Little Fish and Mint - Chapter 13
Silence fell over the voice channel.
Yiyi and Roy, who’d been chattering non-stop, were instantly speechless.
？
？！！！！
Yiyi’s eyes widened in disbelief.
Xu Yitong, her heart pounding, asked nervously, “Yu Ge, what do you mean… ‘create custom game’…?”
“I accepted,” he said, his voice as cool and indifferent as ever.
“…”
Yiyi choked back her words.
Aaaaahhhh!
A wave of excitement washed over her. She pinched herself to avoid screaming out loud.
Holy sh1t! He accepted! Fish, OG’s Fish! Yiyi felt faint. How had she managed to convince one of the LPL’s top ADCs to participate in this grudge match?
Secretly thrilled, she tried to sound calm. “Wait, let me stall. I need to teach Tongtong about runes and masteries.”
Her hands trembling slightly, she typed in all chat.
milk: [Add me. We’ll start at 9 PM. No problem, right?]
Gradually Cold: [Hahaha, good. Just wait. Daddy’s going to teach you a lesson.]
…
Yiyi created a 5v5 custom game lobby.
Xu Yitong returned with their milk tea order to find several unfamiliar IDs in the lobby.
“Who are these people?” she wondered.
Chen Yi Dao (One-Knife Chen): [Here for the show.]
Jungle Pretty Boy: [Hi, I’m Fish’s personal jungle daddy.]
Willzz: [Hi, I heard Fish is going to adopt you after this match?]
What’s with all the gossip?
“Tongtong, join Fish’s team. Roy and I will practice with you as Lucian and Nami,” Yiyi said.
“Which one is his?” Xu Yitong looked at the unfamiliar names.
“He switched accounts. See ‘Squidward’? Join his team. I’ll teach you about runes.”
“Okay.”
“Do you have YY?” [YY is a voice chat platform popular in China, especially for gaming.]
“Yes.”
Yiyi typed a channel ID in chat. “Join this.”
Xu Yitong logged into her long-unused YY account and searched for the channel: “OJi Secret Base.”
As she joined, she heard Roy say, “I remember this streamer. His ID is Changde Wan. He mains Twitch. A friend invited me to a custom ARAM game with him. He fed every game. He’s terrible.”
Little C scoffed. “Changde Wan? Even if it was Zhou Dong (GodV) himself, he wouldn’t dare try to teach our Fish a lesson, okay?” [GodV is a famous League of Legends pro player in China.]
“He probably thinks Ruo Yiyi is Roy,” Will said, munching on sunflower seeds. “Some viewers in his stream recognized the account.”
“So he thinks he can challenge us because it’s me?” Roy bristled. “Even if I don’t main ADC, I can still crush that noob.”
“You might not beat him on Jinx,” Awen said.
“Yeah, Lucian-Nami is broken this patch. Even Nautilus-Samira gets crushed early game. Jinx-Yuumi is a free win for them,” Little C agreed.
Xu Yitong, listening nervously, scrolled through the player list. Was “Fs” him? But he wasn’t speaking… “What should we do? Can someone play on my account? I’m really bad,” she pleaded.
“You’re here,” Roy said.
“Zhenzhen Pulling Radishes? Who’s this mysterious lady?” Awen asked, a hint of amusement in his voice.
“It’s me, Xu Yitong,” she said.
Silence fell over the YY channel.
“You again?” Awen said, then after a pause, “I see.”
“Is it really that bad of a matchup?” Xu Yitong worried. “Can someone play for me, please?”
“Fish already accepted. What are you afraid of? If we lose, it’s on him,” Roy said.
“No way!” she exclaimed. She couldn’t let Yu Ge lose to that guy.
“Relax, trust Fish. He’s strong,” Yiyi reassured her. “Okay, open your rune page. I’ll tell you what to pick.”
“Wait, let me get a pen,” Xu Yitong said.
Little C chuckled, glancing at Yu Ge, who was watching a Go match on his other monitor. While everyone else excitedly discussed the upcoming 2v2, Yu Ge, the main participant, seemed completely indifferent.
“Arcane Comet or Aery?” Yiyi and Roy discussed.
“Comet, obviously. Otherwise, there’s no damage.”
“But Tongtong needs to land her Q.”
“We’ll see.”
Static crackled through Xu Yitong’s headset, their voices fading in and out. She unplugged and replugged it, but it didn’t help.
Despite the air conditioning, she was sweating nervously.
After a moment of hesitation, she messaged Yu Ge. [My headset is messed up. Can we voice chat? I don’t want to miss your calls. TAT]
He didn’t reply.
She sent another message: [I swear! I’ll lose every card game this year if I’m lying!] It was the most solemn oath she could think of.
Still no response.
Restless, she glanced at the time. She couldn’t wait any longer.
She called him, not expecting him to answer.
It rang…
—Click.
Her heart skipped a beat as he answered.
“I swear, I’m not trying to bother you. My headset…”
“I saw your message,” he interrupted.
“Oh…”
Focus, Xu Yitong. No time for distractions.
She practiced the combos Yiyi and Roy had taught her: Q, jump off, auto-attack, shield, attach, heal, ignite, exhaust…
“I… I think I’m getting the hang of it,” she said quietly.
“Mm,” he replied indifferently.
Seeing Jinx standing still, she asked, “What are you doing?”
He paused. “Eating.”
Her headset, as if deliberately messing with her, was working perfectly fine now that she was talking to Yu Ge.
“Tongtong, remember to jump off after using your abilities and auto a few times,” Yiyi reminded her.
Xu Yitong glanced at her WeChat call with Yu Ge.
Feigning confusion, she said, “What? My headset’s acting up. Can you repeat that?”
Yiyi repeated her instructions.
“Oh, okay.”
“Wait, why did Fish leave the YY channel?” Yiyi asked suddenly.
“They’re in a private call,” Roy said casually.
“Oh,” Yiyi paused, then seemed to accept it.
✧✧✧
At 9 PM, Yiyi started the custom game.
Gradually Cold joined with a different account, his rank displayed: Challenger.
Xu Yitong’s heart sank at the sight of his rank. She wanted to run.
As they entered champion select, the pressure mounted. The more nervous she felt, the more she talked. “Yu Ge, he’s actually Challenger! I shouldn’t have provoked him! It’s my fault for talking too much! What if we lose…? I’m so scared!”
“It’s just a game,” he said.
Without thinking, she blurted out, “No! I can’t let you lose!”
Silence.
Then he said, “We won’t.”
She instantly fell silent, mentally berating herself.
Why are you blushing now, you idiot?
…
With the resolve of a soldier marching into battle, Xu Yitong entered the game.
Please, Buddha, let us win, she prayed silently. I’ll be a vegetarian for a month.
At level one, Lucian and Nami pushed the wave.
Fifteen seconds in, Yu Ge placed a ward in the enemy tri-bush. The minions clashed, and just like the previous game, the enemy bot lane played aggressively.
Xu Yitong held her breath.
Jinx switched to minigun form, attacking the backline minions.
“We’re going for level two first. Stay on me. Don’t jump off,” Yu Ge instructed.
“Okay.”
Lucian, underestimating them, walked forward to trade.
Jinx backed off, avoiding the attack.
“Lucian messed up. Didn’t get his passive off,” Little C commented.
“Can you tell which one is Nami?” Yu Ge suddenly asked.
“Yes, the one with the fishtail,” Xu Yitong replied seriously.
“Can you hit her with Q?”
“I’ll try.”
Little C, listening to their conversation, looked at Yu Ge in surprise, then thought better of saying anything.
Under immense pressure, Xu Yitong fired her Q. Just as it was about to hit Nami, the enemy dodged.
Nami immediately taunted them with a frog emote.
Xu Yitong’s heart sank. “I missed…”
“Mm,” Yu Ge acknowledged.
Looking at her Q on cooldown, she asked, remembering their earlier coaching, “If I land my Q, can you kill them?”
He paused. “Yes.”
Time had never moved so slowly. Every second felt like an eternity. Sweat trickled down her back.
The third wave arrived.
Lucian stepped forward to last-hit a low-health cannon minion.
Jinx fired Zap!, predicting Lucian’s movement.
Lucian started to retreat.
Seizing the opportunity, Xu Yitong pressed Q.
She held her breath, praying. Please let me hit it…
Nami dodged into the minion wave, and the projectile grazed her, hitting Lucian, who was trying to escape with his E.
Arcane Comet struck, Lucian’s health dropping significantly.
“Exhaust and ignite,” Yu Ge commanded.
Her heart pounding, she instantly obeyed.
Without hesitation, Jinx flashed forward, engaging Lucian.
Nami, caught off guard by the all-in, hesitated. By the time she reacted and used heal, it was too late.
Lucian, low on health, retreated into the tri-bush, but Yu Ge’s ward revealed his position.
Jinx calmly landed the final blow.
First bl00d.
—[Squidward has slain Gradually Cold]
Xu Yitong was stunned.
That’s it? It’s over?
Yiyi cheered in their headsets.
Still in disbelief, Xu Yitong asked, “We won? Yu Ge, we won, right?”
Yu Ge exited the game, his deep voice confirming, “We won.”
“Aaaaahhhh!”
Xu Yitong was ecstatic.
She jumped up and down, babbling excitedly, “You’re amazing! Little Fish is the best ADC in the world! So cool! So handsome!”
Little C winced, removing his headset. He turned to Yu Ge. “Fish, is this girl really your fan? She’s freaking out over a solo queue win. She clearly doesn’t understand your true—”
He stopped mid-sentence.
He finally saw it.
A slight smile on Yu Ge’s usually impassive face.
Is he… smiling? Little C thought, bewildered.