June 2021.
Changsha, airport.
Li Yao leaned back in his chair, head tilted up to look at the towering ceiling, his gaze clear.
Yet when he glanced at the three people conversing not far away, a trace of helplessness welled up within that clear gaze.
……
"Uncle Li, Aunt Xu, you can rest easy. In less than a month, he'll want to come back. This line of work isn't something just anyone can cut it in."
The youngest-looking man among the three spoke with absolute confidence, his tone implying that everything was entirely under control.
"Good, Xiao Zhou, then we'll be troubling you for this period."
Xu Qingping's face was full of gratitude.
"Don't mention it, our two families have been neighbors for over a decade, it's no trouble at all. Just leave it to me."
The young man's earnest vow gave Xu Qingping sufficient confidence. She looked over at Li Yao not far away, her smile fading: "Xiao Yao, come here."
"Oh."
Li Yao wouldn't dare disobey a direct summons from his birth mother. He briskly stood up from his chair and walked over.
On the other side.
Li Hangsheng called the young man aside, and after pondering for two seconds, said: "Xiao Zhou, we older folks don't really understand things like esports, but we've watched you come up all these years as neighbors. As the old saying goes, 'Every trade has its master,' and Xiao Yao has always looked up to you as a role model."
At this, Li Hangsheng instinctively reached into his pocket, but immediately remembering the occasion, pulled his hand back, sighed, and said: "As his dad, I don't have many demands for him. He's only eighteen, right at that age when he loves to play. I just wanted to ask, is Xiao Yao..."
"Uncle, Uncle... hold on, hold on."
The young man waved a hand, interrupting Li Hangsheng, then wore a hesitant expression, as if weighing how best to phrase it. After a dozen seconds, he spoke slowly: "I understand what you mean. I stopped studying a long time ago, as you know."
"My analogy might not be entirely appropriate, but it's no exaggeration to say that making a name for yourself in this is no less difficult than getting into Tsinghua or Peking University. I'm well aware of how much I've sacrificed, and even now I'm just barely scraping by in this industry."
"Xiao Yao is luckier than me. At least he finished high school and took the college entrance exam. No matter how well he did, he has more paths to choose from than I ever did."
……
Li Yao watched his parents leave, his gaze somewhat complex.
Then he turned his head to lock eyes with the young man beside him.
Calling him a young man wasn't because of his appearance.
Based on his looks, anyone would believe he was pushing forty.
A somewhat chubby build, dark circles under his eyes from years of pulling all-nighters, a rather tight white shirt, and an abstract-looking suit thrown over the top.
The only reason to call him a young man was because Li Yao knew he was born in '94 and was only twenty-seven this year.
"You're as good at solving my problems as ever, Head Coach."
Li Yao patted the young man's protruding belly, let out a long sigh, and sat down in the chair.
"Rebellious youth, I'm doing this for your own good."
The young man laughed heartily, then dropped heavily onto the chair beside Li Yao, looking at him with keen interest: "Though I have to say, your parents seem to have rather different ideas."
Seeing that Li Yao remained silent, the young man continued: "Come to think of it, you really have incredible perseverance. You said you wouldn't touch League of Legends for all three years of high school, and you actually didn't touch it for three years. And Aunt Xu kept her word too; unlike many parents who quickly forget promises made to their children."
"Thanks to you."
Noticing the resentment in Li Yao's tone, the young man spread his hands: "What was I doing three years ago? I was dragging my ass through the secondary leagues making a few thousand bucks a month just getting by. In a situation like that, I was a total mess myself—what kind of advice did you expect me to give? Go tell Aunt Xu and Uncle Li that you were a prodigy and send you straight to a club without finishing high school?"
The young man's pitch rose.
"Besides, it's not like I didn't check your match history back then: a hundred and forty games, 52 percent win rate in high Grandmaster on the Korean server—worse than me, buddy was sitting at a 54 percent win rate."
Li Yao looked up at the sky once more. He couldn't be bothered to respond to that point.
"Alright, let's talk business."
The young man reined in his smile: "Don't say I didn't give you a chance. You haven't touched the game in three years, so you'll need time to get familiar with it. Once you get over there, you'll have ten days to get your bearings, and then I'll arrange for you to join the academy team. But your time is tight—barely two months all told. If you really can't hack it, I'll have no choice but to send you back."
"I'm going to be very busy when the Summer Split starts. You can order takeout or eat out for meals, sort it out yourself. Any problem with that?"
"Fine."
Li Yao had no objections.
He knew this partner of his very well—a lifelong internet addict nearly ten years his senior.
Thick-skinned and straightforward, not exceptionally brilliant, but the fact that he could serve as an LPL team's head coach meant he definitely had some substance.
This arrangement was simple, direct, and free of unnecessary fluff, which Li Yao liked.
……
On the plane.
"Jiaoshen."
"What kind of nonsense is that? Call me Brother Zhou."
"Is the pressure of leading WE heavy?"
"What do you think?"
The young man glanced sideways at Li Yao: "Do you understand the weight of the 60E? If I don't lead them well, I'm going to get flamed to death."
With that, the young man withdrew his gaze and resumed jotting notes in the tactical notebook in his hand.
Noticing that Li Yao's eyes kept lingering on him, the young man flipped a page and asked: "What is it?"
"Nothing, I was just wondering how someone who dragged V5 to twelfth place in the Spring Split managed to win WE's favor."
Li Yao said thoughtfully.
Zhou Yixiang, widely nicknamed Jiaoshen, went by the ID assassin during his pro player days, and is now known as sask in his coaching career.
As a neighbor of the Li family, this internet addict's developmental history had long been used by Li's mother and father as a yardstick to measure Li Yao.
Three years ago, a mere fifteen-year-old Li Yao had gotten into League of Legends and subsequently become an internet addict in his parents' eyes.
Li Yao distinctly remembered hearing this guy offer that rotten piece of advice to his parents.
Not touching LOL for all three years of high school would buy him a single chance to chase a youthful dream.
It sounded laughable—not because the idea itself was funny, but because youthful dreams are treated as a joke by most people.
Even youths who once had dreams often look back as they age and sigh at their former youthful ignorance.
Besides...
It was just playing a video game, how did it get mixed up with dreams?
Perhaps reality was simply like that.
And Li Yao had indeed refrained from touching LOL for those entire three years.
He had pulled it off.
……
Outside the airport.
Li's father and mother paused and looked back.
"Mother of our child, according to Xiao Zhou, our son won't even last a month before coming back on his own. Want to make a bet?"
Li Hangsheng blinked: "If I win, add five hundred to my monthly allowance."
Xu Qingping glanced at him: "If you lose, you won't have any allowance left at all."
Li Hangsheng gritted his teeth: "Nothing ventured, nothing gained. I bet..."
Before he could finish, Xu Qingping cut him off: "I bet Xiao Yao won't be back in a month."
"Huh?"
Li Hangsheng was dumbfounded.
She wasn't playing by the book!
Yet the next moment, he noticed Xu Qingping's eyes gradually turning red.
"Old Li, you know what? Even though it surprised me that Xiao Yao could stay away from this game for three years, what really surprised me is that three years later today, he still remembers his dream from three years ago."
Xu Qingping's words left Li Hangsheng silent.
At a dozen or so years of age.
Thoughts are wild and unconstrained.
Self-control is also hardly strong.
He still remembered the near-petrified expressions on his and Xu Qingping's faces yesterday when, right after the college entrance exam ended, Li Yao brought up the old matter again.
Obsession.
Li Hangsheng couldn't say whether this kind of obsession was good or bad.
Sometimes he even lamented that if his son had put this kind of obsession into his studies...
Li Hangsheng's expression began to twist.
He had a faint premonition that his allowance for next month was about to fly away.
……
On the plane, Zhou Yixiang's not-so-large eyes widened into circles.
"What do you know? You know how the Big V Heavenly Dragon came to be? I led them!"
"A hero shouldn't dwell on past glories. Why were you still fifth in last year's Summer Split, but twelfth this Spring?"
Li Yao's retorts were always completely calm, yet it was precisely this calmness that made Zhou Yixiang increasingly miserable.
"There are many factors that affect a team's performance, alright? Team roster comes first, and you don't know what kind of mess this year's mythic item patch is? Major version changes affect playstyles and lead to a drop in performance—that's completely normal. You used to be a high-tier player, don't you understand even this logic?"
"I haven't played in three years, haven't looked at the patch, don't understand."
Li Yao shook his head.
"Get off the plane with me."
"Make the plane stop and I will."
……
"Fine kid, I see you're young, so I won't lower myself to your level."
Jiaoshen retreated in defeat.
Seeing Li Yao clam up again, he couldn't help adding: "Don't look down on your big brother here. Let me tell you, WE's roster this year has real potential. Their Spring Split performance wasn't bad, and there are four Worlds tickets this year. Under my leadership, grabbing one shouldn't be a problem."
"Ah, yes, yes, yes."
Li Yao nodded like a chick pecking at rice.
WE's roster indeed wasn't bad.
Top laner Breathe, jungler beishang, mid laners Shanks and the Summer-acquired Mole.
The bot lane duo consisted of Jiumeng—who had recently changed his ID to ELK—and support Missing.
Yesterday, after the three-year pact was lifted, Li Yao had watched a few matches from the Spring Split.
This team, whose players were generally quite young, possessed undeniable immediate combat strength and extreme malleability.
It's just that you, sask...
Li Yao shook his head.
Why think about so much?
……
It was past nine in the evening when they arrived in Xi'an.
It was worth mentioning that they actually ran into WE fans at the airport.
WE had already officially announced the acquisition of former V5 coach sask, a fact most fans following WE were aware of.
After receiving encouragement, cheers, and photos with the fans, sask glanced smugly at Li Yao, who completely ignored him.
When hailing a cab, they passed the WE team's home arena.
Under the night sky, the arena looked very serene, but surrounding banners were already hung up, and on both sides of the main entrance, flags belonging to the WE team snapped in the wind.
Seeing Li Yao staring out the window the whole time, sask spoke up: "If you perform well in the academy, you might get put up for auction to see if any major teams are interested, or go play in the secondary league. Don't even think about the main roster—I remember you play mid lane, right? WE already has two mid laners now, and they're both pretty strong."
"Oh."
sask felt a bit stifled.
Back when Li Yao used to play LOL, the two of them had gamed together.
He remembered Li Yao used to be quite talkative; how come he talked so much less now?
A moment later.
Unlocking the apartment door with a key, sask flicked on the lights, then pointed toward the second bedroom: "Your room is in there. As for the computer, the club just replaced a batch of new machines; tomorrow I'll put in a request to bring back an old one so you can play on it first. The internet here is very good, playing on the Korean server will be no problem."
"I still need to head to the base. It's a bit late today, don't wander around, get some sleep early. There's a spare key in the drawer."
After giving brief instructions, sask washed his face and went out.
Li Yao looked over the apartment—a standard two-bedroom, one-living-room setup with a very small living room. Because of this, though it was the second bedroom, aside from a large bed, there was also enough space to fit a desk and a computer.
Li Yao updated his parents that he had arrived safely, took his toiletries out of his suitcase, and took a quick shower.
The bedsheets and duvet covers were brand new. Li Yao picked up his phone—a slightly dated Meizu 16 Plus. Throughout his three years of high school, he only got to mess around with a phone when he came home for holidays. The clean phone screen reflected Li Yao's face.
Young enough, easy on the eyes.
Li Yao didn't care much for scrolling through short videos. After roughly reviewing the new patch notes, he put the phone down and slowly closed his eyes.
He was ready to go meet that illusory yet real self from his dreams over the past three years.