand later.”

Qin Rui scratched his head and thought carefully about the meaning of his brother’s words. Suddenly, his eyes lit up: “Brother, what did you just say? You’re going to join Tianhuan?!”

Ye Shaoyang smiled: “Found the main point?” Qin Rui said excitedly: “That’s great! Did you tell Captain Chi then?” Ye Shaoyang replied: “I sent a message, but he probably hasn’t seen it yet.”

During matches, the players’ phones are uniformly kept by the team manager, Sister Tang Can. As soon as Tang Can saw Chi Shuo backstage, she said, “Captain Chi, your phone rang just now. It seems you have a message, I didn’t dare to look.”

Chi Shuo took the phone from her hand and opened WeChat—

“You are the best captain I have ever seen.”

“If I have the honor next season, I am willing to stand by your side and fight alongside you.”

His mood, originally shrouded in gloom, felt as if a ray of sunlight had suddenly broken through. A hint of a smile appeared on Chi Shuo’s serious face as he quickly typed a reply: “I’ve screenshotted it, no taking it back.”

Ye Shaoyang had just finished showering and was lying in bed when he saw his phone light up; it was Captain Chi’s reply. He immediately replied seriously: “I’m not someone who goes back on his word. I’ve been considering joining Tianhuan for a long time recently.”

Chi Shuo: “Truly decided?” Ye Shaoyang: “Of course. Now I’m handing the difficult problems over to you. I don’t care about the signing fee, but I will only play Mid-laner. Will Qu Jiang be willing to switch to Support? Will the coach be willing to let me start? These problems all need to be resolved.” Chi Shuo replied: “Don’t worry, I will figure out a way to convince them.” Ye Shaoyang said: “After all, I’m a 21-year-old rookie. Most coaches wouldn’t agree to let me start. Before you negotiate with them, I’ll try my best to get a few more national server badges so you can speak with more justification.”

Chi Shuo: “I see your Frost Goddess and Goddess of Destiny are almost at National Rank One too?” Ye Shaoyang: “Yeah, if nothing unexpected happens, I’ll get them when the rankings settle next Monday.”

Chi Shuo was silent for a moment, then typed: “Don’t worry about the signing fee, I will fight for the best for you. Because in my eyes, your value is no less than any top-tier Mid-laner in the league, and I don’t want you to be wronged.”

Seeing this message, Ye Shaoyang felt a warmth in his heart. With his current conditions, let alone the treatment of a top-tier Mid-laner, if a powerhouse team like Tianhuan was willing to sign him, as long as they let him play as the starting Mid-laner, he could even forgo a single cent of the signing fee. He just wanted to realize his dream; more money or less money really didn’t matter to him.

But if Tianhuan valued him enough to sign him with a high-priced, prestigious contract, that would naturally be the best, as it would also prove his value.

Ye Shaoyang replied: “Thank you, Captain Chi. You go back and rest first, let the team members also take a breather. There’s no rush on my matter. Since I promised to join Tianhuan, I won’t go to any other team.”

Chi Shuo felt relieved and said, “Okay, you sleep early too. Goodnight.” Ye Shaoyang sent a waving goodbye emoji.

The Tianhuan team didn’t go back to the hotel; instead, they went to have a late-night snack nearby. The restaurant had been booked long in advance by Manager Tang Can. If they won, it would be a celebration banquet; if they lost, it would be a farewell dinner for Old Nie and A’Ning.

Chi Shuo had actually anticipated today’s unsatisfactory result.

Tianhuan’s journey this season ended here. Forget about the World Championship, they didn’t even make it to the domestic finals. Playing matches for an entire year without securing a single trophy made everyone feel terrible inside.

Coach Lin smiled and said, “Anyway, there are no matches coming up, so everyone is allowed to drink tonight!”

Old Nie proactively opened a bottle of wine. Taking a deep breath to force back his tears, he smiled, raised his glass, and said, “A’Ning and I won’t be here next season, but we will continue to follow Tianhuan. The rest of you, keep doing your best! If one day you guys win the World Championship, I’ll even cross-dress on stream!”

Song Yuning tried to stop him, not knowing whether to laugh or cry: “Is that really necessary?”

Coach Lin joked: “Just to see Old Nie cross-dress on stream, we have to fulfill his wish. Did someone record that? No going back on your word later!”

Qu Jiang waved the phone in his hand: “Recorded, recorded! So he can’t deny it. Last time he said he’d eat a keyboard on stream, but he bought a chocolate keyboard instead. Such a cheat!”

Everyone burst into laughter.

Although Chi Shuo’s expression was calm, a rare hint of warmth surfaced in his eyes. These teammates who had fought battles alongside him in the north and south for three whole years were like his family. Although it didn’t end perfectly, he knew Nie Cheng and Song Yuning didn’t regret joining Tianhuan.

During S6, the bottom lane duo of Nie Cheng and Song Yuning was at their absolute peak, making it into the World Championship alongside the previous captain, Chi Shuo’s master, Captain Ming.

That was the year Tianhuan was closest to the World Championship. However, they lost the grand finals 3:4. Everyone could only watch helplessly as a foreign team took away the championship trophy. To this day, the unwillingness in Old Nie’s eyes and the tears in Song Yuning’s eyes were deeply etched into Chi Shuo’s mind. Chi Shuo was only 18 that year, but it was also at that moment he set a goal for himself—

He must lead Tianhuan back to the stage of the global finals and reclaim that lost trophy!

Over the following three years, Tianhuan’s roster underwent adjustments. The Mid-laner was replaced by Qu Jiang, the Top Laner by Qin Yizhu. Nie Cheng and Song Yuning, as veteran players, persisted until the S9 season before helplessly retiring.

Chi Shuo took the initiative to raise his wine glass, looking at the two veteran players, and said, “This glass is to toast you both. Thank you for your trust over these three years. Don’t worry, I will carry your unfulfilled wishes and continue forward.”

Old Nie wiped his eyes and choked out, “Captain Chi, you’ve worked hard these past few years too.”

After the S6 World Championship, Captain Ming retired far too suddenly. Chi Shuo took over as captain in a time of crisis. An 18-year-old youth, stumbling and struggling in a league filled with strong teams, learning shotcalling from scratch, learning tactics… Only the people of Tianhuan knew how hard he had it and how he survived. This was also why the team members respected him so much.

Chi Shuo gently patted Old Nie’s shoulder without saying much more and downed the wine in his glass in one gulp.

Everyone stopped talking about depressing things, happily eating and drinking to send off Nie Cheng and Song Yuning.

Old Nie got completely drunk and was carried back to the hotel by everyone. Chi Shuo had a very high alcohol tolerance, and despite having a few glasses, he remained completely sober.

After returning to the hotel, he opened his phone to check— As expected, there were many Anti-fans/Haters leaving mocking comments under his personal Weibo.

“Chi Shuo peaked at debut and has been going downhill ever since!” “After Captain Ming retired, Tianhuan fell off. What does that mean? The new captain is trash!” “S6 made it to the global finals, S7 domestic bronze medal, S8 didn’t even make the top four, S9 directly out in the first round of the playoffs, results constantly declining! You guys better not be playing relegation matches next season, S10? Being demoted to the secondary league would be a joke.” “Fifth game Blind Pick, and Chi Shuo didn’t even dare to pick [Bloodstained Assassin]. I was waiting for him to slaughter everyone, but he chickened out. What a waste of me liking him all these years.”

Chi Shuo frowned and ignored these comments. He had always been a highly controversial player. Debuting in S6 with such a high starting point, directly making it to the global finals. His [Bloodstained Assassin] was also the hero with the most Pentakills in league history. As his results declined over the next few years, some fans became frustrated, and some turned into Anti-fans/Haters, turning back to flame him. He didn’t care about any of it.

All he needed to do was adhere to his original intention. He believed that with Xiao Bai joining next season, Tianhuan would definitely be able to break through their predicament.

Chi Shuo turned off his phone and went to sleep.

The next morning, he woke up and watched Xiao Bai’s stream for a while.

He didn’t know how Sister Mu and Xiao Bai met, playing ranked together so early in the morning. Sister Mu’s game sense was very good, and she had a great temper. With her as Support, Xiao Bai’s win rate took off completely, taking MVP every game, and his [Goddess of Destiny] hero power increased rapidly.

With such a win rate and match history, getting two national server badges in a week shouldn’t be a problem.

On Saturday evening, Tang Can sent a message in the group: “Flight back to the capital tomorrow at 11 AM. I’ve booked cars, everyone remember to set your alarms and don’t oversleep.”

Since Tianhuan had no more matches, there was naturally no need to continue staying in Star City. Staying in a hotel cost money every day, so the club required them to collectively return to the base.

Chi Shuo couldn’t act independently, so he returned to the capital with the team.

Sunday evening, Tianhuan base training room.

With no upcoming matches, their training schedule was relatively loose. Coach Lin sat to the side holding a cup of tea, drinking while watching foreign match VODs.

At midnight, Chi Shuo suddenly sent Coach Lin a screenshot.

It was a screenshot from the stream, showing two system messages—

[Congratulations, your hero [Frost Goddess] ranked first nationwide with 12,000 hero power in last week’s settlement. You have obtained the title of “National Rank One Frost Goddess”!]

[Congratulations, your hero [Goddess of Destiny] ranked first nationwide with 12,000 hero power in last week’s settlement. You have obtained the title of “National Rank One Goddess of Destiny”!]

Coach Lin saw the familiar white ragdoll cat in the bottom right corner of the screenshot, froze for a moment, and turned to look at Chi Shuo: “The streamer Xiao Bai? He got 2 more national server badges?”

Chi Shuo replied, “Yes, and he got them within a week.”

Coach Lin immediately leaned over to Chi Shuo’s computer and found that Chi Shuo was watching Xiao Bai’s stream. Because Xiao Bai obtained two national server badges simultaneously, countless netizens were sending gifts in the stream, and even Sister Mu sent a few torpedoes.

Xiao Bai’s smiling voice came through Chi Shuo’s headset: “Thank you for Fan No. 1’s torpedo, thank you for Everyday Ranked Lose Streak’s torpedo, thank you for Sister Mu’s torpedo. I’m going to get ready for bed now. Next week I’ll try pushing the national rankings with [Flame Goddess] and [Thunder Goddess].”

The bullet screen in the stream was going crazy— [The streamer is so arrogant, floating into space this time?]

[Are you playing a stamp-collecting game? Treating national server badges as collectibles?!]

[Frost Goddess and Goddess of Destiny national badges already acquired. Next week it’s Flame and Thunder, will it be Ocean and Storm the week after that? Are you trying to collect all six Goddess national server badges?]

[I just love an arrogant streamer like you who can actually back up his big talk!]

Coach Lin frowned in confusion: “Who exactly is this Xiao Bai? His speed in getting national server badges is way too fast. I remember the last time I watched his stream, he had just gotten the [Abyssal Lord] national server badge.”

Chi Shuo turned to look at the coach and said in a low voice, “What if I told you Xiao Bai has the talent to play professionally?”

After saying that, he sent the esports player talent test sheet from the Star City youth training base to Coach Lin.

Coach Lin looked down— Five glittering golden ‘S’ ratings! A rare talent-type player!

Coach Lin looked as if he had been hit by a pie falling from the sky, his eyes gleaming: “Quick, figure out a way to contact him!”

Chi Shuo said calmly, “I have already contacted him privately, and he is willing to join our Tianhuan.”

Coach Lin: “…”

Wait, when did you contact Xiao Bai privately? How is your speed faster than the coach’s?!