As a Captain, You Must Be Cold

Today there were only two training matches, which ended before 9 o’clock. After the matches, it was free practice time, with some people practicing shooting and others playing doubles. After a while, they could leave.

Yu Zhaohan stared at the computer screen without moving for two minutes before slowly opening the game client. Cheese thought that the captain was mentally replaying the training match in his mind, and he didn’t even dare to press hard on the keyboard, for fear of disturbing him. However, Yu Zhaohan was just a little tired and lost in thought.

This week has gone by far too quickly. While Yu Zhaohan diligently practiced his position as Virus, he was unable to leave the command and sniper positions. There was simply not enough time. He slept around three or four in the morning every day and woke up at eight or nine. He even stayed up all night yesterday, yet he still hadn’t developed any pimples, and his skin remained delicate and radiant.

No, that wasn’t the point. The point was that Hangzhou DSD would be the first mini-boss they had to defeat this season. Usually, their win rate against R.H and DSD in practice matches was only around 50%. This time, the match would be held in Hangzhou, their home.

Yu Zhaohan went to the shooting range. His mind was in a state of emptiness, relying solely on muscle memory for his actions. To force himself to concentrate, Yu Zhaohan decided to play ladder matches. After three minutes into the game, he found his teammates’ communication annoying and mechanically played without even knowing what he was doing.

Yu Zhaohan realized the seriousness of the problem.

No, Shine was under too much pressure. He needed to go offline forcibly and let Yuyu take over to recharge; otherwise, he would die. In the past few days, Shine only eats, sleeps, and trains. It has been a long time since he transformed. The last time this happened to him was when Black Swan was weakened. At that time, he was also under a lot of pressure. In order to relieve the pressure, he indulged himself in the base for a while, and then…

Yu Zhaohan glanced at Shi Du who was sitting next to him.

The boy was wearing earphones and was completely focused on the screen. Although his mouse movements were small, his keyboard made a rapid clattering sound.

Shi Du was usually carefree, but he became serious during training and matches. His seriousness had a kind of indescribable, uniquely handsome charm.

Yu Zhaohan opened his friend list and waited for Timeless’ status to change from “in a ranked match” to “in the settlement” before sending him a message.

[Shine: Shi Du, I want to go out for a while, will you accompany me?]

[Timeless: Where to?]

[Shine: My home]

Shi Du turned his head to look at Yu Zhaohan.

[Timeless: You are beautiful, but I have to practice more tonight]

[Shine: We can practice at my place too. I’ll show you my dinosaur pajamas.]

[Timeless: .]

[Timeless: When do we leave?]

[Shine: Let’s split up, you go ahead and wait for me in the garage]

Before leaving, Yu Zhaohan reminded Shi Du to bring his “eating utensils.”

For professional players, their “eating utensils” undoubtedly referred to their mouse and keyboard. Lu Youshan saw Shi Du packing up his equipment and asked, “What are you doing?”

Shi Du stuffed the mouse and keyboard into his bag, and swung his backpack on his back: “Going out to play.”

Lu Youshan was shocked, “We’re going to face DSD in two days, and you’re telling me now that you want to go out and play?”

“Yes.”

“And you dare to say that?!” Lu Youshan rolled up his sleeves and was ready to fight Shi Du, but Qi Xian stopped him and said, “You’re listening to Timeless nonsense. Who goes out to play with a mouse and keyboard? Timeless most likely wants to practice in a different location. You’ll see if he comes online later.”

“Why change places?” Lu Youshan couldn’t understand, “Is there radiation in the base?”

Yu Zhaohan stood up and said calmly, “I will also go back to my room to train tonight.”

Shine’s statement also made Lu Youshan widen his eyes: “What’s wrong with them?”

Qi Xian squinted his eyes, watching Yu Zhaohan leave the training room, and chuckled, “Maybe they find you too noisy.”

Yu Zhaohan’s SUV drove out of the base a few minutes later.

Shi Du knew that Yu Zhaohan would only take out the decompression attribute to wear when he was under tremendous pressure. He asked, “Are you tired?”

Yu Zhaohan really wanted to act spoiled, but unfortunately, he was driving, so he could only keep a poker face and say, “Exhausted. I might turn into a useless Yuyu.”

Shi Du was amused and distressed: “So you want to wear a little dinosaur pajama to restore your energy?”

“Yes.” Yu Zhaohan said, “I still need to drink five bottles of Wangzai milk.”

Shi Du didn’t sleep much these days as well, so he wanted to catch up on sleep whenever he had time. He reclined the passenger seat and lay down, closing his eyes to rest. “So are we going back to the house Yuyu bought, the 150-square-meter one?”

Yu Zhaohan said: “I was thinking of going back to my mom’s place…”

Shi Du sat up suddenly: “Are you kidding me? I didn’t prepare any presents, and I didn’t change clothes. I…I’m not mature at all now. How can I see your mother? By the way, does your mother like gray hair?”

Shi Du dressed casually in a hoodie and jeans because he was going in a hurry. As he spoke, he considered removing the dark red earring from his ear but accidentally hurt himself, “fuck,” he cursed in annoyance.

Yu Zhaohan was surprised by such a big reaction from Shi Du. He explained: “That’s what I was thinking initially, but it’s a bit late now. If I bring guests back to my mom’s place, she’ll have to go through a lot of trouble. So, let’s go to the house Yuyu bought with full payment, the 150-square-meter one.”

Shi Du let out a sigh of relief and lay back down. “You should have said that earlier.”

Yu Zhaohan’s house was not far from the base, and the drive takes only half an hour. Yu Zhaohan didn’t return to this house very often, so he didn’t stock up on food. Before returning home, the two went to the supermarket.

Shi Du picked up a box of Wangzai milk and put it into the shopping cart, and out of the corner of his eye, he saw a passerby not far away who had been watching him.

Even with his hat and mask on, and his forehead covered by the hat, this person could still recognize him. The eyes of a shooting game player were truly sharp.

After confirming multiple times, the passerby cautiously approached Shi Du. “Excuse me, are you Timeless?”

Just as Shi Du was about to speak, he saw Yu Zhaohan walking towards him with a bunch of snacks in his arms.

“Shi Du, I took a lot…” Yu Zhaohan’s voice trailed off as the passerby turned their attention toward him.

Shi Du stretched out his hand and hugged Yu Zhaohan into his arms.

Yu Zhaohan froze in place.

He held the potato chips and marshmallows while Shi Du held him.

Yu Zhaohan raised his head to see what was going on, but just when he exposed his eyes, Shi Du pressed his head back into his arms, preventing him from seeing anything. He heard Shi Du’s voice from above: “Sorry, you got the wrong person.”

The passerby stood there for a few seconds, only realizing what had happened after the two of them had walked away. They quickly took out their phone and took a picture.

Yu Zhaohan was led forward by Shi Du, and asked, “Did someone recognize you?”

Shi Du absentmindedly replied, “I don’t think so.” It was usually fine to be recognized by fans outside, but now with the R.H and DSD competitions approaching, if that passerby shared their encounter at the supermarket online, it could create some trouble.

Yu Zhaohan said worriedly, “But I just called your name.”

“Did you? Your voice was too small, I didn’t hear it.”

Yu Zhaohan must maintain Shine’s appearance style in the base, but he does not have to worry about it in his own home. The house was decorated in a fresh and warm style, with warm colors and fluffy carpets, and plush toys scattered around. Just on the sofa, there was a unicorn and a hippopotamus. The vase on the coffee table didn’t contain flowers, but a few pristine white feathers.

“The E-sports room is that one,” Yu Zhaohan pointed to a door and said, “You go set up the equipment, I’ll go change my clothes.”

Shi Du pushed open the door and saw a sky-blue space capsule. It was an esports chair that integrated both the desk and the chair. Shi Du had bought a few of them before, but he had never bought a chair with a cat cabin at the back.

Shi Du smiled and connected the mouse and keyboard he brought with him to another regular computer.

A few minutes later, Yu Zhaohan came wearing a little dinosaur. This dinosaur was different from the one in the base; it was a white dinosaur with blue horns and tail. The tail was thicker and longer, with the tip thicker than Yu Zhaohan’s thigh, gradually tapering and ending in a small point.

They had already wasted an hour traveling from the base to here, and Yu Zhaohan was a bit anxious. “Timeless, you go solo first. I want to review the two training matches we just played.”

Shi Du replied with an “Okay.”

Once Yu Zhaohan put on the dinosaur pajamas and took a sip of sweet milk, he suddenly became radiant and a bit plump. Shi Du watched him struggle to climb into the space capsule, sitting uncomfortably in the esports chair, and couldn’t help but ask knowingly, “What’s wrong?”

“The tail,” Yu Zhaohan said worriedly, “I can’t place the tail properly.”

Shi Du suppressed his laughter and said, “If you can’t place it properly, just hold it.”

Yu Zhaohan furrowed his brows slightly, “How am I supposed to hold it? I need to operate the computer.”

Shi Du bent down, picked up Yu Zhaohan’s tail, and put it on his lap: “Is this okay, I’ll keep it for you.”

Yu Zhaohan relaxed his eyebrows: “Yes, thank you.”

Yu Zhaohan focused on reviewing the matches while Shi Du played solo queue on the side, taking a peek whenever there was a break in the queue.

Yu Zhaohan would occasionally take them to review the games at the base. He rarely spoke during the review. He would usually pause at problematic moments and let his teammates figure out their mistakes themselves. But now—

Yu Zhaohan found himself caught in the same place twice in a row by the opposite assassin and was somewhat angry with himself.

“What an ugly move. This is the second time, Shine.” He tapped his horn with a pen, “Don’t make this mistake again next time.”

Shi Du: “…”

Shi Du pinched Yu Zhaohan’s tail and decisively looked away. If he continued to watch, his training for tonight would be a complete waste.

After Yu Zhaohan finished reviewing, he made notes and knew he would review again with his teammates tomorrow. Shi Du asked, “Quadruple queue? Cheese and Xian Ge are both available.”

“Okay.”

Yu Zhaohan logged into his main account and was invited to a team by Qi Xian. As soon as he entered, he heard Cheese questioning: “Say, Timeless, who are you with now, tell me!”

Yu Zhaohan and Shi Du looked at each other. Yu Zhaohan said with his eyes: Shi Du, we have been discovered!

Shi Du looked back at him: Don’t panic.

Shi Du asked Cheese, “What do you mean?”

“You were photographed by a fan again, do you know that!” Cheese said, “They posted pictures of your back on the forums—Who is the person in your arms?!”

If Cheese couldn’t even recognize him, then the others couldn’t recognize him either. It seemed that he hid Yu Zhaohan well.

Shi Du: “The clownfish isn’t ugly.”

Cheese exclaimed in surprise, “It’s that the gaming companion? Isn’t that a male companion?”

“He’s a technical gaming companion, and I don’t care about how he looks when I play with him,” Shi Du said earnestly, “Even if he’s not cute at all, I’m still willing to play with him.”

Cheese: “…Did I ask you so many questions?”

Qi Xian: “The haters are going to be fired up when you are photographed outside at this time.”

“It’s fine if we win, but if we lose, we’ll definitely get flamed,” Cheese took on the persona of an online hater and improvised, “They’re about to have a match, and he’s still wandering around outside. If he likes going to the supermarket so much, he should just work at one. He doesn’t fucking deserve to win.”

“Am I stupid?” Shi Du sneered, “I can just throw my online playing time in the hater’s face.”

Cheese: “Haters aren’t stupid either. They can say it’s someone else playing on your account. Just in case, I’ll help you with some screen recording. No need to thank me.”

At this time, Yu Zhaohan finally spoke: “Timeless.”

“Here.”

“I won’t let you get criticized—I’ll lead you to victory, don’t be afraid.”

Shi Du blinked slightly and smiled, “I’m not afraid. I know the captain will protect me.”

Cheese let out a gasp, his voice slightly trembling, “Good tea, oh little brother, you’re really good tea!”1 Note: “Good tea” is a slang term in Chinese internet culture meaning something along the lines of “excellent” or “top-tier”