As a Captain, You Must Be Cold

After they entered the game, the idle chatter ceased.

Qi Xian asked: “Captain, are we still practicing the operation lineup of double short/gun today?”

Yu Zhaohan replied, “Yes, we’ll practice.”

In their quadruple queue, they often matched with other professional teams in their skill bracket. In their first match, they encountered a familiar opponent—the IPL.

[[All] IPL Xu: Good evening, Captain Yu~]

[[All] R.H Shine: Good evening]

[[All] IPL Bi An: Seriously? We just got crushed by DSD, and now we have to face you guys again.]

[[All] R.H Cheese: You played against DSD?]

[[All] IPL Bi An: It was a training match that ended an hour ago, and we got brutally beaten by 3-0. Can you believe that they only lost one team fight on a single map?]

[[All] R.H Xian: Hmm… Is it okay to talk about this?]

[[All] R.H Timeless: Trash]

[[All] IPL Bi An: Heh, you’ll find out once you’re done playing against DSD.]

Cheese was startled, “You guys, is DSD really that strong?”

Shi Du didn’t take it seriously: “There are many examples of teams that excel in training matches but perform poorly in official matches.”

“If they only lost one team fight on a single map, DSD must also be running a strategic system,” Qi Xian sighed, “Seems like that’s the answer for this patch.”

Yu Zhaohan held a bottle of Wangzai milk and spoke in a cold tone, “Don’t overthink it. Let’s focus on playing our own game.”

After practicing for three hours, Yu Zhaohan remained in a state of energetic fullness, despite bloodshot eyes. Seeing that he didn’t seem to be ready for rest, Shi Du yawned while caressing the dinosaur’s tail and acted spoiled, “I’m so tired, Captain. I want to sleep.”

Yu Zhaohan said, “You can sleep after this match is over.”

“I can’t stand it anymore.” Qi Xian said, “Brother, will you return to the base tonight?”

Shi Du glanced at Yu Zhaohan, who was immersed in the game without any response, and said, “No, I’m not going back.”

Cheese: “Wow! Does Clownfish’s services include sleeping together too?”

“I don’t know,” Shi Du said, “I’ll ask later, it might be a different price.”

His teammates were all offline, and Yu Zhaohan wanted to continue playing solo when he suddenly felt a tightness in his tail. He followed the dinosaur’s tail and saw Shi Du tugging at it with a somewhat arrogant expression.

Yu Zhaohan hugged the base of the tail, trying to snatch it back: “What are you doing?”

“You stayed up all night yesterday, and now you’re planning to stay up all night again…” Shi Du approached him, crouching down. “Are you trying to write your will or something?”

The squatting Shi Du was finally shorter than him. Yu Zhaohan looked down at him: “I don’t want to lose, I want to win.”

“The premise of not wanting to lose is that you have to be in good condition. If you’re exhausted like a dead fish, you won’t even make it into the match, let alone win.”

Yu Zhaohan said, “But I’m not sleepy now.”

“Do you know that your eyes are already red? They don’t look as beautiful as usual.”

Yu Zhaohan was convinced by his words. “Then please carry me to bed.”

Shi Du was very surprised: “Carry? Can’t I do a koala hug?”

“No.” Yu Zhaohan said, “I’ve thought about it, it seems a bit strange for two boys to hug each other.”

Shi Du was furious for no reason: “Damn it, I want to hug you. Who cares?”

Yu Zhaohan paused for a moment before raising his arms to wrap around Shi Du’s neck.: “You are the one who wants to hug.”

Shi Du smiled: “It’s me, it’s me, it has nothing to do with Yuyu.”

Yu Zhaohan said that he was not sleepy, but his consciousness began to blur as soon as his head touched the pillow. He vaguely heard Shi Du ask: “Do you want to take off the dinosaur pajamas?”

With his eyes half-closed and his body curled up, Yu Zhaohan hugged his tail into his arms in a daze: “No, thank you.”

“Okay.” Shi Du tucked the quilt with the little yellow duck pattern on him, “Go to sleep.”

Before Yu Zhaohan fell asleep completely, he remembered one thing: “Little brother…”

“Um?”

“Photos, remember to look at my old photos.” Yu Zhaohan pointed to the bedside table with difficulty, his voice became smaller and smaller, “I used to be good-looking too. I didn’t lie to you.”

Shi Du looked at the photo frame on the bedside table.

The Sixteen-year-old Yu Zhaohan was wearing the classic blue and white school uniform of high school students, standing on the playground under the sun, smiling brightly at the camera, showing a few fine white teeth.

His features and contours hadn’t fully matured yet, but he was undoubtedly a little beauty. There was a youthful glow in his eyes, and his lips were slightly reddened from the sun, appearing bright and captivating.

Shi Du looked at it for a long time before he remembered to take a picture with his mobile phone. By the way, he also took a sleeping profile photo of nineteen-year-old Yu Zhaohan.

In the span of three years, the little beauty had grown into a great beauty, learning the expressions of “no emotion” and “indifference” but forgetting how to smile and show his teeth.

Yu Zhaohan’s house has four bedrooms and two living rooms, there must be other rooms with beds, but Shi Du was too lazy to look for them. He lay outside the quilt and played with his mobile phone and dinosaur horns, and he didn’t get under the quilt until he fell asleep.

Yu Zhaohan returned home to recharge, and the pressure was relieved, so the next training session went more smoothly. On Saturday, they took a bus to Hangzhou. Seven o’clock in the evening, the match between Hangzhou DSD and Shanghai R.H officially began. One of the two demon kings in the Eastern Division would have to face their first defeat of the season.

The starting lineups for both teams were announced prior to the start of the game. Archer, DSD’s ace long-range shooter and league leader, was not in the starting lineup.

Old Tan was surprised: “Archer isn’t in the starting lineup?”

Lu Youshan focused and said, “It appears that DSD is going for the double short-range operational system, just like us.”

In “Destination,” there was no economic or equipment system. Players accumulated energy through their output to unleash ultimate skills. The so-called operational system referred to the management of ultimate skills. For example, winning the first team fights with the tank’s ultimate skill would grant energy to the double C, allowing them to accumulate their own ultimate skills. Then, in the next team fight, they could win with the ultimate skills of the double C, replenishing energy for the tank and support. This cycle repeated, forming an operational system based on energy accumulation.

“That’s not a problem. We’ve practiced this lineup before,” Old Tan not only focused on the match but also on the fans’ reactions. He opened the Paiya livestream and immediately saw someone mentioning Shi Du’s departure from the base two days ago.

[Is there anyone who doesn’t know that Timeless left the base without permission the day before yesterday]

[So they can play without training before facing DSD, it’s my DSD is not worthy]

[DSD isn’t using Archer? Did the coach take money from R.H?]

Once the lineup was announced, the innocence of DSD’s coach was proven. In the Eastern Division, one of the top-tier long-range shooters did not play, while the other did but did not use a long-range hero.

Yu Zhaohan chooses a hero: Virus.

[Double short-range lineup? Oh my god, it feels like I’m back two years ago.]

[Not surprising. Even the Black Swan got nerfed, and tanks have thick shields in this version. Long-range shooters are going to fall out of favor.]

[In this day and age, even Shine has to go play Virus. Can’t stand it anymore, goodbye.]

The match began, and Yu Zhaohan used stealth and acceleration to be the first to see DSD’s four heroes. “They have a mirrored lineup to ours.”

Shi Du found a good landing spot. “If we can’t win in our matchups, we can’t blame the lineup. That would just mean we’re bad.”

In the first two rounds, DSD’s players were clearly not in their best form, and R.H took two points, reaching match point. DSD’s fans were anxious, yet not completely panicked. They were all waiting for a moment to turn the tables—this was the old culture of DSD.

DSD was a team that took time to warm up, and the most common storyline with them was being crushed in the first round, regaining their form in the second round, and then starting to dominate in the third round. When playing against DSD, one should never relax their guard just because of a temporary lead.

Sure enough, after two rounds, DSD’s form significantly improved, and their operational play became more skillful. They caught up with R.H and tied the score 2-2, both teams reaching match point simultaneously.

The psychological state of the players being chased after by the opposing team had a significant impact. With DSD’s consecutive wins, their morale was high, and the pressure shifted to R.H’s side.

Cheese sighed, “DSD in the first two rounds and the following two rounds are like two different teams. Unbelievable.”

“Forget the first four rounds,” Yu Zhaohan said, “Just as the game has just started, we are standing on the same starting line as them.”

Shi Du said slowly: “Captain, have you considered… changing the lineup?”

Yu Zhaohan only thought, “Double short-range with operational play is the answer for this version. Against teams of similar skill level, long-range shooters will be countered by double short-range.”

“Is that so?” Shi Du said casually, “But I think you are the answer for this version.”

Yu Zhaohan’s heart trembled suddenly.

In the last game, Lu Youshan chose the map with the highest winning percentage of R.H, and the lineups of both sides were still completely the same.DSD’s form was even better than the first two rounds. They quickly captured point A and rushed towards point B with four ultimates. Both assassins focused their attacks and instantly left a previously full-health tank severely damaged.

Lu Youshan was tearful on the sidelines, his voice choked with emotion, “Don’t attack him, attack me! Let me be the one in the front!”

[What the hell, how did they lose with four ultimates?]

[It’s over, let’s congratulate DSD for making it two-three.]

[I don’t understand, what’s the point of having an operating system in a shooting game. Isn’t it good to watch the operation and see the tower pushing game next door? I watch the shooting game competition because I want to see the essence of human aiming. Hope you know]

[Why didn’t they change the lineup? Why didn’t they change the lineup!]

[Maybe R.H collectively forgot how to press the ‘H’ key.]

The most classic and flexible gameplay of “Destination” lies in the ever-changing lineup on the field. Players can press the ‘H’ key to switch heroes based on the current situation and the enemy lineup at the resurrection point. However, once the hero is switched, the energy is reset to zero.

Without the tank to carry the damage, the target point B was lost, and DSD started capturing point B: 1, 2…

R.H organized another wave of attacks, which was easily resolved by DSD using the tank and support’s ultimates. According to Yu Zhaohan’s energy calculation, DSD’s support hero’s ultimate was also fully charged.

Yu Zhaohan’s Virus was the last one to be sent back to the resurrection point.

DSD’s capture progress: 65, 66…

Shine resurrection countdown: 10, 9, 8…

Yu Zhaohan’s fingertips hesitated on the H key.

Double short-range was the version recognized answer by all coaches, and he believed so too.

Being made to chase after two wins were embarrassing. Timeless would protect him and prevent him from being scolded. He had promised to lead Timeless to victory.

As the team captain, he couldn’t go back on his word.

DSD’s capture progress: 85, 86…

“I have an idea,” Shi Du said, “Who can force their support’s ultimate move?”

DSD’s support hero had an ultimate ability that made her invulnerable and provided 500 healing to nearby teammates. One support ultimate was enough to negate the damage caused by a ninja’s ultimate.

“Why do we need to force them to use their ultimate?” Yu Zhaohan’s voice rang out, “If they die, they can’t use it.”

As he spoke, there was a “ding” sound, and DSD’s support hero instantly died.

The commentator exclaimed excitedly, “Shine finally switched heroes! It’s not a short-range shooter, not even an archer— it’s his signature hero, his golden sniper, Black Swan!”

“DSD only just realized it!”

[Oh my god! Shine’s shot is truly reminiscent of the World Cup— the national savior sniper, ah ah ah!]

[Screw the operational play! This is a shooting game, what’s the point of operational play? A beautiful sniper is the coolest!]

The elegant female sniper had somehow circled around to the enemy’s back and killed the full-energy support hero with a headshot. However, in the next moment, DSD’s tank turned towards Yu Zhaohan, and Yu Zhaohan’s bullets hit the shield, unable to damage the enemy. Then, two or three burly men rushed over and killed him.

Yu Zhaohan & Black Swan: “…”

[Fuck, can I undo the comment I just made?]

[This is the status quo of the sniper version, so realistic!]

[As a long-range player, when I see Shine, I can’t help but imagine seven or eight burly men jumping on me. It’s a terrifying feeling, I’m crying]

The corner of Shi Du’s mouth raised, “Rest in peace, Captain. From here on, it’s my turn.”

With the ninja’s ultimate ability activated, DSD, now without their support hero, was defenseless.

Timeless secured a triple kill, DSD was wiped out, and target point B was lost.

After Yu Zhaohan was resurrected, he switched back to Virus. R.H took advantage of this team fight to accumulate energy, activate tank and support ultimates, and formed an operational system, blocking DSD’s successive attacks. In the end, DSD failed to chase after two wins, and R.H won with a score of 3:2, rising to the top of the Eastern Division.

The match was incredibly tough, almost being made to chase after two wins. When “victory” appeared on the screen, Cheese threw off his headphones and threw himself into Yu Zhaohan’s arms, sobbing, “Captain, sniffle, Captain… I’m so bad…”

Yu Zhaohan patted Cheese on the back: “If you know you’re bad, go practice more.”

Shi Du looked at the two of them and teased, “You’re quick to act.”

Qi Xian smiled mischievously and asked, “Little brother, should we join in for a hug too?”

Shi Du chuckled. “Sure.”