Chapter 1 After the Away Game

After their away game in Vladivostok, the entire Zenit Saint Petersburg team went directly from Dynamo Stadium to Vladivostok International Airport, where they boarded a plane that evening back to Saint Petersburg.

On the plane, Chen Hero ran into Petrova again. This time, Petrova even hinted that she was free on Sundays and Mondays every week in Saint Petersburg, and he could call her anytime if he wanted to see her.

His teammates watched Chen Hero's embarrassment with suppressed laughter, but Chen Hero couldn't refuse too bluntly, so he could only make excuses.

But it seemed that Petrova was very interested in Chen Hero and was persistent.

The thirteen-hour flight was torture for him. The last time he flew to Vladivostok, he was only embarrassed for the second half of the trip at least, but this time it was the whole way…

Later, Chen Hero simply pretended to be asleep, wearing headphones and listening to music, pretending not to know what was happening outside.

He finally breathed a sigh of relief when he arrived in Saint Petersburg.

But his embarrassment was not over. On the bus from the hotel back to the training base, his teammates teased Chen Hero again, and bursts of joyful laughter erupted from the bus from time to time.

Amidst everyone's laughter, Chen Hero now hoped that Vladivostok Luch-Energiya would be relegated as soon as possible...

After saying goodbye to his teammates in the parking lot of the training base, Chen Hero returned alone to his dormitory deep inside the training base.

He unlocked the door with his key and saw Yesenin sitting on the sofa watching TV.

"You're back?" Yesenin shifted his gaze from the TV when he saw Chen Hero.

"Yeah."

Chen Hero kicked off his shoes, threw his backpack directly on the floor, and headed barefoot straight for the laptop on the dining table.

"I think I should definitely be leveled up!" he said as he opened the website.

He said "yes" when he saw his experience bar.

"Yes, you leveled up." Yesenin stood up and walked behind him, looking at the laptop screen with him.

"Two consecutive starts, two consecutive goals, two consecutive wins. Those three tasks, plus bonus experience for consecutive goals and consecutive wins."

Hearing Yesenin's explanation, Chen Hero whistled. "Cool!"

He had gained some new talent points. He didn't hesitate at all about where to put these talent points. He had already put one point into "Knockdown" before, but putting in only one point was meaningless. Chen Hero had studied this talent and felt that it was only meaningful if it was maxed out.

So, he decided to put all the talent points he had gained into this talent.

He pressed the mouse on the "Knockdown" talent icon without hesitation.

Another ray of colorful light flashed, and he now had two levels of the "Knockdown" talent.

Now, when he was attacking, there was a ten percent chance that he would not foul when he knocked down a defending player.

In terms of reputation, he was still at the Unknown rank, but the number behind it had changed, increasing by ten points to twenty points.

Chen Hero turned to ask Yesenin, "Can I view this website of yours on other computers?"

"Yes, you can see it as long as you enter the website address."

"Then how do you guarantee security?" Chen Hero was worried that anyone could open this website. Even if they might not be able to do anything, it wouldn't be good if others knew his secret. Chen Hero wasn't that stupid. He had made rapid progress relying on this Aurora System, so why would he go around proclaiming it? In the eyes of the uninformed, he was a genius, and he was happy to play that role.

"Don't worry about that. This website only works for people I've selected. Otherwise, to ordinary people, it's just an ordinary... uh, World of Warcraft talent simulator page."

Chen Hero laughed. "Hiding it in the World of Warcraft talent simulator? You really can think of things! Ha!" That was good. He played World of Warcraft anyway, so looking at the talent simulator was normal. He often did this when he was playing the game in China, otherwise, how could he have become the top main tank in the guild just by accumulating online time?

After saying that, he stood up. "Let's go, accompany me to the city."

"What for?" Yesenin raised his head and asked him.

"To buy a laptop!" This away trip made Chen Hero realize the downside of having a lack of entertainment. He had nothing to do on the plane, so he tried to flirt with the stewardess, but ended up being hit on by her instead. In the hotel room, he was unfamiliar with the place and had nothing to do, so he just went to sleep. If he had a laptop, it would be much easier to check his leveling progress, without having to come back to the dormitory every time to use Yesenin's laptop.

After wandering around the city, he bought a Dell laptop. Of course, he didn't forget to buy a genuine World of Warcraft client. Although he had to hang up and grind experience every night now, he still wanted to go online and play for a while when he had time in the future.

This game had given him great comfort in his most empty, helpless, and decadent times. At first, he only played it to vent his emotions and forget his troubles, but he didn't expect to meet a large group of friends in the game. They fought monsters, leveled up, did quests, and chatted together. He found a group of people he had never met to be much more lovable than his teammates in the clubs in reality.

So, when he decided to AFK and temporarily leave the game, he didn't forget to say goodbye to everyone.

This game was more than just a game to him.

After buying the computer, Chen Hero realized that he didn't know how to install the operating system, and it was a Russian version of the system installation disc – Chen Hero had been studying Russian for so long, mainly focusing on football, and his Russian vocabulary in IT was pitifully small.

"Mr. Aurora, can you install the system?" he asked Yesenin, trying his luck.

Unexpectedly, Yesenin very skillfully took out a USB flash drive from his bag and plugged it into Chen Hero's new laptop.

Chen Hero took a look, and it was the xx installation version from a computer store in China!

Hard drive partitioning, one-click installation, software installation, Ghost backup... Watching Yesenin skillfully operate on the computer, he grinned. "I knew there was nothing in this world you couldn't do, right?"

"I'm really not capable of world peace," Yesenin replied.

"But... you look just like a computer store installer, not like a god... not cool at all."

"I'm not a god. Besides, what's cool?"

"Like, with a wave of your hand, a ray of colorful aurora envelops the entire laptop, flickering and flowing, and then when the light disappears, the system logo automatically lights up on the screen..." Chen Hero fantasized.

"Have you ever seen me cook for you with a wave of my hand, a flow of colorful light, and then the food runs to the table by itself?"

"Uh... no."

"So I'm not a god. Installing the system still requires tools, and cooking still requires fire and hands. If the seasonings aren't right and the heat isn't controlled well, what you make will still be difficult to eat." Yesenin repeatedly refreshed the desktop with the right mouse button several times, as those installation personnel Chen Hero had seen were accustomed to doing, and then said to him.

"Alright."

The system was a Chinese version of Windows XP, and there were icons for QQ, IE, Xunlei, Storm Video, Qianqian Music... and other software he often used on the desktop.

Yesenin saw the World of Warcraft installation box on the table. "Do you want me to install this for you too?"

Chen Hero shook his head. "No need..." He suddenly remembered that World of Warcraft was also in Russian! "Ah! Damn it! Do you have a Simplified Chinese version of World of Warcraft?"

Yesenin took out a mobile hard drive from his bag and connected it to the computer.

Chen Hero glanced at the contents of his mobile hard drive and was shocked. "You even have Audition Online?! Journey to the West Online? The Legend of Mir 2, Violent Wheel?! I can't believe it, you're a veteran in the online gaming world!"

"I don't play them, I just keep them here in case they're needed, like now." Yesenin explained as he installed it. "Which drive should I install it on?"

"E drive!"

Chen Hero answered casually, glanced at it, and was shocked again. "Damn it, you even have Red Alert 2 Yuri's Revenge? I want it, I want it! Install it for me quickly! I want to play!" Chen Hero became interested when he discovered that Yesenin's mobile hard drive was simply a game treasure trove.

"Do you have Pro Evolution Soccer 10 on this?" After receiving Yesenin's affirmative answer, Chen Hero shouted, "Install it all together!"

Then he asked a series of questions like a machine gun: "Do you have Tailly 3? H-Game? Imprison?"

"No," Yesenin answered decisively, without the slightest hesitation.

Chen Hero felt disappointed, and his interest in this "treasure trove" disappeared by half upon hearing that.

After everything was installed, Chen Hero connected to the Internet and opened the website that Yesenin had given him.

Sure enough, everything was there, nothing was missing, and nothing had changed.

He saved this website in his favorites and then exited.

Seeing Chen Hero get up, Yesenin already knew what he was going to do. "Going to hang up and grind experience again?"

Chen Hero nodded.

If Hero wanted to level up, Yesenin would of course accompany him.

When the two were using the training ground of the training base to practice extra, Chen Hero suddenly exclaimed, "Now that I think about it, it's lucky that I live in the dormitory building, otherwise where would I get the conditions to practice extra every day? But I'll have to move out sooner or later... How can I hang up and grind experience like this after I move out?"

"You can't possibly spend every night in such training in the future, right?" Yesenin's words awakened the dreamer.

Chen Hero reacted. That's right, the dazzling world of Saint Petersburg was still waiting for him. By then, he probably wouldn't have the time and energy to come to practice extra every day.

He kicked the football passed by Yesenin towards the goal, and the football went into the unguarded empty goal.

"Okay, then I'll score more goals! Score even more goals!"