After Team GD defeated KOC 2:0 in their Spring Split debut, the 21-year-old new jungler "Shuoyue" quickly attracted widespread attention from major teams in the circle.
Coaches were digging into his background, but no matter how they searched, they couldn't find his match records.
Domestic coaches were confused: "He has never played a match? Never seen the ID Shuoyue in the secondary league either. What's the situation?" "This isn't scientific! 21-year-old trainee, how is that possible?" "He doesn't seem to be from the Youth Training Camp either, right? Heard he suddenly went to GD Club for an interview and got accepted."
Coaches in the circle had heads full of question marks.
So, Shuoyue was considered an "expert dropped from heaven"?
While confused, coaches of various teams also breathed a sigh of relief.
Rookies easily fell into bottlenecks. Performing well at the start, but due to insufficient tournament experience and psychological quality not being strong enough, once major teams figured out their playstyle patterns later, they would soon be targeted and play worse and worse, like being blocked by a wall. This was also known as the "Rookie Wall" in the e-sports circle.
There were many rookies who performed excellently when debuting, but those who could truly cross the "Rookie Wall" and make a name for themselves were rare. Especially since Chi Shu was already 21, his condition and reaction were definitely inferior to 17 or 18-year-old teenagers; no need to be too wary.
Coaches of major teams still focused their targeting on Ye Shaoyang.
Ye Shaoyang was in a very good mood recently, not only because his coordination with Chi Shu was becoming smoother, but also because his cast was removed, and he could finally walk normally. Throwing away the crutches, he could also shower alone.
To be honest, asking Chi Shu to help scrub his back every day during this period made him a bit embarrassed.
Although good bros scrubbing each other's backs was nothing, every time Chi Shu put his hand on his waist, the place where skin touched the man's fingers would inexplicably heat up, making Ye Shaoyang's face hot.
Fortunately, after removing the cast, he didn't need Chi Shu's help, and Ye Shaoyang breathed a sigh of relief.
That evening, when Ye Shaoyang came out of the shower, Chi Shu happened to arrive at the bathroom door. The tall boy's gaze was gentle, looking at him and asking in a low voice, "Has your leg healed completely?"
"Don't worry, almost healed." Ye Shaoyang turned and sat on the sofa in the living room.
Chi Shu followed and walked in front of Ye Shaoyang. "Let me see your leg." Saying that, he suddenly squatted down, reached out, and gently kneaded Ye Shaoyang's calf like a massage, his voice low and gentle: "Does it still hurt?"
Ye Shaoyang: "…"
Chi Shu looked up at Ye Shaoyang: "Hurts?"
Ye Shaoyang's heart seemed to have the fast-forward button pressed, beating fiercely. He hurriedly looked away and said awkwardly, "It's okay, doesn't affect walking. Not too painful either."
Chi Shu said gently, "Your leg wore a cast for a long time. After removal, the muscles have atrophied a bit. I'll help you massage it every day to help blood circulation in the leg and recover faster."
While speaking, he started massaging Ye Shaoyang.
The boy's slender fingers gently kneaded Ye Shaoyang's calf. His movements were gentle and professional, not painful at all, instead allowing the deep muscles of the leg to relax.
Ye Shaoyang's leg was massaged very comfortably, but his heartbeat became faster and faster.
He knew Chi Shu had good intentions. His leg was fixed in a cast for over a month. After removal, the muscles were pale and stiff, and walking wasn't as flexible as before.
Chi Shu helping him massage, he couldn't refuse directly, so he could only pretend to be calm and change the subject, teasing with a smile: "Your technique is not bad, quite professional."
Chi Shu said, "Learned it online."
Ye Shaoyang was stunned. "Why did you learn this?"
Chi Shu looked up at him and said lightly, "Your leg had the cast removed and needs rehabilitation. Massage can help you recover as soon as possible, so I went to learn massage techniques."
Ye Shaoyang's head buzzed, and his heartbeat was ridiculously fast.
So he… learned it specifically for me?
Ye Shaoyang ignored the accelerated heartbeat and patted Chi Shu's shoulder, pretending to be bold. "Brother, you are too loyal! Good bro!"
Chi Shu chuckled lightly. "Mn, good bros help each other."
Don't know why, listening to the boy's low laughter, Ye Shaoyang's face inexplicably heated up.
Why did he feel like Chi Shu was laughing at him?
Chi Shu had a nice voice and was also handsome. Ye Shaoyang couldn't help thinking, With this voice and looks, why play e-sports? Could mix into idol dramas as a male lead. What was more rare was that Chi Shu had a good temper and was so gentle and considerate. His future wife would definitely be very happy, right?
Ye Shaoyang let his imagination run wild for a while.
Chi Shu finished massaging his right leg and asked again, "Massage the left side too?"
Ye Shaoyang came back to his senses and coughed lightly. "Would this be pushing it too far?"
Chi Shu said, "It doesn't matter. You can owe me a favor first and pay it back later."
Always felt this sentence was like a pit, but Chi Shu's massage technique was really too comfortable. The stiff leg muscles completely relaxed, so Ye Shaoyang consciously extended his left leg, letting Chi Shu help knead it too.
Chi Shu continued to massage him skillfully.
A moment later, a thin snoring sound was heard from above.
This guy was actually comfortable enough to fall asleep?
Seemed he was exhausted. Chi Shu was somewhat gratified and somewhat heartached. Gratified that even in a different world, Yangyang still trusted him so much, able to fall asleep defenselessly in front of him. Heartached that to get good results this season, Ye Shaoyang had actually worked very hard during this period.
Don't look at the first match going very smoothly; in fact, Ye Shaoyang studied opponents every night until 3 AM.
He had always been a player with great macro view and tactical awareness.
The coaching staff could only decide tactics and lineups. When it really came to the match field, the situation changed rapidly, and what exactly to do depended on the players to decide. As the captain and shotcaller, Ye Shaoyang needed to bear more pressure than anyone else, so he also worked harder than other players.
Chi Shu got MVP in the first match, but the one responsible for commanding had always been Ye Shaoyang.
These things, as a roommate, Chi Shu saw them all.
Chi Shu stopped his movements, gently picked up the sleeping Ye Shaoyang in a princess carry, walked into the bedroom, and placed him on the bed.
Looking at Ye Shaoyang's sleeping face, Chi Shu sat by the bed, gently touched Ye Shaoyang's cheek, his voice gentle: "Sleep well, I'm here."
Perhaps the fatigue of the whole body was relieved under Chi Shu's massage. Ye Shaoyang slept very soundly this night, and his dreams were also scenes of Chi Shu gently scrubbing his back and massaging his legs.
When he got up the next day, Ye Shaoyang was full of energy. He went to the training room to start a stream and dragged Chi Shu to duo-queue. He actively introduced to the fans: "Streaming with my teammate today, guess who it is?"
Bullet comments frantically spammed in the livestream room: "Is it Shuoyue?" "Begging! Let Shuoyue show his face too; I watched the first match, he's so handsome!"
Ye Shaoyang pulled Chi Shu in front of his camera like introducing a treasure and joked, "Introducing to everyone, this is our GD Team's visual responsibility—Shuoyue."
Chi Shu cooperated and greeted the fans in Ye Shaoyang's livestream room: "Hello everyone, I am Shuoyue. Streaming with our Captain today, thank you everyone for supporting Team GD."
Ye Shaoyang laughed out loud. "You're so official."
Their faces were close together. Fans screamed and took screenshots one after another: "Ahhh I'm dead! These two in the same frame, really match well!" "Want me to kill myself to cheer you two up?"
Chi Shu sat back in his seat and opened his livestream room. Immediately, many fans flooded in. The two chatted while playing ranked, coordinating tacitly to win three games in a row.
Fans discovered that Ye Shaoyang was obviously very happy.
When streaming before, although Yangyang also joked often, streaming with Shuoyue had a different atmosphere. That feeling of intimacy and tacit understanding really couldn't be acted out.
Their private relationship must be very good, right?
Fans speculated one after another.
Not long after, GD met the second opponent in the regular season.
The coach thought Chi Shu performed so well only because of the rookie aura, so he left junglers open this game, banning Mid and Marksman first. Result: Chi Shu took a wild core and went on a killing spree, playing even smoother than the first game. Finally, in a team fight, with teammates' cooperation, he got a penta kill directly!
Thunderous applause at the scene. Chi Shu's sharp skills and outstanding looks quickly attracted countless fans.
In the post-match interview, the reporter asked curiously, "Shuoyue, I'm very curious, why did you choose this name? Is it related to Lieyang?"
Shuoyue (New Moon), Lieyang (Scorching Sun), didn't look like a coincidence no matter how you looked at it.
Chi Shu looked at the camera and said calmly, "Of course it's related. Actually, I am Lieyang's fan. In my heart, Lieyang is the most outstanding e-sports player. I joined Team GD because of him too."
Fans watching the interview screamed out loud.
Number one iron fan!
Chasing idol's footsteps, coming to Team GD, helping idol win the championship?
A group of Sun-Moon CP fans immediately appeared on Weibo, expressing they got candy from the interview.
When returning backstage after the interview ended, Ye Shaoyang stopped Chi Shu and said helplessly, "Saying this might affect your popularity. I have quite a lot of anti-fans in the circle…"
Chi Shu gazed into his eyes. "I spoke the truth. In my heart, you are the most outstanding player."
Ye Shaoyang: "…"
He had heard a lot of flattery over the years. Since his debut, he had been praised for outstanding talent, strong macro view, excellent commanding ability, praised in every way. Even anti-fans deliberately praised him as the world's strongest mid-laner (to set him up for failure).
But this sentence from Chi Shu made Ye Shaoyang's heart skip a beat.
Chi Shu's appreciation was better than all media reporters' flattery.
Because that was recognition from the heart.
Chi Shu recognized him, considered him the most outstanding player, so he resolutely came to his side, even writing a self-recommendation letter saying he would become his best partner.
Ye Shaoyang was suddenly a bit moved.
This road was hard. Having someone unconditionally appreciate him, support him, and willing to accompany him down this path—the warmth rising from the bottom of his heart made Ye Shaoyang, who was usually quick-tongued, actually unable to speak.
He looked at Chi Shu, and Chi Shu happened to look at him too.
In their eyes, there were only tiny reflections of each other.
In that instant, Ye Shaoyang suddenly had an urge to hug the other party, but Chi Shu did it directly. The moment he was gently hugged into Chi Shu's arms, Ye Shaoyang heard his own violent heartbeat.
Chi Shu's voice sounded in his ear: "Yangyang, can I call you this?"
Ye Shaoyang's heart beat like a drum. "Just an address, just… just whatever."
People in the team called him Brother Yang, Captain. Only the coach who was much older than him called him Yangyang. Chi Shu calling him this inexplicably revealed a sense of intimacy different from other teammates.
Chi Shu's voice was low and magnetic. When he softly called "Yangyang," Ye Shaoyang only felt like an electric current ran through his spine, and his heartbeat became faster.
Chi Shu chuckled lightly and said, "Trust me, you are a very outstanding person. You will definitely realize your wish."
Ye Shaoyang nodded, his nose a bit sour.
He once questioned himself: was he not good enough? Insufficient ability?
Otherwise, why did he always brush past the championship?
He became famous young, played matches for so many years, talent wasn't bad, mentality was also good. He worked very hard in every match, seriously studied tactics and commanding ideas in private, practiced all mid-lane heroes until extremely proficient… yet still one step away from the championship.
Losing the Global Finals in the US, at the moment the big truck hit him, he even thought, if I die just like this, how regretful would I be?
In this life, he had only this one wish of winning the championship, but didn't realize it until death.
Fortunately, he only injured one leg, and then met Chi Shu.
Chi Shu's appreciation and affirmation were like injecting the warmest power into his heart.
You are very outstanding.
You are the best player in my heart.
You will definitely realize your wish.
Chi Shu's words echoed in his ears. Ye Shaoyang suddenly had stronger motivation. He gently hugged Chi Shu and said seriously, "Thank you for believing in me so much."
Chi Shu laughed. "Mn, let's work hard together."
Ye Shaoyang extended a fist. Chi Shu cooperated and extended a fist too, bumping with him.
Just like before every match in the ABO world, when encouraging each other, they would also gently bump fists.
Ye Shaoyang felt this scene was somewhat familiar in a trance.
But Chi Shu's gaze made his cheeks hot, so he didn't think much and turned to get on the bus with his teammates.
In the following time, the two continued to practice hard, and Team GD's record became more and more shocking.
Three consecutive wins, four consecutive wins…
Ten consecutive wins!
Coaches were dumbfounded.
What about "rookies will hit a bottleneck"?
Where was Chi Shu's bottleneck!
This rookie had no damn bottleneck!
Ban Chi Shu's junglers, Ye Shaoyang's mid lane was fierce as hell.
Ban Ye Shaoyang's mid lane, Chi Shu's jungler went on a killing spree?
Target Marksman, Top, Support? But Team GD was the runner-up of the Global Finals last season; Top, Marksman, and Support were strong themselves!
This season they only changed the jungler position. The only weakness was also the newly replaced jungler. Result: The jungler became an advantage instead? Coaches of other teams didn't know what to do.
Team GD won the Spring Split Championship with a complete victory record!
Back then, Tianhuan had Cheng Xing, an unstable rookie, and Qu Jiang who switched to support position; the road to the championship was full of bumps. Team GD itself had the strength of a world runner-up, only changing Chi Shu as one jungler, so the integration was very smooth.
If winning the championship in the ABO world was Nightmare difficulty, GD winning was Normal difficulty.
The two were still tacit, and teammates were all reliable.
After the Spring Split ended, Chi Shu asked Ye Shaoyang privately, "Have you thought about getting a Grand Slam?"
Ye Shaoyang's eyes lit up. "You mean, getting all the championships of the whole year—Spring Split, Mid-Season Invitational, Summer Split, Global Finals? That's too hard."
Chi Shu asked, "Don't want to try?"
Ye Shaoyang nodded excitedly. "Okay, then let's try!"
Nothing was impossible.
This time, let's create history together.