Chapter 174: Wang Sheng’s “Social-Death” Match

Wang Sheng was completely focused, his arm swinging quickly as he controlled the mouse. His body leaned forward unconsciously, his eyes almost glued to the screen, not missing a single detail in the game.

His mouth never stopped moving. Constantly giving orders to his quiet, introverted teammate, Wang Yu.

The opponents were strong. On average, stronger than his team. But clearly, they were just a temporary group. Their teamwork was a mess. Compared to Wang Sheng’s team, which had been preparing for half a month, their coordination was miles behind.

“Almost there! Stay steady!”

“Don’t mess up at the last round!”

The match was held on an open-air stage under the afternoon sun. Even though the cold air had moved south, after sitting in the sunlight for over an hour, Wang Sheng was sweating all over.

Even with his headphones on, he could still faintly hear the commentators and the crowd shouting. It made his blood boil, he felt like he was standing on the grand stage of a world championship.

“We won!”

As the crowd erupted in cheers, Wang Sheng jumped up, pulling off his headset and looking excitedly at the nearly hundred spectators in front of the stage. The thunderous shouts made his heart race. At that moment, he felt like he was at the peak of his life.

Su Peng really came through! If Su Peng hadn’t found the sponsor, this tournament would never have happened.

Wang Sheng turned his head toward the side of the stage, where Su Peng sat on the flowerbed, smiling calmly. He nodded at him with gratitude.

Even though the event wasn’t that big, not many teams, not many people watching. Wang Sheng still felt deeply satisfied.

It’s great having roommates like An Han, helping me achieve my dream of playing in a real competition…

“2021 Campus Esports Cup Champion Captain Wang Sheng — Looking for a Wife Online!”

His thankful thoughts froze instantly.

Wang Sheng blinked, confused, then looked toward the noisy crowd and finally toward the far side of the plaza.

There was a two-meter-long banner being held up by a tall figure, with a cute girl standing next to him holding a loudspeaker that kept repeating the same humiliating announcement.

Even though they were far away, Wang Sheng didn’t need to see their faces to know who they were. He already knew… no, he was certain.

“What did I do to deserve this kind of roommate…”

His face turned red as a tomato as he covered it with both hands. He could practically feel the curious, gossiping stares from the audience below.

Why did Brother Long have to join in on An Han’s nonsense too?!

“Champions, please come to the center of the stage!” The host walked up with a mic, calling out to him. “Let’s welcome the champions of the Campus Esports Cup CSGO event!”

Wang Sheng wished the ground would just swallow him whole. He shuffled forward step by step, his head lowered, following behind Wang Yu with a miserable expression.

“This is our champion team’s captain, Wang Sheng!”

He felt like his toes were digging a three-room apartment into the floor out of pure embarrassment…

“That host definitely did it on purpose,” An Han said from afar. Seeing Wang Sheng’s expression, looking like a man who’d won first place but lost all dignity, made her feel incredibly pleased. She couldn’t help but gloat, “Wang Sheng’s gonna be famous~”

“What if he actually finds a girlfriend from this?” Long Xing asked thoughtfully.

“How could that happen?”

An Han tucked the looping loudspeaker under her arm, then waved at a passing female student.

“Hey, pretty girl! Interested? Scan this QR code to add the champion captain on WeChat!”

She proudly showed off the QR code hanging from her neck on a string, but the girl just looked terrified and ran away.

“See? Wang Sheng’s got no luck with women.”

After being constantly bullied by the system and forced into all kinds of shameful, socially awkward situations, An Han finally felt a sense of justice.

This time, someone else got socially destroyed instead of me.

An Han’s smile bloomed like a flower. Sweet, lovely, and full of satisfaction. But Long Xing quietly took two steps back, putting some distance between them.

This flower has thorns and an owner. Better not mess with it.

Poor Wang Sheng, though… he’d just suffered a complete social death without even realizing it.

Thinking that, Long Xing lifted the banner even higher and suggested, “Should we hang it somewhere?”

“Ask Wang Yu if we can hang it on the stage. We can take it down before the next match starts.”

The two laughed as they walked toward the stage. An Han placed the loudspeaker on a plastic chair and quickly ran off to avoid being caught in the embarrassment herself, while Long Xing looked for a good spot to tape the banner with the roll of clear tape in his hand.

“Brother Long! Stick it right in front of the stage, that way everyone watching can see it!” An Han shouted from a distance, giving him directions.

Now that she was closer to the stage, she could clearly feel the wounded, helpless look from Wang Sheng on stage landing right on her. Her eyes, curved like crescent moons, turned toward him as she stood on tiptoe and waved playfully.

That look he gave back was so pitiful, he looked like he was about to cry.

“Seriously? I was only gone for a couple of hours, and you’ve already come up with this?”

“Got a problem with it?” An Han didn’t even turn around. She already knew from the voice that it was Su Peng behind her. “I’m just joining the fun and helping my roommate solve his single-life problem.”

“Didn’t your disciple still fail to solve his single-life problem?”

“......”

She finally turned around to glare at him. Seeing Su Peng’s calm, teasing smile under the sunlight, she angrily spat toward the ground.

“Ungrateful traitor! You’re no disciple of mine!”

Their so-called teacher-student relationship was just a joke, but somehow, it always ended up feeling like she was the one getting taken advantage of.

When she first called him “disciple,” she thought she was the one being playful and in control. But now every time he called her “master,” she just felt like she’d been tricked.

By then, Long Xing had finished taping the banner and set the loudspeaker beneath it. But when he turned to walk toward An Han, he suddenly noticed Su Peng. His steps froze and without hesitation, he changed direction and walked off the other way.

An Han noticed this and couldn’t help wondering if there was some secret conflict between Su Peng and Long Xing.

After thinking it over, though, she realized the only conflict they might have had… was that they both liked her.

“Why didn’t Long Xing come over?” Su Peng didn’t seem wary of him at all, he even asked curiously.

“How should I know? Maybe he wants to be the first to congratulate Wang Sheng?”

An Han didn’t want to keep talking about Long Xing. With her hands stuffed in her pockets, she turned to Su Peng and asked casually, “You helped sponsor this tournament, right?”

“I just helped make the connection.”

“You paid for the prize money?”

“I—”

Before he could finish, she cut him off. “The sponsor deal you set up, was the condition that Wang Sheng give me the prize money?”

Su Peng smiled that harmless, dazzling smile of his.

An Han’s heartbeat quickened. Her usual confident, manly stance suddenly softened, her legs unconsciously pressed closer together. She turned her head away, refusing to look at that annoyingly charming face.

“I thought I was overthinking it… but turns out I was right.”

“You said you wanted to move out but didn’t want to borrow money from your roommates or from me,” Su Peng said calmly. “I couldn’t exactly shove money into your pocket, could I?”

“Wouldn’t it be better not to borrow from you? Aren’t you worried I won’t pay you back?”

Su Peng’s eyes narrowed slightly as he smiled. “If you owed me money, I’d be more than happy about it.”

“......”

See? I knew it. This guy’s just trying to tie me down with favors.