Chapter 11: Why Are You Still Standing Outside? Get In
"Hey, bro, are we playing tonight?"
Lin Wan sat in his chair, his thumbs moving quickly across the phone screen.
Both Hands Create Dreams: "I probably won't be taking many boosting orders for a while."
The Second Brother Escaping from Bear Ridge: "?"
You're not even eager to make money?
Both Hands Create Dreams: "We need to practice with the team."
Lin Wan blinked.
Wait... are you a pro player? The World Finals are coming up around this time. Aren't you a student at our school?
He didn't understand, so he sent another question mark.
Both Hands Create Dreams: "The school is holding a League of Legends tournament. The champion team gets a 1,000-yuan prize, and teams that place well also earn extra academic credits."
The moment Lin Wan heard there was prize money, he couldn't sit still anymore.
The Second Brother Escaping from Bear Ridge: "How do I sign up?"
Both Hands Create Dreams: "Have you already formed a team?"
Lin Wan turned to look at Sun Mao. Many faces flashed through his mind. If he asked classmates from his class to join him, they probably wouldn't even have a chance to compete for the 1,000 yuan.
The Second Brother Escaping from Bear Ridge: "No. Is there still time to make a team?"
Both Hands Create Dreams: "Our team happens to be missing one player. If you're interested..."
Could something this good really happen?
With a strongest-rank player carrying the team, wasn't the championship almost guaranteed?
Even hesitating for a second would be disrespectful to that 1,000 yuan.
Lin Wan quickly replied, "I'm in!"
In Room 502, Zhuo Feng looked at the reply on the screen and smiled slightly. Then he continued tempting him with an even bigger reward.
Both Hands Create Dreams: "After the school tournament, there will also be an official college League of Legends tournament. The champion prize is 100,000 yuan."
100,000!!!
Lin Wan felt as if his head was completely filled with thoughts of money.
How thick would a stack of 100,000 yuan be?
His hands shook as he typed, "Will your team join that tournament too?"
Both Hands Create Dreams: "Of course."
The Second Brother Escaping from Bear Ridge: "Please let me join your team!"
Both Hands Create Dreams: "Sure. Let me know when you're free, and our team can meet in person first."
The Second Brother Escaping from Bear Ridge: "Tomorrow evening. It's Friday, and I don't have any classes at night."
At that moment, Lin Wan wasn't thinking at all about meeting an online friend in real life.
He was completely blinded by the thought of money. He had already started imagining how happy his parents would be when he brought the prize money home.
The next day.
After his afternoon classes, Lin Wan went to an old barbershop outside the school for a haircut.
The owner was an old man. His haircuts were incredibly cheap, only five yuan each. He was well known in the area, and Lin Wan liked coming here.
When the old man heard that he wanted a buzz cut, he kindly tried to stop him because his eyesight wasn't very good.
"Young lady, once your hair is cut off, you can't undo it. Think it over carefully!"
Lin Wan had no choice but to explain that he was actually a boy.
As soon as the old man heard that, he picked up his clippers and quickly gave him a crew cut. If he had cut any shorter, his scalp would have been shining.
After the haircut, Lin Wan put on the baseball cap that had been sitting in his suitcase for a long time. Together with an oversized hoodie and wide-leg pants, they finally hid his thin body.
As long as people didn't look at his eyes, he still looked like a somewhat handsome young guy.
That evening, Lin Wan arrived at the restaurant where they had agreed to meet.
Standing outside the restaurant, he suddenly realized...
Was he about to meet an online friend in person?
Although they went to the same school and had played games together for a long time, they had never actually met. They were probably familiar strangers at best. And there would also be the other teammates!
When they met in a moment, what should he even say?
If he greeted them, should he wave or shake hands?
Or should he introduce himself first?
And if he introduced himself, should he use his real name or his in-game name?
Would they be easy to get along with?
He rubbed the cuff of his sleeve and started pacing back and forth, unable to make up his mind.
"Hey, Second Brother."
Someone called out to Lin Wan, but he was so lost in thought that he didn't realize anyone was calling him.
"Second Brother, why are you still standing outside? Come in."
It wasn't until someone lightly patted his shoulder that he came back to his senses.
He turned around.
Holy crap, isn't this the cafeteria's Wu Yanzu?
Huh? Was he calling me just now? Why? Do we know each other?
"It's me, [Both Hands Create Dreams]. Didn't you recognize my voice?" Zhuo Feng looked at Lin Wan and said.
"Huh?" Lin Wan was completely confused. In his mind, [Both Hands Create Dreams], who always spoke in a serious and calm voice, should have looked like a polite student wearing glasses. This was nothing like what he had imagined.
"Come on, stop standing here. Let's go inside." Zhuo Feng pushed Lin Wan lightly on the shoulder and led him into the restaurant.
"Hey, how did you know it was me?" Lin Wan finally came back to his senses. How had the other person recognized him?
"Didn't we see each other in the cafeteria yesterday? I heard you talking. Your voice sounded almost the same as it does in the game. And now you're here at this restaurant. How could I not figure out who you were?"
"Oh... I see."
Zhuo Feng led Lin Wan all the way to a private dining room, where three people were already waiting.
The moment he walked in, all three of them looked at him.
"Captain, is this our team's new support player?" Han Jinsong asked Zhuo Feng.
"Yeah. He's really good. He started as a complete beginner two months ago, and now he's already Diamond III."
"Damn, what a genius!"
"Have a seat. Don't be nervous. We're all from Qingnan University. The guy on the left is our top laner. The one across from you is our mid laner. And the guy on the right is my roommate. He plays jungle." Zhuo Feng pulled out a chair for Lin Wan and introduced the other three. He knew Lin Wan was shy, so he tried to keep the atmosphere relaxed.
"Hello, everyone. My name is Lin Wan. I'm a first-year student in the Computer Science Department," Lin Wan said softly as he introduced himself.
"Nice to meet you. I'm Han Jinsong, a second-year student. I'm also in Computer Science."
"Nice to meet you. I'm Ding Hanwei, a third-year student in Information Management," said the young man on the left. He wore glasses and had a build similar to Lin Wan's.
"Nice to meet you. I'm Yu Sen, a second-year Chemistry student," said the boy sitting across the table. Even though the weather had turned cold recently, he was only wearing a T-shirt. His exposed arms looked thicker than Lin Wan's thighs. If he grew a mustache and shaved his head, Lin Wan thought he could cosplay Braum perfectly.
"I'm Zhuo Feng. Same department as him." Zhuo Feng pointed at Han Jinsong.
Even after playing ranked together with Zhuo Feng for so long, Lin Wan only knew that Zhuo Feng went to the same university. Other than that, he knew nothing about him.
After all, a true friendship doesn't need to know everything.
Sometimes people meet a friend through a game, and both feel that the other is someone they can trust deeply. Their friendship can become so close that they would even lend each other money without hesitation. Yet they still don't know each other's real name, age, or appearance. They may not even have each other's phone numbers, only staying in touch through QQ or WeChat for many years.
Relationships between people can be surprisingly wonderful.
After everyone got to know each other, Lin Wan gradually became more comfortable during dinner.
He slowly relaxed.
So making friends with strangers wasn't as difficult as he had imagined.
After dinner, Zhuo Feng led everyone to an internet café.
"You're here already? I thought you'd still be eating for a while."
As soon as they entered, a tall, thin young man beside the front desk walked over to greet Zhuo Feng.
"Yeah. That restaurant serves food pretty quickly." After saying that, Zhuo Feng introduced him to Lin Wan. "This is Chen Jie. He used to be our support player. Now that he's graduated in his fourth year, he's become our team's coach."
Then he introduced Lin Wan to Chen Jie.
"This is Lin Wan, a first-year student. He's taking your place."
"Hello, Coach," Lin Wan greeted him. So their team was this well organized? They even had a coach.
"Hello, junior," Chen Jie replied with a smile. Then he turned and walked toward the back. "Come on. I've already reserved the private room for you."
"Let's go! Tonight, Qingnan University's strongest bulldozer is rolling out again!" Han Jinsong couldn't wait anymore.
The group entered the private room, where five computers and chairs were already set up.
"Start by playing some Flex Queue matches. Let's see how well the team works together," Chen Jie said as he pulled over a chair and sat behind them.
They logged into their game accounts and entered the matchmaking lobby.
Lin Wan looked at everyone's ranks.
Good grief.
There was one Challenger, one Grandmaster, and two Masters.
He was the only one with the lowest rank, Diamond III.
Won't I hold them back?
He suddenly became nervous.
"Relax. We're just doing some casual practice for the school tournament. As far as I know, our team has the highest average rank in the whole school. Nobody should be able to beat us," Zhuo Feng said. He was sitting next to Lin Wan because they played Carry and Support, making it easier to communicate. Seeing that Lin Wan looked nervous, he tried to comfort him.
"Okay!" Lin Wan took a deep breath.
That's easy for you to say. You're one of the top players. You have no idea what it's like to be the weakest one under this kind of pressure!