Chapter 2: Hot Search

Laughter and whistles surrounded him as Sang Ye quickly closed his tablet, sitting beneath the warm air vent, his whole body burning up. He grabbed a bottle of water from the floor and gulped down two mouthfuls to cool down.

The broadcast director knew when to stop, and the leaderboard flashed on the big screen.

When Sang Ye saw WLG’s team logo at the bottom of the rankings, his hand paused mid-twist of the bottle cap.

According to the rules, the bottom three teams tonight would face relegation and lose their spot in the top-tier league.

WLG had too few points—elimination was inevitable.

If they could pull off five wins out of six matches tonight, they might still have a chance to avoid relegation, but that was highly unlikely.

Sang Ye reopened his tablet, erased the second half of his message, and held it up again.

[WLG NEVER GIVES UP]

There were still many WLG fans in the audience. Their spirits were already calm, quietly waving their support signs. They didn’t want to disturb their favorite team or hope to be noticed.

The players entered the preparation phase, and the game began its countdown. Just then, the camera zoomed in on WLG’s player zone.

On the big screen, team captain Talk lowered his gaze and raised one hand high, pointing upwards.

Sang Ye froze for a second, then felt his heart race, his ears filled with the rushing sound of blood.

In the 2020 Summer Tournament, when WLG was on the verge of missing the top 16, Talk made this gesture.

In the 2021 Asia Invitational, WLG was relentlessly targeted by the Korean team, seemingly doomed not to advance, and Talk made this gesture.

In the same year, during the World Championship, WLG was only halfway through the tournament, sitting at sixth place, while the spotlight was already on two North American teams for the title. Talk made this gesture.

He had said, “A true warrior never dies; the final outcome is yet to be determined.”

Anyone who had ever supported WLG knew exactly what this gesture meant.

Many, seeing this scene, were moved to tears, unable to suppress the surge of emotion, shouting out their excitement from deep within.

This godlike man had noticed them!

And once he made a promise, he always delivered!

In the few seconds before the match began, Talk gave both his teammates and the audience a strong dose of confidence, and the subsequent matches proved that he never let anyone down.

WLG performed steadily in the first two rounds, finishing 5th and 3rd, respectively. Starting from the third round, they secured two consecutive victories.

The long-awaited triumph sent the fans into a frenzy. For the past month, WLG had been relentlessly beaten down, and all the frustration they endured was finally swept away.

Sure enough, Talk’s return meant their backbone was back!

At that moment, the broadcast director switched the camera to the player seats.

As soon as the game ended, Talk yanked off his headphones and left his seat without a backward glance.

The big screen barely managed to capture a glimpse of him as he rushed past. His face was pale as paper, his jawline sharp and dripping with sweat, as if he had just been pulled out of the water.

Sang Ye, sitting in the front row and close to the stage, shifted his gaze from the screen to the side of the stage, watching that tall figure push open the door and disappear into the backstage area.

The double doors swung back and forth from the force, and the breeze seemed to reach him, calming him down a bit.

From the first round to now, nearly two hours had passed.

After the fourth round, the event organizers extended the intermission to 20 minutes to give the players a chance to recover.

Inside WLG’s locker room.

The team manager found an excuse to send everyone else to the public lounge and leaned against the wall outside the adjoining washroom, biting his nails with a frown.

After waiting for a quarter of an hour, the door finally opened from the inside.

Talk emerged, his eyelids drooping, his face showing signs of having been washed.

Seeing the manager waiting outside, he asked, “What’s up?”

The manager looked conflicted, hesitating for a while before gritting his teeth and pulling out a rattling bottle of pills from his pocket, handing it over.

Talk glanced at the pill bottle.

When he looked back at the manager, his tone had changed, “Are you serious?”

…

There were two matches left in the day’s competition. The players returned to the arena, and the camera panned between the different teams.

When it landed on Talk, he was seen turning to speak with a teammate, and his face showed no signs of anything unusual.

Sang Ye rubbed his eyelids with his palm, adjusted his posture into a more relaxed one, and continued watching the match.

Perhaps knowing that there weren’t many opportunities left, WLG played much more aggressively in the next two rounds.

In the fifth round, although they didn’t win, they secured the same points as the winning team due to their high kill count and dominance on the desert map.

In the final round, WLG’s plan fell apart, leaving only Talk to make it to the final circle, where he encountered three players from NSN.

Male commentator: “What a shame. Talk is a lone wolf, and NSN can easily suppress him with just their firepower.”

Female commentator: “Exactly. If Talk wins this round, WLG could avoid relegation. But now… well, we can only say they gave it their best.”

The final circle was set in a wheat field, and NSN spread out in three directions, closing in on the house area. They didn’t even bother tossing grenades to clear it, clearly underestimating the lone player.

However, their captain, Kay, remained cautious. As he approached a haystack, he quickly took cover behind it and called to his teammates on both sides, “Go, go, go, I’ll cover!”

Kay positioned his gun around the haystack, using a scope to search for Talk’s location, leaning slightly to the side.

But before his vision fully adjusted to the 8x scope, a burst from an M24 hit his level-3 helmet. As his health bar plummeted, another shot followed.

Headshot kill.

“D*mn it!” Kay slammed his fist against the mechanical keyboard.

The crowd erupted in gasps of disbelief.

In the final circle, under immense pressure, Talk still dared to use a sniper? That’s not something a mere human can do—he’s a god!

After firing the shot that sniped Kay, Talk’s position was exposed. He quickly threw a smoke grenade to conceal his movement.

The remaining two enemies launched a fierce attack—one crazily tossing grenades, while the other sprayed bullets into the smoke. Calmly, Talk switched to his M416, pressed against the back of a car, and counted down.

As the smoke cleared, Talk emerged from an unexpected position and hip-fired at the enemy on the left, instantly taking him down.

The second enemy arrived just in time, thinking he could launch a sneak attack from behind, but ended up face-to-face with Talk. Both sides opened fire, but the enemy couldn’t match the reaction speed of the gun god. Talk survived with a sliver of health, while the enemy fell.

Game over.

[Winner Winner Chicken Dinner!]

The male commentator’s voice cracked with excitement: “That was a frame-perfect shot! A 1v3 in the most extreme conditions! This has to be the best highlight of the Spring Tournament!”

The female commentator clapped her hands: “Let’s congratulate Talk! And congratulate WLG for winning the final round!”

WLG shot up two places on the leaderboard, securing their spot and avoiding relegation!

Not just the fans, but even the audience in the other teams’ section stood up and applauded.

The boy sitting next to Sang Ye rubbed his arms and let out a “Phew” sound: “Talk is terrifying—he’s shown me something unreal.” He turned and asked, “Aren’t you a streamer? What do you think of that play?”

Sang Ye rested his chin on one hand, his eyes drifting toward Tan Mo on the big screen, still trying to maintain a cool and aloof appearance:

“Don’t mess with a lone wolf.”

Just then, the light swept over him, revealing his ears, sticking out from his creamy-white hair, flushed bright red.

…

WLG ended their Spring Tournament journey with an impressive 103 points, ranking first for the day. Not only did they deliver several memorable moments, but their player Talk was also named MVP of the event.

However, these achievements couldn’t change the fact that WLG failed to reach the top 16 and had been eliminated.

The players packed their things, slung their bags over their shoulders, and left the locker room with their heads hanging low.

Tan Mo, at the back of the group, was called out by the team manager: “A-Mo, can you stay for a moment?”

Tan Mo half-closed the door and leaned against the wall. “What’s up?”

The manager rubbed his knees, took a deep breath, and stood up. “I’ve discussed it with the coach. When we return, we’ll be bringing in a new assaulter for the team.”

Tan Mo looked at him without speaking.

In the silence, the manager seemed to struggle for breath, about to offer further explanation—

“What?” Tan Mo said calmly. “Planning to replace me?”

The team traveled back and forth by chartered bus.

A boy ran onto the bus a little late, slightly out of breath—it was Shine, the team’s second assaulter.

Knowing everyone had been waiting for him, Shine apologized repeatedly as he walked toward the back.

The coach glanced at him through the seats and suddenly asked, “Did you run into NSN’s manager after using the restroom?”

Shine froze mid-step, seemingly swallowing hard, though his expression was hard to read in the dim bus lighting.

“Yeah… we happened to meet, so we walked back together.”

The manager looked at Shine’s back and asked the coach, “What’s up?”

The coach waved his hand, his expression sour. “Nothing.”

…

Late into the night, almost at midnight, a live stream titled [Waiting at the Airport, Quick Stream] unexpectedly made it to the homepage of the “Chicken Dinner Every Day” section on the Maoya platform. The stream’s aesthetic was somewhat out of place.

Sang Ye entered the lobby, casually grabbed a box of Häagen-Dazs from the freezer, and found a seat near some potted plants.

The surroundings were peaceful, and the dim amber lighting overhead was easy on the eyes, almost making him feel drowsy.

He placed his phone on the table and, seeing the viewer count already at 80,000, raised an eyebrow. “Don’t you people sleep?”

[“You’re finally online, Fu Gui¹~”]

[“Missing in action, but you’re back!]”

[“Aren’t you the one who hasn’t slept? You ghosted us for a week, why stream all of a sudden?”]

Sang Ye rubbed his eyes, his voice, with the clarity of a young man, relaxed. “I haven’t worked in a week, so I figured I’d catch up on some stream hours while I have time.”

[“Such a good boy, our Fu Gui~”]

[“Saw you up close in HD during the official live stream tonight. Turns out, you don’t even use beauty filters when you stream.”]

[“It’s the bad stream quality that hid your looks all this time. What kind of diet gives you a face this perfect? TAT”]

Sang Ye glanced at the compliments about his looks, forgetting them immediately. He grabbed the ice cream, planning to eat something cold to wake himself up.

[“Do you think I’ve never been in an airport? Waiting areas don’t look like that. Are you in a buffet restaurant? Streamers these days, every one of you has to show off.”]

“It is an airport.” Sang Ye flipped his camera around, pointing it at the entrance sign. “This place just happens to have a buffet.”

A sign with the illuminated words “VIP LOUNGE” hung above the doorframe.

The live chat instantly turned golden.

[“Fortune brought us together.”]

[“No surprise, you’re a walking VIP.”]

[“For those who think it’s a flex, maybe your airport lounge is a little different from Fu Gui’s.”]

Sang Ye casually opened his ice cream and absentmindedly watched the chat.

[“Have you been watching the tournament live all week?”]

[“Confessing to Talk in front of two billion online and offline viewers, telling him to face off head-on—you’re quite brave.”]

[“Alright, now the whole world knows you’re Talk’s wife fan.”]

[“Officially stamped as the wife fan.”]

Seeing the conversation veering off track, Sang Ye’s hand twitched, nearly sending the plastic spoon flying: “What I was trying to write was…”

But the audience clearly had no interest in his explanation. Within seconds, the screen was flooded with messages repeating [“Talk’s wife fan”].

Blood rushed to Sang Ye’s face as he picked up his phone, intending to end the stream: “Then I’m leaving.”

[“Don’t leave, Fu Gui!”]

[“Just teasing!”]

[“It’s just a joke, I’m the real wife fan of Talk! It’s me!”]

…

The fans flattered and coaxed Sang Ye for a while before he finally put his phone down again.

Sang Ye put on a sulky expression, saving his energy for explanations.

After all, this issue was as hard to clear up as jumping into the Yellow River.

After a while, the number of viewers in the stream increased, and inevitably, some trolls joined in.

[“Went to the live event just to see WLG get eliminated? Do all WLG fans have a masochistic streak?”]

[“WLG is definitely match-fixing. Don’t ask why, just ask how they can’t even make the top sixteen—it’s suspicious!”]

[“After this battle, WLG is completely finished.”]

There were plenty of similar chaotic comments.

Sang Ye found them annoying and couldn’t be bothered to respond to each one or mute the offenders.

Since WLG’s victory tonight deserved to be celebrated, he took out another phone, opened Taobao’s WLG store, and announced:

“Now, if each person praises ‘my husband’ in the chat, we’ll draw for official co-branded keyboards and gaming chairs—let’s give away… a hundred sets.”

“‘My husband’ refers to WLG, the nickname fans gave the team based on the abbreviation W-L-G. Each set of keyboard and gaming chair costs three thousand, so a hundred sets…”

The audience was stunned. After a few seconds, a flood of comments summed up in one sentence:

[“I didn’t want to, but he’s giving away so much.”]

…

Sang Ye held the spoon with ice cream in his mouth, feeling the cold, velvety milk flavor melt on his tongue.

At that moment, the comments in the stream were filled with praise. Although bought with money and not without its false elements, the joy he felt was real.

Amidst the barrage of [“WLG is amazing!”] and [“My husband is amazing!”], Sang Ye wasn’t entirely lost.

He replied to a few messages and looked back at the stream, only to find a few discordant comments mixed in.

[“Talk is on drugs during the match.”]

[“Talk is on drugs!”]

Sang Ye ground his teeth, unable to tolerate the rumors, and prepared to report each comment: “You…”

Before he could even utter the curse, a flood of related comments appeared.

[“Talk’s drug use is trending! Everyone go check it out!!!”]

Sang Ye blinked, paused for a moment, and picked up another phone to open Weibo.

At the top of the trending list, he saw—

#Talk Spring Tournament Drug Use#

Note :

“富贵” (Fù Guì) in Chinese translates to “wealth” and “honor” or “prosperity. ↩︎