Accompany You Ch 14.3

Chapter 14: Sleepless Night in Seattle (Part 3)

There was still one week before the transfer window closed. Finding all of the four remaining teammates was the crux to the official formation of their team.

The start went much more smoother than Qiu Ying imagined. In the evening while in Qiu Ying’s house, Ji Xiangkong sent out a WeChat message and got a response within several seconds.

“A’xuan, I want to form my own team. Are you in or not?”

“I’m in!”

Qiu Ying goggled. Lin Yixuan’s difficulty was honestly too low, much like the Pikachu that was given away for free in the opening system of Pokemon.

The next day, she went with Ji Xiangkong to Sun Zeyi’s internet cafe. Five minutes later, they had successfully acquired one ancient god.

Sun Zeyi carried the sun-dried bedsheets from the courtyard into the room. When he turned to speak to Ji Xiangkong, the rims of his eyes were ever-so-slightly red. “I’m the only one left out of our generation of professional Conquer players. I’m already nearing 30. I was going to retire, but since you believe in me so much, I’ll do my best. I’ll fight for one more year.”

When night fell, Sun great-god was cooking in the kitchen as Ji Xiangkong, Lin Yixuan, and Qiu Ying sat around the table discussing their candidates for the remaining two positions.

The little loli Sun Qian was next to Ji Xiangkong and tugged on the hem of his clothes. He looked at Qiu Ying across from him, smiled, and shook his head at her. Lin Yixuan to the side understood even without words and opened his arms up, all smiles. “Qianqian, come sit on A’xuan gege’s lap!”

Sun Qian’s small mouth puckered and she unhappily ran off.

The adults continued to discuss the matter at hand. Currently, they were still lacking a mid and jungler, and these two positions were where Chinese Conquer was currently most lacking in talent.

Lin Yixuan thought for a bit and then said, “Actually, I can also play mid. If we find another support, our choices expand even more that way.”

Seeing Qiu Ying’s uncomprehending face, Ji Xiangkong supplied, “A’xuan was also the solo mid World Champion.”

“Then why switch to support?”

Lin Yixuan rested his head on Ji Xiangkong’s shoulder, raised his hand to stroke his chin, and said glibly, “Because of love. Back then, the team didn’t have a support and Xiangkong wanted me to play it, so I did.”

Qiu Ying’s goosebumps rose up all over the place. She saw Ji Xiangkong lower his eyes and laugh. “A’xuan, thank you.”

While it always looked like he was normally doing improv comedy, Lin Yixuan’s strength could absolutely rank in the top three domestic supports. Every since returning from Seattle, several first-string teams invited him to join them, yet he only had one condition: bring Ji Xiangkong.

Lin Yixuan took Ji Xiangkong by the shoulder and patted it. “Conquer is a brothers’ game. We were forced by our contracts before, but now, wherever you go, I’ll follow.”

Ji Xiangkong tilted his head to look at him, his peach-blossom eyes alight. “A’xuan, you really are good.”

Qiu Ying coughed several times, hard. “About mid… how about Pei Xi?”

Ji Xiangkong put aside his careless smile to shake his head. “Pei Xi’s worth millions. I can’t invite him now.”

“Hey, if you asked me, can’t you just release a sexy photo album or something? Cash’ll come rolling in, would you still need to worry about the club not having money?”

Saying this, Lin Yixuan turned. Aslipper hurtled through the air to brush past his cheek and bounce off the wall behind him. His face drained of color in fear as he hurried to explain, “I…I…I wasn’t talking about you, Ying meimei! I meant Xiangkong!”

Qiu Ying stopped for a bit. That was even less allowed.

Ji Xiangkong contemplated, “Pei Xi isn’t doing well right now either. After Legend lost, public opinion all blamed him for having a cancerous play style and lacking team spirit. He’s already offered to leave the team by himself, so now he’s just like me and hasn’t yet contracted with any club.”

“They’re not wrong, he’s cancer.” Lin Yixuan shrugged. “But since he’s an extremely strong person and his popularity is high too, he probably still has lot of teams who want him.”

“I think that if you truly invite Pei Xi over, he’ll agree.” Qiu Ying said seriously, “Xiangkong, Pei Xi really likes you. Maybe he’s waiting for you.”

After she finished speaking, Lin Yixuan’s hand trembled. The expression in his eyes as he looked to Ji Xiangkong was a bit wrong.

Qiu Ying still hadn’t realized how ambiguous her phrasing was. Completely seriously, she said, “It’s true, he said that you’re a player underestimated by the public. He’s always wanted to be able to be your teammate.”

At this Lin Yixuan returned to reality, nodding incessantly. “Right right, Xiangkong, let’s take Pei Xi in. The two of you can go take twin beach pictures of beautiful men, skirt the line a little bit, and call it ‘Fatal Attraction.’ There’ll definitely be a whole lot of girls going crazy and chasing after it!”

Such a scene gradually appeared within Qiu Ying’s mind. Two suspicious red flushes appeared on her face. Then she threw her pen in angry shame as she glared at Lin Yixuan. “Can you not have your mind filled with such messy things?!”

Lin Yixuan was exaggeratedly rubbing his hands together in a bid for mercy when he saw Ji Xiangkong stand up and put on his coat. He couldn’t help but ask, “Where are you going?”

Ji Xiangkong went to Qiu Ying’s side, pulled her up from the chair, automatically grasping her hand, and smiled to Lin Yixuan. “To Dream Traveler.”

**

“A few years ago, we once met in an internet cafe. You probably don’t remember it.” Sitting on the sofa in a VIP box, Ji Xiangkong placed one leg on his knee and idly stirred the cappuccino on the table with a coffee stick. “At the time, I thought that you were a gifted person.”

Pei Xi’s entire body seemed to tremble. As he saw Ji Xiangkong lift up his eyes to look at him, face doubtful, he turned his head without making a sound in response.

Ji Xiangkong continued, “I’ve basically watched all of your games, as well as gathered together a whole folder of data. I’ve told you about your specific issues before. Your individual capabilities are extremely outstanding, but, you need an excellent tactical commander, one who can make the most out of you as a weapon for the team.”

Pei Xi still had his eyes lowered, lips pressed into a straight line.

Ji Xiangkong wasn’t in a hurry either, leisurely drinking his coffee.

Sitting to the side, Qiu Ying was finally unable to stand these two men who obviously had a deep admiration for the other but wanted to stage a heartfelt drama in between them. Thus she got straight to the point: “We want to establish a new team. We hope we can invite you to join.”

With that said, she took out a document from her bag and slid it in front of Pei Xi. “The specifics of the signing fee, wages, benefits and bonuses are all written here. This is a draft, take a look first to see if there’s any room for negotiation.”

While she was pretending as if she were extremely confident, in reality her arm was slightly trembling. The funds for their new team were limited, and the starting conditions were, simply put, pennies in comparison to the other giants.

So guilty, she felt guiltier the more she thought about it. She wouldn’t get laughed at by this facially paralyzed dude, right…

“Mhm.”

On the other side, Pei Xi made a faint noise.

Ji Xiangkong started. Qiu Ying opened her eyes wide, feeling as if she might have been hearing things.

…Just like that?

Ji Xiangkong’s previously-assured expression was now covered with surprise. “Are… Are you sure you want to join? You won’t check over the conditions either?” 

“I believe in you.” There wasn’t much of an expression on Pei Xi’s face. He looked Ji Xiangkong straight in the eye, his voice like cold spring water. “I’m willing to put my peak condition in your hands.”

Ji Xiangkong’s expression gradually gradually became dignified. He understood the weight of this sentence when it came to a professional player, what it was that it meant.

“Also…” The corners Pei Xi’s mouth raised up slightly, as if he was smiling. “We really did meet, once. I remember.”

This day — he’d already waited a long, long time for it.

**

Qiu Ying hadn’t imagined that the last of Ji Xiangkong’s target candidates was Xia Ling.

This was a complete newcomer. Not even mentioning how his strength was, whether or not he could walk on the esports path was still unknown.

There were still two days until the transfer window closed. Over on Xia Ling’s side, he still hadn’t given a definite answer. Qiu Ying and Lin Yixuan were as anxious as ants in a hotpot, yet Ji Xiangkong was lazily leaning on the sofa to play Whac-a-Mole.

One hour later, he picked up the phone, then got up and stretched. “Nearly finished, we just need to wrap it up.”

Thirty minutes later, Qiu Ying sat with Ji Xiangkong in Xia Ling’s living room, facing Xia Ling’s solemn-faced father and mother, so nervous her palms were basically sweating.

“We’ve looked through your contract and there are no problems with the conditions…”

Ever since Xia Ling had refound his confidence through the game, his personality also gradually became less negative and withdrawn. Xia Ling’s mother uneasily said, “If this child can walk out of the shadow of the past, we’d be very grateful. But… is this truly the right way?”

The computer on the side table was playing esports-related news that Ji Xiangkong was showing them. They saw a familiar figure appear on the CCTV camera, wearing a team uniform and headphones. Xia Ling’s parents looked at the screen and hesitantly looked over to Ji Xiangkong next to them, then back again for a few times.

Ji Xiangkong smiled. “That’s right, that’s me. Last year, the team I was in was the World Runner-Ups.”

Qiu Ying supplied in a timely manner, “Esports is a profession, the 78th official competitive sport as listed by the General Administration of Sport. It needs top-notch skills, tacit coordination, diligent practice, and a strong heart. All the players who participate in CPL are nationally-registered athletes.”

Xia Ling’s parents looked at each other. Since hearing their son speak up about his resolution, they had asked many people and heard many things. They too knew that this was an up-and-coming industry, but in their hearts they still wanted to check it out for him in the end.

Ji Xiangkong logged into the Conquer Professional League official homepage and brought up the background information and awards lists of the other members of their new team, one by one, to show them. At the very end, he expressed his sincere invitation for Xia Ling once again.

“People have to live for their dreams once. I’d rather be a hero for a second than a coward for a lifetime.” Xia Ling limped in front of his parents, head lowered to look at his open palm. His fingertips were trembling slightly. “I want to play professionally. Using these remaining two healthy hands of mine, I want to win it back. The glory that belongs to me…”

As if a taut string had finally been broken, Xia Ling’s parents wrapped him in their arms, choking back their sobs.

There were some people who were born to stand in the arena, to cut down powerful enemies, break through their own selves, and bravely climb up to the peak.

Cruel reality could destroy his body, but it was impossible for it to annihilate his will. His hot blood would not cool; how could he willingly be indifferent?

After some discussion, Xia Ling’s parents finally agreed.

After they bid farewell, Xia Ling couldn’t keep himself from asking, “Why choose me? I haven’t even entered the top ten of the server.”

Out of the innumerable high-scoring players, those who could truly enter the professional field and be entrusted with important roles were oh-so-few.

“Rankings aren’t important. What I look at are your qualifications.” Ji Xiangkong raised his eyebrows, voice resolute. “I believe there have also been people from other clubs who’ve contacted you.”

Xia Ling put both hands in his pockets and shrugged. “Instead of going with strangers who don’t know the details, I’m more willing to believe in you.”

“We aren’t a current CPL team, so we have to start playing all the way from the tryout competitions. Every game will be a life-or-death one.” Ji Xiangkong let out a deep sigh, then gathered himself into a slight, sloppy, smile. He said seriously, “Are you afraid to follow me?”

Xia Ling’s eyes were as pitch-black as ink. Within them were faint flickers of fire. Very, very slowly, he said, “Ji ge, I’m someone who nearly brushed shoulders with death. I’m not afraid of anything.”

The day the transfer window closed, the latest lists of every company released online caused a roil of discussion. Of them, there was one piece of news that drew the gazes of countless people: the legendary captain Cris had formed a new team — Team Phoenix!

There was only a simple promotional picture in the news article. Five people stood in one line, arms crossed, facing the camera with severe expressions.

Below was the full list of its members.

Offlaner, Void, Ji Xiangkong.

Mid, Summit, Pei Xi.

Jungler, Cloud, Xia Ling.¹

Support, Xuan, Lin Yixuan.

ADC, Zy, Sun Zeyi.

Manager, CherryQ, Qiu Ying.

The team symbol was a phoenix reborn from the ashes.

A new battleship, setting sail anew.

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^{1 the Ling (凌) of Xia Ling’s name relates to “rising high, being in a high position” (so could be referring to his once-broken dreams…), in other words, qualities of a cloud}

***

Esports social flower strikes again XD

So by the way, I originally read it too fast as “Pei Xi’s wages will be directly paid in Ji Xiangkong’s photo albums”… but I suspect it may work just as well