Chen Jing's face drained of color as if he had recalled a nightmare.
He glanced at Lan Bowen, who met his gaze and then looked towards Sheng Kuang.
As Sheng Kuang pulled Qin Yu into the room, he flicked his eyelids towards Lan Bowen. "What? You guys want to be singled out for practice too?"
Chen Jing shook his head frantically. "No, no, no, leave such an honor for Qin Yu."
Saying this, Chen Jing got up, grabbed Jiang Zui with one hand and scooped up He Wang with the other. "Let's go, let's go, to my room, the three of us will queue together."
Seeing Chen Jing and the others run, Li Xiaozhou, though not understanding why, instinctively stood up with a whoosh. "Wait for me, Jing Ge, I'll spectate."
In the blink of an eye, only Sheng Kuang, Qin Yu, and Lan Bowen were left in the training room.
"In the canyon map, we'll do 1v1. I'll give you a three-kill head start. You don't need to kill me back. When you can escape from my hands alive, the solo practice will be over."
Sheng Kuang clicked start. As the game entered the caching interface, he looked up at Lan Bowen, who was standing nearby. "Are you sure you want to spectate here?"
Lan Bowen hesitated for two seconds, then thinking about the scene he was about to witness, felt a pang of sympathy. "No, I'll go back to my room to study the recent matches and see if I can pinpoint GDT's weaknesses."
With that, he gave Qin Yu a look of pity and left.
...
Lin Jing returned to her room, replaying the practice match in her mind, becoming more and more annoyed.
Never mind Qin Yu's shattered mental state; even as an observer, she felt indignant.
Sheng Kuang had been a substitute for GDT for two years. During those years, there were many rumors about Sheng Kuang, most of them negative. They said he was a team bully, only cared about personal glory, demanded everyone revolve around him as the core of the game, and only considered his own stats. Mixed within these negative remarks were a few bits of praise and encouragement, but they were mostly from his earliest fans, who viewed him through a significant filter of belief.
For the past two years, she had often wondered why Sheng Kuang had become a substitute at his peak.
She had considered personal reasons for Sheng Kuang.
Perhaps the young man was too arrogant, spoke too casually, and was disciplined by the team.
However, today, she realized the problem didn't seem to be with Sheng Kuang, but with GDT, the strongest team in the league, the team many others aspired to be like. It seemed GDT was not as glorious as rumored.
The thought of Sheng Kuang having his pride brutally crushed within such a team atmosphere, forced into obscurity for two years, made Lin Jing's chest feel tight.
She sighed, wanting to think of something positive, and then she remembered the last game, Sheng Kuang and Jiang Zui's perfect synergy in two waves.
Perhaps she was tired of drawing Chen Jing, Li Ran, and others, and for some reason, she felt like creating some new 'sugar'.
New sugar...
At the end of the opponent's lane were Jiang Zui and Sheng Kuang.
Lin Jing's thoughts were successfully derailed by the 'sugar' she had conjured in her mind. She had been contemplating it for a long time until Lan Bowen called her downstairs for dinner, and only then did she realize it was dark outside.
Inadvertently, it was already half-past seven in the evening.
That wasn't right. While these young men might not be enthusiastic about anything else, they were always eager to eat. Why was dinner so late tonight?
Lin Jing went downstairs with her doubts and arrived at the dining room, only to find Sheng Kuang and Qin Yu absent.
Lin Jing sat down and, seeing everyone already picking up their chopsticks, asked curiously, "Aren't we waiting for Sheng Kuang and Qin Yu?"
Lan Bowen said, "We're not waiting. They're still training."
Lin Jing didn't say anything and picked up her chopsticks.
The dinner table used to be very lively, but today it was somewhat quiet. Everyone ate faster than usual, as if completing a task. As soon as they finished, they put down their chopsticks and left.
Lin Jing watched their retreating backs as they successively left the dining room, thinking how strange everyone was acting.
Lin Jing wasn't as rushed as they were. After unhurriedly filling her stomach, she took Xiao Kukua out for a walk.
When she returned, the villa was still quiet. The group of young men were still downstairs, not yet engaged in free activities.
Lin Jing fed Xiao Kukua some snacks, put him back in his cage, and went upstairs.
It was still early, so she took out her iPad, wanting to see if she could draw out the ideas she had in the afternoon. She held the pen and stared at the screen for about ten minutes. Just as she was about to start, her phone rang.
Lin Jing answered. Before she could say anything, Lan Bowen's voice came through. "Are you upstairs?"
"Huh? Yes."
"Come down for a moment."
Lin Jing didn't ask why. She said "oh" and closed her iPad, then went downstairs.
Lan Bowen was in the living room on the first floor. As he saw her emerge from the elevator, he immediately said, "Can you help me with something?"
Lin Jing was stunned. "What?"
Lan Bowen said, "Think of a way to get Sheng Kuang out of the training room. He's been singling out Qin Yu for over four hours. Qin Yu was crying more than two hours ago from being abused. If he keeps this up, I'm afraid Qin Yu will be so demoralized that he retires. Then, before the autumn season even starts, YLs won't have enough players." Su Dan Novel Network
Lin Jing thought, 'It can't be that bad.'
Lan Bowen seemed to sense her thoughts. "I'm not lying to you. He can really push people to retirement. It's not like he hasn't done it before. At GDT, he played against a jungler from the second team so relentlessly that the jungler packed up and went home in the middle of the night. Rumor has it, he hasn't played King of Glory since. And Chen Jing, ask him what it was like being locked in with Sheng Kuang for almost twenty-four hours of solo practice?"
Lin Jing: "..."
Lan Bowen: "Chen Jing and the others dare not go. I've been there three times, and it's useless. Jiang Zui is not afraid. He went and said, 'Captain, will you practice with me?' Was he trying to persuade him? Anyway, only you and Xiao Kukua haven't been there."
Lin Jing thought, 'If you all can't persuade him, why would I be able to?'
But seeing Lan Bowen's helpless expression, she paused, and her heart softened. "I'll try."
Although Lin Jing took on the task, she really didn't know how to persuade him.
She first went to the basement. Through the glass, she saw Sheng Kuang with his eyes downcast, expressionlessly scrolling through his phone screen. Beside him, Qin Yu's eyes were swollen like walnuts.
In her impression, she had always thought Sheng Kuang was a chuunibyou (delusional fantasy syndrome) youth, either lazily half-asleep or constantly acting cool.
She hadn't expected him to have this side to him.
Calm, collected, so calm it was almost cold-blooded, a completely different person.
Lin Jing felt a little intimidated and didn't dare to enter the training room.
But she had already promised Lan Bowen, and retreating at the last minute was not an option.
Lin Jing pursed her lips, thought for two seconds, and took out her phone.
Xiao Jing Jiang: Want to play a game?
Xiao Jing Jiang: Just the two of us.
Xiao Jing Jiang: Where you only support me.
PS: Happy Mid-Autumn Festival, baby is going to Tianjin to see Mom, so the next chapter will be a bit late, hence this chapter is longer.