Lin Jing’s hand trembled as she cast a level one skill into the air.
She furtively glanced at the mini-map, confirming her teammates were far from her, and then secretly breathed a sigh of relief.
[All] Shang Fen Di Wo (Zhuge Liang): …
The moment the opposing Zhuge Liang’s message appeared on the screen, Chen Jing’s voice came from her phone, "What do you mean by 'Zhuge Liang, don't feed'?"
[All] Shang Fen Di Wo (Zhuge Liang): I’m dizzy, no way, Kuang Shen, you’re that petty?
Chen Jing continued, "Petty about what? Sheng Kuang, what’s going on?"
Sheng Kuang ignored him.
Chen Jing pressed on, "Lin Mei Mei?"
Lin Jing didn't want to repeat her embarrassing deeds and pretended not to hear anything.
Chen Jing: "Qin Yu?"
Qin Yu cleared his throat, subtly signaling him not to ask.
Chen Jing, oblivious, exclaimed, "Holy crap, can you guys acknowledge me? What exactly is going on? Huh? Huh? Huh?"
Just as Lin Jing was about to click on the voice chat to tell the incessantly noisy Chen Jing to shut up, Qin Dandan spoke up, "Oh, Kuang Kuang is just trying to save face for your friend. You know, that friend of yours, who fed first blood less than a minute into the game, and then kept getting killed by the opposing Zhuge Liang. Then Zhuge Liang jokingly told her, 'Daji, don't feed'…"
Lin Jing pursed her lips.
She wasn't sure if she was overthinking things, but she had a feeling Qin Dandan was doing this deliberately.
She felt that Qin Dandan knew perfectly well that Sheng Kuang and Qin Yu weren’t speaking to avoid embarrassing her, but she deliberately feigned ignorance.
Chen Jing hadn't been paying attention to their chat at all. After hearing Qin Dandan's explanation, he let out a confused, "Huh?"
Qin Dandan continued, "But, Zhuge Liang probably didn't mean anything by it. In this kind of match, I said earlier that Daji is a bit difficult to play…"
Before Qin Dandan could finish speaking, Chen Jing seemed to belatedly realize something and asked, "Zhuge Liang said that?"
"Uh…" Qin Dandan, interrupted, paused. "Yes, Zhuge Liang said it."
A line of text appeared on the game screen.
[All] yLs·scene (Ma Chao): Zhuge Liang, come to the top lane.
[All] Shang Fen Di Wo (Zhuge Liang): Boss Jing, what's up?
[All] yLs·scene (Ma Chao): Come here, I’ve got something good to show you.
[All] yLs·scene (Ma Chao): I promise I won’t hit you.
[All] Shang Fen Di Wo (Zhuge Liang): Alright.
Less than ten seconds later, Ma Chao and Zhuge Liang met in the top lane.
[All] Shang Fen Di Wo (Zhuge Liang): Boss Jing, what is it?
As soon as he sent this message, Zhuge Liang’s avatar dimmed.
[All] Shang Fen Di Wo (Zhuge Liang): ?
[All] Shang Fen Di Wo (Zhuge Liang): Boss Jing, what do you mean?
[All] Shang Fen Di Wo (Zhuge Liang): You said you wouldn’t attack, didn’t you.
[All] yLs·scene (Ma Chao): Did you believe me just because I promised? Are you that stupid?
[All] Shang Fen Di Wo (Zhuge Liang): …
[All] yLs·scene (Ma Chao): Zhuge Liang, don't feed.
[All] Shang Fen Di Wo (Zhuge Liang): …
[All] yLs·scene (Ma Chao): Zhuge Liang, it’s not me saying this, but you’re worth less than a super minion?
[All] Shang Fen Di Wo (Zhuge Liang): …
[All] Shang Fen Di Wo (Zhuge Liang): Boss Jing, you're really not playing by the rules.
Qin Yu, who rarely spoke, chuckled, "Brother Jing, if you ask me, you're the one not playing by the rules."
Chen Jing retorted, "Playing by the rules? I'm already terrible at playing top lane as a support. If I had challenged Zhuge Liang to a duel beforehand, wouldn't I just be feeding myself to death?"
Qin Yu: "…"
Lin Jing: "…"
Sheng Kuang: "…"
Zhuge Liang respawned, and their minion wave happened to be pushing into the enemy high ground, leading to another team fight.
Chen Jing yelled, "Attack Zhuge, attack Zhuge! We can lose the team fight, but Zhuge must die! Holy crap, just one hit left, Sun Shangxiang, basic attack him, one more, just one more hit, hahahaha…"
[All] yLs·scene (Ma Chao): Zhuge Liang, don’t feed.
[All] Shang Fen Di Wo (Zhuge Liang): I give up. You guys are just targeting me, right?
[All] Shang Fen Di Wo (Zhuge Liang): Sun Shangxiang, why are you ignoring the tanks with low HP and letting your Yao die, just to kill me? Are you crazy?
[All] Shang Fen Di Wo (Zhuge Liang): Back then, I just thought Daji was cute and said it casually. You guys really don't need to do this.
[All] Little Cabbage (Yao): Yes, yes, no need to. Zhuge Liang said it casually, and Kuang Kuang and the others are just playing around. Don't take it to heart.
[All] Little Cabbage (Yao): The main point of the game is entertainment. Getting angry ruins the fun.
With Qin Dandan stepping in to smooth things over, the opposing Zhuge Liang clearly wasn't as angry anymore.
[All] Shang Fen Di Wo (Zhuge Liang): Not angry.
[All] Shang Fen Di Wo (Zhuge Liang): Just a bit frustrated.
[All] Shang Fen Di Wo (Zhuge Liang): By the way, what’s the deal with your little Daji?
[All] Little Cabbage (Yao): She's just a friend of theirs.
[All] Little Cabbage (Yao): Everyone, calm down. I actually think it was just a joke, and it was taken a bit too seriously because of the internet. And Daji, she's probably not even angry at all.
[All] Little Cabbage (Yao): I think she's a really nice person and not as petty as you might imagine, right, Little Daji?
Lin Jing: "…"
This time, she was starting to believe she wasn't being petty by thinking poorly of others. This person was genuinely manipulative.
Even though she often saw examples of manipulative speech on short video platforms, those were usually presented as jokes. She never thought she'd encounter such a person in real life. Now that she had, she realized that truly manipulative people’s words were full of hidden traps.
Like the Yao she picked at the start.
Or deliberately pretending to chat with Chen Jing to bring up her embarrassing moments.
And even now…
If she said she was angry, it would mean admitting she was petty.
If she said she wasn’t angry, it would put Sheng Kuang and Chen Jing in an awkward position.
Lin Jing hesitated for two seconds, then raised her hand and typed: Sorry, I…
Before she could finish typing, a line of text appeared on the game screen.
[All] yLs·miracle (Luna): Not a friend.
Lin Jing's fingers tightened slightly on her phone.
[All] yLs·miracle (Luna): A little friend.