Chapter 26: I Have A Squad
Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
Zhuo Xiaobai and Lu Ren rushed over very early that morning. Without turning on any device, they occupied the seats right in the main hall.
The Sky Galaxy Cybercafe was professional enough to set up an extremely large screen in its main hall to allow the audience to watch the tournament.
Zhao Yin headed for the cybercafe very early as well. He went up to Zhuo Xiaobai and asked, "Where is our favorite high-flyer? Is he not here yet?"
Reading in between the lines, his words were teeming with provocation and sarcasm. Whenever he thought of being rivals in love and such things, he wanted to seize the opportunity to add a few kicks if it ever presented itself. Otherwise, he would never be able to forgive himself for going easy on Chen Mu.
"Huh, you're that eager to get beaten up into a pulp?" Zhuo Xiaobai's first response was to defend his own classmate. He hated Zhao Yin and his snobbish face the most.
"Hmph, I'm just concerned that not everyone in his team managed to make it for the tournament. A group of people who can't even reach a thousand ELO points combined is going to participate in the tournament? What a laugh." Zhao Yin sneered.
Amidst their quarrel, a group of people walked in and attracted everyone's attention.
"Brother Shi is here!" Someone said.
"Oh my, that's really Brother Shi! So it's true that he's joining this tournament. I'm guessing he will place at least in the top three." Everyone familiar with him started to discuss among themselves.
"Who's Brother Shi?" Zhuo Xiaobai asked Lu Ren.
"Huh, you don't know Brother Shi? What have you been doing, coming to Sky Galaxy Cybercafe? He specializes in boosting players below a thousand and eight hundred ELO points with the condition of payment. He won't charge you anything if your win rate is below eighty. He's the most popular vote to become this tournament's champion." Zhao Yin sneered at Zhao Xiaobai as he eagerly waved to Brother Shi.
Although Brother Shi was expressionless, he still reciprocated with a slight nod.
"See that? That's a validation of my skills. Nobody would glance at you unless you're good," said Zhao Yin.
"Sounds like an *ss-licking dog," murmured Zhao Xiaobai in disdain.
"What did you say?" Zhao Yin did not hear him.
"Participants, please take your place! We're going to take your attendance!" The person in charge from the cybercafe appeared and started the preparations for the tournament.
"Watch carefully and learn something!" said Zhao Yin.
"May you last until the second round!" Zhuo Xiaobai returned a shot.
Meanwhile, Brother Shi was busy making calls. 'This Chen Mu won't be a no-show, will he? Damnit, my calls won't connect no matter what!'
In truth, Chen Mu was running toward the cybercafe. The reason why Brother Shi's calls would not connect to his phone was that his phone bills were overdue.
Everyone had a phone. Without any exception, Chen Mu owned a durable national smart device.
However, he had only signed up for the cheapest package at eight yuan. With a monthly fee of eight bucks, he would use communication apps whenever he found wifi. Otherwise, he would fake his death—he would only accept calls but never made calls himself.
As for the reason he was late this time, it was mainly due to the System's harsh training.
Chen Mu was required to use his mouse to practice endless attack moves. Using the champion named the Plague Rat, Chen Mu had to equip himself with an item build that allowed him to have an attack speed of 2.0 and execute attack moves on a computer-controlled AI. Not even a 0.2-second pause was allowed in between his attacks.
Chen Mu practiced for three whole hours and made more than a thousand attack moves before he barely fulfilled the System's requirements.
Then, he glanced at the time only to realize that the tournament was about to start.
He rushed toward the cybercafe like he was competing in a hundred-meter sprint.
"Heh, it seems like the participants' names are going to be finalized soon. However, our dear high-flyer Chen isn't here yet. What a shame. What a shame." Zhao Yin crossed his hands over his chest and raised his nose to face the sky. His face was full of glee.
Other students from Chuzhou No.9 High School were as equally dissatisfied. After hearing about the promised showdown between Chen Mu and Zhao Yin, everyone had come crowding over to watch. If in the end, they did not even get to see Chen Mu, It would indeed be a shame!
"Let's go. Let's go. Chen Mu is nothing but just a brag. So what if he has good grades when he has such bad character?" Someone came up with an insult.
"Exactly! He promised to show up but he didn't. People like that, tsktsk," someone else added on.
"I'm guessing that it's because he couldn't find people to join his team. That's why he's too ashamed to show up. However, I don't think you should talk about him like that. He's the legendary high-flyer; the apple of the teacher's eye, haha!" Not many people from Zhao Yin's class liked Chen Mu. Hence, it did not feel wrong for them to talk on their class' behalf.
"Big Bro Bai, will Chen Mu really turn out to be a no-show?" asked Lu Ren.
"Don't worry. I'm sure he was just delayed by something. Chen Mu is a really amazing player. Give him Noxus' Hand any day and he'll get pentakills." Zhuo Xiaobai firmly believed in Chen Mu's skills.
"He's here! Chen Mu's here!" someone recognized Chen Mu from afar and shouted immediately.
Everyone's gaze turned to look at the entrance. They saw a teenager approaching the cybercafe in a sprint. Was the person not Chen Mu?
"Who said Chen Mu wasn't going to come? Open your eyes wide and look!" In an exalted tone, Zhuo Xiaobai teased the people who had spoken against Chen Mu just now.
"Hmph, what's the use of coming alone? You have to be in a team of five to join the tournament. Did he think he's here for a solo match?" Zhao Yin said in disdain. 'So what if you're here? You don't have enough people to form a team and registration ended a long time ago.'
Gasping for breath, Chen Mu entered the cybercafe with a head full of sweat.
At the time, a girl handed him a tissue in concern.
Taking the tissue paper, Chen Mu hurriedly thanked her, "Hey, thank you."
The girl blushed slightly. She was one of Zhao Yin's classmates. She did not play a lot of games but when she heard that Chen Mu was joining the tournament, she came to join in the fun. Seeing Chen Mu up close, she noticed that he looked more handsome compared to when she looked at him from afar. Her heart began to beat faster the moment she heard Chen Mu's word of thanks.
Looking at her, Chen Mu thought she was rather cute. He rated her slightly better than average and thought that she was quite attractive.
However, just as he was about to ask for her number—to get to know each other when he was free—the System reminded him that he was not allowed to initiate contact with girls as it was a behavior that implied him getting into a relationship.
Chen Mu almost spat blood. What a joyous Unkillable Demon King System! Should it not be called a Singles-Only System instead?!
The boys from Zhao Yin's class noticed that the girl from their class had defected to the enemy and became even angrier. All of a sudden, Chen Mu became the entire class' public enemy!
"The grand high-flyer is here! Where's your team? This isn't a solo tournament, y'know," said Zhao Yin as he approached Chen Mu. After seeing how Wang Xiaxia from his class had fallen head over heels for Chen Mu, the hostility in his voice grew stronger. 'What's so good looking about this gigolo? Must you stare at him like that the whole time?'
"Oh, my team is already here. I came over to look for them," said Chen Mu as he wiped the sweat off his brows.
"Who? Why don't I see anyone?" Before Zhao Yin could finish his sentence, a tall young man crossed over his line of sight and walked straight at Chen Mu. Then, the man grabbed Chen Mu's hand and said, "You're finally here. I almost thought you were going to stand me up."
"..." The jaws of everyone from Zhao Yin's class fell to the floor. What the heck! The most likely winner, Brother Shi, was part of Chen Mu's team!
A classmate who was standing close to Zhao Yin approached him and asked, "What's going on? How did he become someone on Brother Shi's team?"
Zhao Yin inhaled sharply and said in a calm voice, "No worries. Even though their squad is strong. I've looked Chen Mu up and found that he has only matched up against AIs. I'm guessing that he joined them because they know each other. With the five of us at a thousand five hundred ELO points, we might be able to defeat them after all. Regardless! Even if we lose, I'll slaughter Chen Mu!"
"You're right. How dare that son of a b*tch flirt with Wang Xiaxia. I'll kill him so many times until he regrets ever playing this game," replied Zhao Yin's teammate.
"This is so OP, Chen Mu. You actually know a pro player! You've got a coattail to ride on, eh?" Zhuo Xiaobai chortled. The slap in the face to his enemy felt really good. 'You can say I'm bad, but my teammate is strong. He'll torture you all the same.'
Therefore, under the crowd's scrutiny, Chen Mu walked toward the tournament area. Soon enough, the lot match ups for the first match were about to be drawn.
-- Gift
received