Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
Just contribute his playing skills?
Liu Zilang was speechless after hearing Gao Yunyang’s words.
‘This b*stard is a recruitment genius. Se7en has just landed themselves a windfall…’
He did not give a direct reply even though he was slightly swayed by the suggestion.
Gao Yunyang immediately added, “The problem is, even with three of us back in the team, we’ll still be missing one player in the core team.”
Liu Zilang became silent after hearing what Gao Yunyang had to say. He knew whom he was referring to.
No one else could fill that spot better than Li Muqiu.
The problem was that Li Muqiu already belonged to Se7en. How could they steal him from the same team?
“Usually… players with substandard performance get relegated to the sub-team, right?” Liu Zilang ventured.
“Substandard performance?” Gao Yunyang was silent for a long while before he gave his reply. “I know that he’s a worse player than I am, but he’s not a total newbie, right?”
Liu Zilang thought for a moment and then replied seriously, “He can be.”
Gao Yunyang: …
For a split second, he felt sorry for Li Muqiu.
He was once the up and coming star of PUBG, the ‘Little King of AK’.
However, after Liu Zilang joined the game, he lost his ‘Asia’s Number One Killing God’ title. Not to mention, his gaming skills had now been put to question.
What an unfortunate life…
…
The next day.
The first thing Liu Zilang had done after waking up was to give himself a pep talk. He had been away from college for more than a week, and he needed to at least show up after his return.
With the semester ending, Liu Zilang could not afford to lag on his studies. Otherwise, there was a chance Liu Yigang would pummel his head flat.
Liu Zilang’s classmates were very excited to see this ‘missing person’ show up.
The popularity of competitive esports was on the rise, and college students were one of the main audiences of competitive esports. The ‘world champion’ title carried some weight among the student body.
Before class started, many classmates huddled around Liu Zilang asking for selfies and autographs. Liu Zilang felt like a movie star.
He was not a stranger to situations like these.
As he made waves in the local cyber cafes, he had fans who behaved worse than his classmates.
His response was extremely diplomatic at that time.
He chatted diplomatically with his classmates. That way, he was able to fulfill their wishes and give them a good ‘celebrity’ experience. In any case, a college student ought to be a gentleman…
Ring ring ring!
Right before the class started, Chen Zhifei, Pu Taizhuang and Mao Rantong who were sitting in the middle of the classroom saw that Liu Zilang had finally shaken his fanbase off.
Chen Zhifei smiled and bowed at Liu Zilang like a gangster lackey from ancient China. “Oh! The big star is back! Please sit down!”
“Big star! Big star!”
Ran Maotong also scooted closer to him and smiled. “Come sit next to me. I reserved this spot for you. What’s up with you, though? You didn’t have to attend the class personally.”
“That’s right,” Chen Zhifei continued, “We could’ve taken the class for you.”
Liu Zilang recognized a familiar yet intimate feeling gushing up his heart when he saw the despicable looks on his friends’ faces.
“Take the class for me?” Liu Zilang smirked. “What if I wanted to go to the toilet?”
The two of them were speechless!
Indeed, no one was as despicable as this person…
“Well, we can at least hold your d*ck for you?” Ran Maotong attempted.
Liu Zilang: …
He was speechless as he looked at Ran Maotong.
He had not seen him for only a little more than a week.
‘When did he learn to deliver retorts like that? Does he have a private tutor?’
…
In the next few days, Liu Zilang resumed his routine of studying, going home, and streaming.
As for practice at the club, his schedule became just like before because of his commitment to his classes.
The team used to not have a problem with that. However, after their trip to the California International Invitationals, they had become aware of the difference between them and the top-tier American and European teams. It was because of their lack of training in specialized skills and tactics.
Fortunately, Long Shenjue had inducted a substitute sniper for the team who had apparently introduced by Sy, the ‘Esports Matchmaker’. He was young and full of potential; his ID was GuCun.
Liu Zilang had shadowed several practice sessions and thought that he was a good fit for the team.
GuCun’s playstyle was drastically different when compared to Liu Zilang’s.
Liu Zilang was a sniper with a proactive playstyle, while GuCun was a team player.
If you asked him to hold his position, he would hold his position until death.
From a certain viewpoint, this substitute GuCun fit the team structure and training routine even better than Liu Zilang did.
Eventually…
4AM’s team coach and other players also noticed this. However, they did not say anything.
In any case, Liu Zilang was the one who had brought the squad and solo titles to the team in the international tournament. No one would say anything even if he decided to retire and ‘draw a pension’ from the club.
However, Liu Zilang was not the type of player who would sit back and rest on his laurels.
After seeing that GuCun was a better fit for the team, and with Gao Yunyang persuading the Se7en management for a sub-team, he felt that it was time he took the initiative to withdraw from the club.
In any case, Liu Zilang had an amicable relationship with Long Shenjue and GodV. After all, they had pinned him down on the couch multiple times.
The transfer process went without a hitch unlike the majority of transfers that happened between esports clubs or even streaming platforms. Those were usually fraught with both parties airing dirty laundry.
To prevent any unnecessary misunderstandings from the team’s fans, Liu Zilang and 4AM released a statement on Weibo at the same time after the signing of the agreement.
Liu Zilang’s followers on Weibo had almost reached a million. His following was not as big as some celebrities out there. However, he was active in communicating with his followers. Not to mention, adding on to the fact that he had not many inactive or bot accounts following him, the number of comments and shares on each of his posts usually went into the tens of thousands.
The news of Liu Zilang parting ways with 4AM was posted on Weibo and it tore through the competitive esports circle like a passing typhoon.
Many fans, followers, and even esports media outlets shared the post as they waited for the fallout. They thought that Liu Zilang was planning to take revenge on the team.
They had not expected 4AM’s post to clarify that Liu Zilang’s contract had ended, and they wished him a bright future in another team. It was the perfect ‘happy ending’ for both parties.
Those people who had prepared little stools and popcorn were outraged by this!
“I even took my pants off! And that’s all you’re going to show me?”
“Conspiracy! There must be some sort of conspiracy.”
For a while, many people with ulterior motives lurked in the 4AM live-stream channel.
They were hoping to gather scraps of information about Liu Zilang’s departure from the team voice chat.
The problem was that there was no ‘behind-the-scenes news’ between Liu Zilang and 4AM. Everything had already been announced on their Weibo accounts.
Furthermore, when both of them streamed at the same time, they talked and joked among themselves. It was as if Liu Zilang had never left the team at all.
After a few days, those people left the channels dejectedly…
‘Dammit!
‘Can’t you just have something for me to eat my popcorn with?’
