[FLOTG] Chapter 27: Returning to the Team

The first to combust was Hai Xing — Song Xue-Yang could almost imagine him jumping three feet into the air.

[ Awesome! Let's have a welcome party! I'll go order a cake now! ]

Fan Jing-Ming gleefully began to tease him.

[ Shall I buy some wedding balloons{拉花气球: Literally "pulled-flower balloons". Decorative balloons, but this term is generally used to refer to custom balloons for weddings. See example image below:
}? ]

Zhou Ning was, as always, the more dependable one.

[ Fox, will he be rooming with you? Shall I ask the dorm auntie to clean things up a bit? ]

Song Xue-Yang watched the constant stream of messages popping up on the screen and cheerfully replied with just three words. [ Keep things simple. ]

He was afraid that this group of people would make things so grand that Ash Wing would be scared silly when the time came.

After all, who could imagine that the bigshot esports live-streamer with over a million fans would turn out to be the flower-vase actor Shen Huai who had been flamed out of the entertainment industry?

Song Xue-Yang looked for Shen Huai on Weibo and followed him. A group of fox fans immediately emerged...

[ What's happening? Didn't Shen Huai quit already? Why is hubby following him now? ]

[ Lolololol, Captain Song has grown old! He had to take time to process it, only remembering to come hunt for gossip after so long! ]

[ Based on my many years of studying the fox, I don't believe he would follow a retired flower-vase actor for no reason! Following him now at this time is fishy! Everyone, let's brainstorm and try to figure out what's up! ]

[ Maybe Shen Huai's about to join the team. Yup, I'm being serious. Hahahahaha!!! ]

[ Upstairs, I almost died from laughter. Shen Huai playing esports? Are you a demon? ]

In a way, it could be said that the speculations of the netizens would never be too far from the truth.

Because Song Xueyang's fans made such a fuss, Shen Huai's anti-fans who had pretty much dispersed by now came out to scold him again.

Shen Huai glanced at his Weibo and then looked at Song Xue-Yang, clearly blaming him.

Song Xue-Yang quickly apologized. "Fine, I was wrong. When we return to the team, I won't allow anyone to follow your Weibo."

Shen Huai: "......"

For some reason, he felt that Song Xue-Yang just wanted to be his only Weibo follower in the team.

Frankly, Song Xue-Yang wasn't really worried about the anti-fans. He knew the esports circles too well — as long as you had the skills, you would get fans, and Shen Huai lacked anything but skills.

Song Xue-Yang reported to the club that Shen Huai was going to join, and the management was so happy that they said they would draw up a contract for him as soon as possible without even asking any questions.

When the team manager heard the news, he was devastated. He cried and howled, calling Song Xue-Yang a big fat liar{Fun fact: The original phrase here is 大猪蹄子 "big pig's hoof", which doesn't necessarily mean liar, but is rather more just a generic insult.}, saying that all Song Xue-Yang's declarations to become champion next year were just empty promises.

Song Xue-Yang tried to tell him that Shen Huai was Ash Wing, but was scolded harshly in return.

The manager said, "If you want Shen Huai to join the team, then so be it. Why do you have to make up this kind of nonsense to trick me? You think I don't know who Ash Wing is?"

There was nothing Song Xue-Yang could do if the other refused to believe him.

The manager kept calling Song Xue-Yang right up until when the plane took off the next day, threatening that if Song Xue-Yang dared to bring Shen Huai back with him, he would report him for taking the team out to drink.

The final call continued until the plane actually took off, when the air stewardess reminded Song Xue-Yang to turn off his phone.

Song Xue-Yang couldn't help sighing. Shen Huai looked at him with amusement. "It's rare to see you so troubled."

Song Xue-Yang said pitifully, "Like talking to a wall."

Shen Huai's lips twitched. "If you're the one talking, no wall would remain standing."

Shen Nuo's assistant had bought the plane tickets surreptitiously, so the two men did not encounter any reporters hiding in ambush along the way. They managed to get into the team manager's car with no problems at all.

The team manager was slumped over the steering wheel. When he heard them coming, he threw a wronged glare at them, like an aggrieved wife whose husband had been stolen away from her.

"Hehe, Shen Huai, what a coincidence. We meet again."

Shen Huai: "..."

Song Xue-Yang cut in to smooth things over. "Kun, where will you go for New Year's?"

The manager said sullenly, "Are you all on break on New Year's Day?"

"Probably not. The team needs to adapt to our new member."

Song Xue-Yang really shouldn't have brought that up. The manager felt his heart ache just thinking about it. "Adapting or not wouldn't make any difference anyway, so we might as well take two extra days off."

Shen Huai said nothing from the backseat. He had often been criticised as an actor, so he was already used to being nonchalant while others gossiped about him.

Song Xue-Yang secretly sent him a WeChat message. "Kun is a believer in assassins. A fan of yours."

Shen Huai saw the smile peeking from the corner of Song Xue-Yang's eyes and replied with a string of ellipses.

Song Xue-Yang added, "I'm a fan of watching you face-slap{打脸: Can't remember if I've explained this term before, so I'll just do it here. Fans of Chinese novels will probably already be very familiar with this term. This terms roughly means to 'prove others wrong', especially in cases of overturning negative impressions. Kinda like an "in your face!" moment, if you get what I mean. XD} people."

What the hell kind of fan is that?

Shen Huai resolutely decided to ignore him.

Just like that, they made their silent way to the Maple Moon Club. Shen Huai donned a simple black mask before getting out of the car, but the girls working in the lobby still managed to recognise him from his beautiful eyes and the slightly exposed elegant line of his jaw.

"Ahhhh! Shen Huai!"

This was a very interesting phenomenon. Although Shen Huai had many anti-fans on the net due to his terrible acting skills, he was pretty low-key overall outside of acting. As such, there were no other black marks against him at all, so most people who met him in real life would end up being charmed by his appearance and be very warm and receptive towards him.

The team manager was in a bad mood to begin with and shouted, "What are you yelling for? Were you hired to moon over idols? Go home if you don't want to work!"

The girl he yelled at wilted and shrunk back, making Shen Huai recall the times when he had been scolded by directors while filming.

As the team manager led the way, he said offhandedly, "Since you've joined a professional team, you absolutely must obey the team's arrangements. If you're sent up to play, you should do your best, and if you aren't sent up to play, you shouldn't take it personally. The team has to play strategically and can't give you any special treatment."

He said this as if he had already made up his mind that Shen Huai would be sitting on the bench for the official games. "Also, our team rules are very strict. You may be dismissed over any serious mistakes in official games, and during training times, you are not allowed to take leave from training without a good reason or do things unrelated to training."

After he was done speaking, he pushed open the training room door. He was just about to show Shen Huai the serious attitude of the team members while training when two loud pops deafened his ears. Golden confetti sprayed all over him and he was almost blinded by the colourful balloons hanging around the room.

The team manager's face turned green, but Hai Xing did not notice it. Hai Xing shoved the manager aside to squeeze out the door and peered around. "Where is he? Where's Ash Wing?"

And then he saw Shen Huai and exclaimed, "Shen Huai, why are you here?"

"Hai Xing!" bellowed the manager. He poked each of the members in turn. "You, you, and you! What are you all doing? Don't you know this is training time? Are you all asking for a pay cut? Extra training tonight! Extra training!"

Hai Xing had never seen the manager so angry before since they were normally on pretty good terms. Bewildered, he asked, "Kun, are you not feeling well?"

The manager was so angry his head was throbbing. Song Xue-Yang quickly stepped up to support him. "Kun, you should go and rest. Don't worry, we'll definitely do extra training tonight!"

Only after repeatedly promising that he wouldn't show any mercy to these punks who had wasted training time did Song Xue-Yang managed to coax the manager to go.

Zhou Ning looked at the bristling back of the manager as he left. "Why is he so unhappy?"

"Maybe because he was under a lot of pressure while the captain was away on leave." After saying that, Hai Xing remembered that Shen Huai was still standing there, so he asked him innocently, "Shen Huai, did you leave something behind here?"

Shen Huai looked at the "Welcome to the team, Ash Wing" banner behind him, and a faint smile appeared on his lips. "Hello, I'm Ash Wing."

Gasps echoed around the room as the three members stared in sheer dumbfoundedness in unplanned unison.

When Song Xue-Yang returned, it was to the sight of his three idiot teammates standing around like statues while Shen Huai's hand was still in the air.

He reminded them, "You were all crying and yelling for Ash Wing to join the team. Now the man is standing right here, so why aren't you all welcoming him?"

Hai Xing gasped once again, his belly sucked in so much that it was caving inwards.

Zhou Ning chuckled weakly. "This is really major news."

Fan Jing-Ming looked like he had been struck by a thunderbolt. "I'll fight anyone who tries to fight me for the position of the most handsome guy in Maple Moon!"

Hai Xing finally managed to choke out a response. "F*ck!"

They hardly dared to believe it — that the Ash Wing who had three million fans and had rejected the invitations of a raft of pro teams, who had never ever shown his face in his live-streams, would actually turn out to be the flower vase actor Shen Huai who couldn't act for his life!

However, when you approached it from a different angle, it was precisely because he was Shen Huai that he couldn't turn on his camera. And it was also because he was Shen Huai that he couldn't play professional esports. The logic was rather straightforward.

Hai Xing began peppering Shen Huai with questions. "Are you really Ash Wing? Are you really, really Ash Wing? Why didn't you say anything the last time we met?"

Shen Huai didn't know how to explain. Instead, Song Xue-Yang was the one to rap Hai Xing over the head. "Tell you? Would you have believed it?"

Hai Xing considered it. Huh, he really wouldn't have.

Never mind Shen Huai, even when it was Song Xue-Yang himself telling them now, Hai Xing couldn't quite believe it.

Shen Huai picked an empty spot by the door. This was the machine he had used the last time he was here at Maple Moon. Song Xue-Yang was a little dissatisfied by this as the spot was the one farthest away from him. He would have to cross the entire training room every time he wanted to go see Shen Huai.

But then, thinking about how Shen Huai would be his roommate tonight, Song Xue-Yang's mood lightened up. "Come to the custom room 748586. The password is six zeroes. Let's have an arena fight."

Shen Huai took his MuWanGe account into the room. Aside from the few familiar IDs, there was also an ID which read <Master Kun Refuses to Babysit>, which was obviously the team manager.

Seeing Song Xue-Yang move them all over into the blue team, Hai Xing asked, "Why are we all in one team? Aren't we fighting?"

As he said that, another person entered the room. It was an elementalist in a blue robe, with the ID of <Eleven>.

Shen Huai instantly pinged this person as Shi Yi{Fun fact: Though the Chinese characters for Shi Yi's name (时一) are not the same as the characters for the number eleven (十一), they sound the same, which is probably why Shi Yi picked this ID and also why Shen Huai could guess so easily.}. Song Xue-Yang wanted Shi Yi to take turns sparring everyone to gauge his skill level.

"Xing-xing, go fight him," said Song Xue-Yang.

Hai Xing made a noise of acknowledgement. Even though he had no clue who this person was, he still obediently clicked to go up the stage as the others watched from the sidelines.

The elementalist subclass had the highest solo explosive damage within the mage character class and was very agile on their feet, making them good candidates for 1v1 and 2v2 Arena battles. In contrast, Hai Xing's gunner was a character class more suited to team battles and not the Arena stage. Song Xue-Yang clearly only sent him out first as an appetizer.

Due to his opponent's character class advantage, Hai Xing quickly lost the fight, but there also had been nothing particularly noteworthy about Shi Yi's operations. Still, Shi Yi's reaction speed and skill prediction at least met the basic requirements for a pro player.

Zhou Ning was the second one to go up. His heavy swordsman had always been the final line of defense for Maple Moon in the 1v1 arena, so his playstyle was very steady. When he was observing from the sidelines, he did not notice anything special about the elementalist, but now that he was actually fighting the other, the feeling was completely different.

The elementalist's attacks were fierce, and his movements were erratic and difficult to pin down. Zhou Ning was a very experienced player — the moment he saw the opponent beginning to kite{For those unfamiliar with gaming terminology, you may want to look up the gaming maneuver called 'kiting'.} him, he instantly activated the swordsman's common skill 'Windwalking' to cut swiftly to the elementalist's side. Then, a 'Mountain Cleave' to cut off the elementalist's escape path, followed by a  'Shanty Swing' and a 'Moonlit Slash'... where his blade went, the enemy was too overwhelmed to use any skills.

Unlike the swordsman who wields a longsword and prioritizes speed, although a heavy swordsman was slower and bulkier, their combos could be chained one after another. In solo matches, it was very easy to fall under the control of a heavy swordsman's seamless combo-ing, and especially for mages like Shi Yi with their fragile builds, they were pretty much dead as soon as a heavy swordsman catches hold of them.

However, Shi Yi reacted very swiftly and cast a Thunder Spirit Guard on himself as soon as Zhou Ning caught up to him. The Thunder Spirit Guard's protection would last for 5 seconds, reducing received damage by 30%. Most importantly, when the skill's protection faded, it would make the bearer immune to all attacks for one second.

Shi Yi took advantage of this one second to quickly distance himself from Zhou Ning, and his hands were not idle as he did so. He went through the motions of spell after spell — first Thunder Sprite, then Water Spell to impose the water element on his opponent, followed by the special move Heaven's Wrath. Five thunderbolts crashed down over Zhou Ning's head like swiping dragon claws. Wet due to the Water Spell, the damage was doubled, and Zhou Ning was struck dead.

Zhou Ning was stunned for a moment, then he typed out: [ Awesome. ]

But he knew that he had underestimated his opponent.

Song Xue-Yang didn't say anything to him. "Ming, you're up."

Fan Jing-Ming was about to click to hop onto the stage, but found that there was already a dashing female assassin standing there. With two blades in her hands, she was already in a fighting stance, and the red ribbon in her hair was like the flush of a sunset.

So cool! Already going against the old fox's orders on the very first day of joining the team.

Shen Huai sat upright, gaze attentively locked onto the screen. His fingers tapped lightly on his keyboard, signalling his eagerness to fight.

Song Xue-Yang looked towards the seat by the doorway, a faint smile on his lips.

Rousing Shen Huai's fighting spirit enough for him to step up on his own to spar... this Shi Yi had passed.

---

Previous: Chapter 26: I Was Mistaken
Next: Chapter 28: Entrance Test

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