BXBX NOVEL Chapter 150 - A Glorified Dream
Yu Luocheng spotted Lin Dong standing in the middle of the square.
Xiao Bei was not with him. Yu Luocheng figured he must be busy moving stocks around. Xiao Bei was always occupied in the morning and trained only during the night.
Since Xiao Bei and Lin Dong had decided to take the professional route, they could not skip training. A professional player had to maintain the swiftest response and the most precise control at all times. The reflex of the fingers would regress without proper and constant training.
Lin Dong turned his hat around. He looked at Yu Luocheng and the pretty lady beside him in utter disbelief.
“This is…” Lin Dong was stunned by Yang Qianqian’s beauty.
“Who do you think?” Yu Luocheng asked back playfully.
“Your sister?” Lin Dong remembered Yu Luocheng had mentioned something about his sister before.
“Eff you!” Yu Luocheng bellowed.
Lin Dong must be jealous. Every otaku would use their friend’s girlfriend as a measuring stick. They would be consoled if their friend remained single but would become oblivious to the fact when said friend found a lovely girlfriend.
“We are just classmates,” Yang Qianqian couldn’t stand their weird exchange and explained.
However, her shy expression only further clarified Lin Dong’s doubt. The latter smiled bitterly and accepted the cruel fact.
After both of them introduced themselves, Lin Dong was still envious and he approached Yu Luocheng’s ear to whisper, “Woman and e-sports are like oil and water. One day, she will definitely fight with you over LOL.”
In the university, a lot of girls hated LOL more than “the other woman”. This was because LOL had dominated their other half and turned them inconsiderate, colder, or even into a liar.
Once, a trendy post had mentioned that a girl had complained that her boyfriend was too obsessed with LOL and often ignored her. Hence, she had deleted all 18 of her boyfriend’s Rune Pages out of anger and caused her boyfriend’s League Points to drop from 2200 to 1600. To her shock, her boyfriend had actually broken up with her just because of that!
Someone had commented, “You are lucky that your boyfriend did not kill you instead.”
This was an absurd statement to girls who had never played the game. How was it lucky when your boyfriend had actually broken up with you for things that are not even real?
Yu Luocheng was a rational man but he did sympathize with the person in the story…’What kind of crazy woman would do that? Does she know how expensive a Rune Page was and how much one set of Runes cost?’
While being indignant, Yu Luocheng was thankful that he had found a girl that was also fond of LOL, otherwise, life would be meaningless without MOBA.
When Lin Dong found out that Yang Qianqian also played LOL, he refused to speak another word after they boarded the public bus.
‘Life is so unfair!’
***
The moment they got down from the bus, the three of them suddenly felt as if they had reached a rural area that did not belong to Shanghai.
Rows of terrace houses were crowded together akin to a group of refugees that had gathered around to warm each other up. The streets were a little dirty while pedestrians were mostly dispirited old folks. The place looked ancient as it was full of old lamp posts and rusted advertisement boards.
The faded paint color, overflowing dustbins, aged houses, and cracked roads…
Yu Luocheng turned back to peek at the other side of the bridge. On the other side, he saw skyscrapers, service apartments, green gardens, people in suits and dresses as well as women who wore high heels…
Though it was just a bridge and a busy road away, the two places looked like settings from two distant eras. Even the sky color at this side felt dimmer. The entire place felt grey and depressed.
The word “Demolition” was seen on almost every remaining building. This put Yu Luocheng into deep thought, rendering him speechless.
“This is a famous holdout. Despite being close to the city, this place is no different than a rural zone. The rental here is still considered affordable,” Lin Dong explained.
Lin Dong lived in a room provided by his employer. Though it was small, the room was still much better than this shithole.
This was the first time Yu Luocheng had come here. He had never expected Da Luo to live in such a miserable place. What was even more infuriating was the glaring Shanghai metropolitan lifestyle just across the road, as if it was mocking the mediocrity of this poor area.
An unknown sadness arose and lingered in Yu Luocheng’s heart.
***
Nobody answered after Lin Dong knocked on the door a few times.
Lin Dong had informed Da Luo beforehand that he was coming over today.
Da Luo has assured him that he would be at home all day long so Lin Dong could come anytime he wished. Luckily, his small place was not too hard to find.
“Da Luo, we are here!” Lin Dong pounded on the door and shouted through the iron window.
“Yes… In a minute!” Da Luo was heard running clumsily and the door was unlocked not long after.
“Come in by yourself, I’m a little busy,” Da Luo vanished immediately after he said those words, leaving Yu Luocheng and the others in confusion.
The house was clean which surprised both Lin Dong and Yu Luocheng. They both knew how sloppy Da Luo was in the old days.
“What are you doing. It’s not every day we come to pay you a visit. Guess who have I brought to see you.” Lin Dong put up his slippers and walked into the room. He realized Da Luo was fully concentrated on the computer screen.
“Who else would you bring? Pfft…” Da Luo did not seem to care and tapped on the keyboard agilely.
Yu Luocheng stood at the front door and looked at Da Luo’s back.
He had given up his long hair and he must have grown slightly. Though he was still rather slim, he looked tougher now.
“He is playing LOL.” Yang Qianqian laughed with her mouth covered.
Yu Luocheng smiled as well. ‘Indeed, none of Team Wings members have given up on E-Sports.’
“Da Luo, are you sure you don’t want to turn around and meet the mysterious visitor?” Lin Dong asked.
“I am busy. My ranked game win-streak has just been broken by another person. I am mad now! That record was worth a total of 2000 RMB. I can’t survive without that money!” Da Luo hollered.
But he still looked around after sensing the oddity in Lin Dong’s tone and he happened to glimpse Yu Luocheng who was walking in.
Da Luo face froze in an expression of unhappiness.
He stared at Yu Luocheng and did not move.
Da Luo vividly remembered the last time he had seen Yu Luocheng. It was at the international airport and they had just come back from England. All Da Luo saw was Yu Luocheng’s lonely figure disappearing into the crowd.
He had not even bothered to go back to their base to say goodbye. He had just gone straight back to his home in the south the minute they had landed and completely lost contact with everyone.
Team Wings immediately faced an existential crisis after their captain had left, moreover, none of them was willing to serve the cunning Sky Club anymore.
Not long after that, Da Luo had also decided to leave the team. Da Luo only had 100 RMB with him when he left, as most of his money was used to pay the compensation fee of breaching the contract.
He had survived aimlessly with that 100 RMB in Shanghai for almost two years now. Every time he tried to recall what he had done in these past two years, his mind always flashed back to the moment that person had vanished into the crowd, whose departure had taken away the soul of Team Wings.
***
The atmosphere inside the room seemed to have frozen. Lin Dong did not speak and neither did Da Luo. Yu Luocheng did not know what to say either. Yang Qianqian was baffled by the sudden silence. The only sound in the room came from the ongoing game.
Da Luo was having mixed emotions. He didn’t know which one he wanted to do more—Punch Yu Luocheng in the face or give him a heartwarming hug after not seeing him for so long.
Da Luo was just another lazy and ordinary person. He would have led an insignificant life if it hadn’t been for Yu Luocheng, the very person who had guided him to the biggest stage of e-sports. The moment he had set foot on the WCG stage and received the cheers from the enormous audiences under the stage, he had felt that his life actually held some purpose for the first time.
However, just as he had begun to believe that his life would change forever, everything had gone down the drain in a split second. It was just a glorified, sugar-coated dream after all. He had woken up and once again found himself back into the swamp he had been in before. He was busy living but didn’t know what he was busy with. He had lost his purpose once again…
Da Luo continued to stare at them blankly, not saying anything.
Lin Dong, realizing that Da Luo was going to lose control, broke the silence. “Da Luo, we are here to invite you to join our team.”
“Team?” Da Luo looked at Lin Dong.
“I am establishing a LOL professional team. I hope you can join us.” Lin Dong invited earnestly.
“I thought he has sworn not to participate in any professional competitions?” Da Luo said, pointing at Yu Luocheng but looking at Lin Dong.
“He is not part of the team. The current roster only has me and Xiao Bei in it. I have gotten the nod from Jake too. Thane is not coming back though. So, with you in, we still need to fill in another roster spot and the team is good to go,” Lin Dong said.
“If he is not in, why bother? Do you think you can lead a team?” Da Luo gave Lin Dong the cold shoulder.
He returned to his desk after saying that. He was playing at the top lane using Darius, the Hand of Noxus.
Lin Dong was a little embarrassed.
Yu Luocheng was saddened by Da Luo’s attitude too. This was because up till this point, he still refused to address him directly.
‘After two years, he still holds a deep grudge…’
***
Yang Qianqian looked at Yu Luocheng puzzled. She suddenly felt as if she had never truly understood him.
‘Swore not to join any professional games? You mean he was a professional player in the past?’