His voice was indifferent, with a calm tone, but because of his usual strange intonation, it showed a calm and nervous temperament.
Rong Yi’s throat tightened, and his fingertips began to heat up.
They first met in their home country, during the rainy season in City A. Xiao Yin was in the first competition team of RO Qing Training under RS at that time. Due to his personal style being too avant-garde and difficult to manage, there were significant conflicts within the team.
At that time, he trained for more than 15 hours a day. Anyone who approached him could feel his low air pressure, like an AI. They didn’t dare to provoke him, but Rong Yi loved to dance in dangerous areas, and he would provoke him every day, tricking him to come out to play, saying it was to relieve his stress.
Xiao Yin didn’t say anything, but Rong Yi later found out about his habit – the only way he liked to relieve stress was by going to bed.
He was always gentle and polite to him, but the frequency and duration were a bit unbearable for him.
Xiao Yin empathized and asked him if he wanted to “relieve stress” when he sensed his emotional stress.
Rong Yi came to his senses, feeling a bit embarrassed, and quickly lowered his voice, saying, “No… no need.”
He lowered his eyebrows and eyelashes, his gaze still on the desktop in front of him, without moving.
Xiao Yin’s hand still covered his thin, white hand, and the heat gradually rose. After listening to him speak, Xiao Yin withdrew his hand, moved a few steps away, and nodded, “Got it.”
After experiencing the defeat of RS, all the thoughts that had been bothering Rong Yi were completely forgotten.
There were some noises coming from downstairs, which meant that the post-game analysis had already ended. Rong Yi stood up, turned on the light, and opened the door. He saw Wu Dao Gu walking up the stairs with the summary report. Upon seeing Rong Yi, Wu Dao Gu called out “Captain Rong” and then asked, “Are you going to watch today’s team review?”
Rong Yi had only been here for a few days, and perhaps they had learned from the internet to call him “Captain Rong”.
Oddly enough, the real team captain, Xiao Yin, was addressed as if he had been thrown in as an extra gift.
Rong Yi nodded, and Xiao Yin walked out of the room, taking the report and saying, “Let’s go, we’ll discuss it downstairs.”
Rong Yi had been practicing with the team for a few days, but the command coordination still needed more practice.
The training room on the first floor of the villa was empty, and the table was littered with some messy papers, which were the review notes and operational settings.
The VIT team’s review process was different from that of domestic teams, since they didn’t have a unified training group or coach. Everyone brainstormed together, and with the help of AI, they often came up with very good ideas.
The four members of the VIT team had known each other for a long time, and everyone knew each other’s strengths and weaknesses.
Xiao Yin rarely made mistakes, but he often found himself in a disconnected position. Once the team didn’t cooperate well, he was unable to rescue them, even if he was on his own. Hui Mao was the youngest and sometimes played too conservatively, which caused him to fall behind. As for Ci She, he was usually under pressure, and thus demanded a higher level of detail.
And there are numerous systems awaiting adjustment for Wu Dao Gu’s top lane.
After several team-building exercises and post-game analyses, what surprised the other three members of VIT the most was that only Rong Yi never dropped points. Every time they analyzed their gameplay, Rong Yi had nothing to add, and he had the quickest reflexes. His greatest strength was his ability to adapt on the spot, making him a versatile player who could blend in with everyone while carrying the team’s cohesion and flow.
VIT’s members were all aware that a professional player of this caliber was a rare genius.
Rong Yi looked over the post-game analysis and added a few points about things the team didn’t mention. He handed it to Xiao Yin and said, “Take a look at this. These are the areas I think we can improve.”
His expression was serious, and his voice was soft and gentle. Even his normally watery peach blossom eyes showed a sharp and resolute light when he was serious.
Xiao Yin took the notes and glanced at them. “Okay, we’ll try them tomorrow.”
In the afternoon, the operations staff added a new schedule and tagged all the team members in the group chat. Rong Yi read the message and slowly read it out loud, “Tomorrow we’ll have a public training match with CH, one of the veteran Chinese teams.”
Public training matches were a common way for e-sports clubs to collaborate, mainly focusing on friendly matches. They couldn’t reveal too many tactics, and generally, the second team would play or the players would switch positions to maintain their feel for the game. This also helped players avoid losing their touch during the off-season.
“How should we play?”
Rong Yi knew that VIT had always been free and casual, but he didn’t expect the first public training match in China to be so casual.
They had only been playing together for four or five days, and he and Xiao Yin weren’t even present when the operations team came. He just saw this message.
“The team was chosen by drawing lots. The public training match is a long one, and I want them to play and get familiar with the domestic system and situation.”
Rong Yi pondered over it.
The league had already canceled the promotion and relegation system. According to the previous rules, teams that had previously won world tournament rankings unconditionally retained the lowest B-level seat in the league’s regular season.
VIT was a new team, but Xiao Yin registered early and acquired a foreign team that had previously entered the intercontinental tournament but had disbanded as VIT’s predecessor, which earned them a ticket to the regular season.
However, for VIT, this first season is unfavorable – being in Group B, they can only compete against teams of Group B level in the regular season, making it difficult for a newly returned team to accumulate valuable practical experience.
Meanwhile, CH is an A group team, making this training match with them particularly important.
“We’ll play tomorrow just like we usually do,” Xiao Yin said, “so there was no need to mention it earlier.”
“Got it.”
Rong Yi nodded
he had never received a request for an open training match during his time at RS, so he naturally did not know the process.
“And also…”
Rong Yi felt he might be asking for too much, but unlike in RS where he could do pretty much anything he wanted, there were certain things he had to take the initiative to bring up in VIT. “The league’s camera on the field…”
“I’ve already informed them. Our team won’t be filming on the field,” Xiao Yin said.
During public matches, in addition to broadcasting the two team’s gameplay, the league also has a habit of showing footage of the players on the field. This is inseparable from the creation of star players in the league and the sponsors’ demands for screen time. Most teams would not refuse, or may not have the capital to refuse.
While Rong Yi was at RS, he had never filmed any special effects shots during his five-year tenure, and his player page was entirely black. This was a major point of contention between RS sponsors and him, and a constant source of questioning from fans.
“Thank you,” Rong Yi said with a slight smile and a nod.
“The match roster will be updated normally and announced tonight. Is that okay?” Xiao Yin looked at the time, his face calm.
Rong Yi nodded.
The offseason was over, and it was time for the club to announce its starting lineup for the match. With his recent busy schedule, Rong Yi wondered if Xiao Yin had any public relations preparations.
He suspected there probably weren’t any.
Xiao Yin was someone with a cleanliness obsession, and he couldn’t understand anything beyond the arena. The club had hired a specialist for operations since its inception, and Xiao Yin had always just paid the bills for that side of things, leaving all the specifics for Wu /dao Gu to handle. It was clear that he himself was extremely impatient.
Rong Yi went back to his room to wash up. Before going to bed, he reviewed the replays of the past two days as he usually did. Before he knew it, it was almost dawn, but his backend messages were going crazy with activity.
Rong Yi knew that VIT had probably released their member list, so he logged onto the platform and took a look.
His default account was a small one, and when he opened the messages, they were already overflowing. It took him a while to find the official account of the team.
At exactly twelve o’clock, the team sent out a message.
@VIOLET team: “Starting lineup for recent training matches.”
Within half an hour, the number of reposts and comments had skyrocketed to a terrifying level.
At first glance, Rong Yi saw the lineup that the team had given him – his ID was listed first in the message.
“Mid-laner: VIT.Easy.”
Anyone who followed the VIT team would see his ID first.
He even ranked ahead of Xiao Yin.
The top ten comments below this message were all about him, and the front row was filled with question marks.
“Easy?? Is that the same Easy that I know?” This comment quickly got thirty thousand likes.
“Is it him? Wasn’t he RS’s assistant and commander?”
Although this comment didn’t get many likes, it had the highest repost count. Rong Yi, feeling like a senior citizen surfing the internet, managed to find the source of many reposts.
It was Xiao Yin who had reposted and replied to this Weibo.
VIT.Yin: “He’s my mid-laner.”
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