Chapter 1 Ye Xiu's Explanation

Ye Xiu succinctly explained his current problem to Luo Ji. As a top university student, Luo Ji's comprehension was beyond doubt. He nodded and tried to operate according to Ye Xiu's suggestion, but his performance still didn't meet expectations.

Luo Ji wore a bitter face and turned to Ye Xiu, saying, "I always subconsciously want to do it that way. Forcibly controlling myself not to do it feels harder than anything else!"

"You'll get used to it," Ye Xiu encouraged him to persevere. He knew this might be a little difficult for Luo Ji because it wasn't an issue of operating habits but rather Luo Ji's innate personality. Back then, his exhaustive guides were completed thanks to this very personality. This person wanted to make every step perfect, without any errors. Ye Xiu didn't know if this was a habit mathematicians developed, but it was a little difficult to control a game character with such a habit, especially when his operational skills weren't sufficient to handle that level of perfection.

Luo Ji continued to tinker under Ye Xiu's guidance. After watching for a while, Ye Xiu couldn't see any signs of progress. Overcoming such an innate habit was indeed difficult, and Ye Xiu couldn't offer any advice. To change this, Luo Ji either had to restrain his habit or drastically improve his skills to fully control the perfection he sought. Neither could be achieved overnight. Comparatively, changing his habit could at least allow him to perform at a certain level now, which was why Ye Xiu advocated that he try to change.

Luo Ji was also very persistent. After listening to Ye Xiu's guidance, he began to adapt, forgetting the fatigue from his journey. Ye Xiu and the others had woken up early, and nothing was happening in the game yet. Ye Xiu stayed with Mo Guang, watching and offering occasional pointers.

Around three in the afternoon, the training room door was slammed open. Wei Chen swaggered in, a big brother figure, with a cigarette in his mouth. Bao Zi and Qiao Yifan followed, while Mo Fan quietly walked in a moment later.

Hearing people arrive, Luo Ji quickly stopped the game and stood up. The newcomers noticed him as well.

"This is Luo Ji, also known as Mo Guang," Ye Xiu introduced him to the others. He was about to introduce Wei Chen and the others when Bao Zi laughed and walked over, "Hahaha, it's you! I didn't expect you'd really have a chance to come here. I knew I wasn't wrong about you. This is all thanks to me!"

Luo Ji didn't need to be introduced to know who Bao Zi was. Wei Chen's age was too obvious, and Mo Fan's cold expression was inappropriate. Qiao Yifan looked honest and kind; it was hard to imagine such a person being as unrestrained as Bao Zi. As expected, after eliminating the others, the one who seemed somewhat normal was the erratic Bao Zi from the game. Before Luo Ji could react, Bao Zi rushed over to greet him enthusiastically.

"Ha, this is Bao Zi. You two are quite familiar, right?" Ye Xiu said with a smile.

"Of course, I watched Mo Guang grow up!" Bao Zi said, standing next to Luo Ji, grabbing his shoulder and shaking him vigorously. Luo Ji wasn't tall, shorter than Bao Zi by less than half a head, but his build couldn't be called weak. Yet, being shaken by Bao Zi gave him a feeling of being utterly "weak."

Luo Ji wanted to say something, but he couldn't get a word in edgewise with Bao Zi around.

Ye Xiu then introduced the others to Luo Ji: "This is Wei Chen, and that's Qiao Yifan." Luo Ji had interacted with these people either in the group chat or in the tenth server, so they weren't complete strangers. Only Mo Fan was unknown to Luo Ji, so Ye Xiu emphasized, "This is Mo Fan. He just joined."

"Not yet," Mo Fan coldly interjected.

"Well, not yet. He's here to assess our team," Ye Xiu said.

"Assess, an expert!" Luo Ji looked up to him with admiration.

"Hahaha, an expert my ass! I'm telling you, I smashed him so hard with a brick that he couldn't find north, south, east, or west! We killed him for over a month! He ate so much of my sand and bricks..." Bao Zi babbled to Luo Ji. Luo Ji knew that although Bao Zi was off the rails, he never fabricated things; he just had a different understanding of things than normal people. What was he even talking about?

Luo Ji was confused. He noticed that the cold, expressionless guy even twitched his eyebrows when he heard Bao Zi's unrestrained babbling.

"Alright, alright, Bao Zi, take Mo Guang to his seat!" Ye Xiu interrupted Bao Zi's chatter.

"No need, no need. I can find my own seat," Luo Ji said frantically, shaking off Bao Zi's right hand, which had been grabbing his shoulder to show how familiar they were. He scurried back to his seat. But looking around, there was no one on either side of him. The next second, Bao Zi plopped down next to him, saying in a tone as if he was bestowing a favor, "Alright, I'll reluctantly guide you personally today!"

Luo Ji was depressed! But switching seats now would be too obvious, and he didn't like making a fuss. Helpless, he focused his attention on the game, concentrating on operating according to Ye Xiu's instructions.

"No, no, no! Why are you such a waste? Tell your dog to block that one!" Bao Zi shouted.

Dog...

Luo Ji was speechless. It was a Summoner's summoned creature, a Fire Elemental. It just happened to have a head that vaguely resembled a dog's when it attacked, so Bao Zi named it a dog.

"There, there!"

"Here, here!"

Bao Zi kept poking and pointing at Luo Ji's computer screen, constantly blocking his view. Before long, countless fingerprints were left on the display.

"Can you be quiet!" Luo Ji snapped. He didn't want to lose his composure, having just arrived in a new environment and meeting so many new friends, but he couldn't take it anymore! He admitted that Bao Zi's shouts were sometimes correct, but the way he was pointing and poking wasn't helping at all. It was just making things worse.

"You actually speak to老大 (laoda - boss/leader) like that? Don't you want to stay here anymore?" Bao Zi clenched his fist. He wasn't afraid when Luo Ji shouted like this in the game, but seeing the real person's stance, was this a real-life PK?

"Bao Zi, stop yelling. Go back to your seat!"

Luo Ji was finally saved by Ye Xiu. Bao Zi was called back to his seat, and Luo Ji breathed a sigh of relief. After scolding Bao Zi, Ye Xiu came over to check on Luo Ji's practice and encouraged him after seeing him still working hard, then returned to his own seat.

"Now that everyone's pretty much here, why don't we clean up over there? From now on, we can just eat, sleep, and train there," Chen Guo said, leaning over to discuss with Ye Xiu after he sat down. It was a pity that the training room in the internet cafe had been set up not long ago and was now going to be abandoned. But having Jia Shi and Xiao Shiqin show up one after the other had left a thorn in Chen Guo's heart.

After all, the internet cafe was a business open to the public, which wasn't convenient for secrecy. If they became a professional team, tactics and training had to be actively protected to prevent leaks.

"What about here?" Ye Xiu asked.

"Here... do clubs usually have two training rooms?" Chen Guo asked.

Ye Xiu smiled. "If it's for team players, they only have one. The others are for training camps. I don't think we need that yet, right?"

Chen Guo understood. They weren't an official professional team until they passed the Challenger League. Even if Xing Xin became a professional team and a professional club one day, many facilities couldn't be perfected in a short time, let alone training camps.

"I'm just thinking, if it's a real match one day, wouldn't it be disruptive if someone suddenly broke in?" Chen Guo said. She understood a lot about the Challenger League. In the early stages, when many teams were fighting, the matches were done online. Only in the later stages would the league organize all the remaining teams together to complete the remaining matches. So for a long time, they had to create their own competition environment. The league also stipulated the match times for the Challenger League, which everyone followed uniformly. If any opponents tried to use underhanded tactics to disrupt them offline, it would be a bit troublesome. An internet cafe, with people coming and going, was obviously not a suitable place.

"You're worrying too much. Nothing like that has ever happened in all these years. Online matches don't really know each other's details. By the time it's an offline match, the league organizes everything, making it impossible," Ye Xiu said with a smile.

"Aren't we different now? We have them!" Chen Guo tilted her head towards the window, naturally referring to Jia Shi.

"They're even less likely to do that. You're overthinking it," Ye Xiu said, sweating. Jia Shi was, after all, a once-glorious dynasty club. He didn't expect Chen Guo to see them as such an unsportsmanlike organization.

"I just don't feel secure," Chen Guo muttered.

"Let's see what everyone thinks when everyone's here!" Ye Xiu said.

"When is that guy coming?" Chen Guo asked. Currently, the only member missing was An Wenyi, and then everyone would be gathered at Happy Internet Cafe.

"Soon, right?" Ye Xiu responded casually. Then a message came on QQ. He opened it and saw it was An Wenyi, who would arrive in H City at 7:35 PM.