Sister, Choose Me, I'm Super Sweet [Esports] - Chapter 12

Chapter 12: No One Looks at Second Place

Under Song Jin-yuan’s frequent ganks, the enemy’s mid-laner was now 0/3. At this point, Tong Yi and Song Jin-yuan’s gold and kill counts were the highest in the entire game.

After the enemy mid-laner respawned, the minion wave was already at their tower. Tong Yi, having secured lane priority, had already gone to gank and roam elsewhere. The enemy mid-laner, however, couldn’t go anywhere and was stuck clearing the minions, looking utterly helpless.

In a single game, if one mid-laner has a great time, the other is bound to have a terrible one, just like in this situation. The mid-lane tower fell in less than ten minutes, and the enemy mid-laner was completely out of the game. Of course, the stats of the other enemy players were also bad, but the mid-laner’s were particularly miserable.

“Once the mid-lane falls, the jungle will also be lost,” Tong Yi continued.

At that moment, Song Jin-yuan suddenly spoke. “The enemy mid-laner’s collapse is largely the fault of their jungler. They haven’t come to gank the middle lane once this entire game.”

Hearing Song Jin-yuan’s words, Tong Yi couldn’t help but laugh and agree. “You’re right.”

“I’m dying, is the jungle queen even saying human words?”

“Open the gold panel, their jungler’s gold is even lower than their support’s!”

“This makes me so confident. I’m going to call my friend and try a mid-jungle synergy right now.”

“Jungle queen’s inner thought: ‘I really raised my mid-laner well~'”

Soon after, the enemy team surrendered.

Tong Yi leaned back in her chair and rubbed her hands, feeling unsatisfied. It had been a long time since she had played with such a seamless mid-jungle synergy. Or, rather, it had been a long time since she had met a jungler who was so in sync with her. Her eyes fell on Yuan’s profile picture, filled with admiration. She continued to speak, her tone unconsciously softening. “Want to play again?”

“Tong’s team captain’s admiration is practically spilling off the screen.”

“Hurry and recruit her for New Fire! Replace that useless Maple!”

“I agree with the person above.”

“Agreed plus one.”

When Song Jin-yuan heard Tong Yi’s question, she quickly replied, “Sure… just a moment, Sister.”

Mid-sentence, some sounds came from her end, as if someone had entered her room. “Mom,” Song Jin-yuan said.

A soft yet sharp, refined voice replied, “Tao Tao said you were bullying him. What’s going on?”

“I didn’t,” Song Jin-yuan immediately said. “He came into my room without permission and bothered me while I was playing.”

The voice chuckled. “Then you remember to lock your door next time. I’ll go talk to your aunt. You have school tomorrow, so don’t play games too late.”

“Got it,” Song Jin-yuan replied quickly.

After a few more words, Song Jin-yuan’s mother left.

Tong Yi, who had been listening to their conversation in the team voice chat, was now stunned, ever since she heard the word “school.” So Yuan was still a student. That made sense; it would be strange for someone her age not to be in school. Many professional players choose to go pro at school age, and she herself was one of them. However, it was clear that Yuan’s priority was her studies, so it was basically impossible for her to go into esports.

Tong Yi felt a little disappointed, but not too much. She could still add her as a friend and play together in the future. “How about you don’t play anymore tonight and go rest?” Tong Yi said to Song Jin-yuan.

“Let’s play two more games, Sister,” Song Jin-yuan said.

“Don’t you have to get up early tomorrow?”

“It’s not that late, and I don’t have to get up very early tomorrow.”

Hearing Song Jin-yuan’s words, Tong Yi couldn’t help but think that her schoolwork must be pretty easy.

“Okay, then I’ll start.”

With that, Tong Yi clicked the “start match” button.

They played two more duo queue games together, both playing with a mid-jungle synergy. They each got an MVP, and Tong Yi had a great time playing. After the two games, Tong Yi once again marveled at Song Jin-yuan’s excellent mid-jungle synergy strategy and mechanics. It would be even better if she could be her teammate. It was such a shame…

“Sister, I’m logging off now,” Song Jin-yuan’s voice came again.

Tong Yi came back to her senses and replied, “Okay, get some rest. Let’s… add each other as in-game friends? I’ll find you to play again sometime.” She had originally wanted to say “add each other’s contact info,” but she changed it to “in-game friends” in time. After all, it was just to play a game together sometime in the future, so there was no need to exchange contact information. And it wasn’t a good idea to talk about exchanging contact information in a live stream with so many people.

“Okay! I’ve already sent you a friend request, Sister,” Song Jin-yuan replied very quickly.

“Yep, I see it.”

Song Jin-yuan said goodbye again and then left the room.

“I envy that pro player. If I were that good, Yi-god would add me as an in-game friend, too.”

“I think this is the first time I’ve ever seen Yi-god add a random player as a friend during a live stream.”

“This jungler is really good. She should definitely be added. It would be even better if she could duo queue with her again next time.”

After accepting Song Jin-yuan’s friend request, Tong Yi stayed on her profile for a while before going back to playing solo queue.

Meanwhile.

Song Jin-yuan turned off her computer, picked up her tablet, and watched the live stream interface, letting out a nervous breath. “I think I played pretty well in those games, right…?” Song Jin-yuan couldn’t help but replay the games in her mind.

…

At 2 AM, Tong Yi finally ended her stream. Before turning off her computer, she hesitated for a moment and saved the recording of today’s stream, specifically clipping the parts where she played with Song Jin-yuan.

After that, Tong Yi stretched, stood up, and moved around. She walked back and forth in her room, rubbing her fingers and wrists. Esports players often sit for long periods and overuse their hands and wrists, leading to various occupational injuries like neck, shoulder, back, and leg strain, as well as tendonitis. Tong Yi used to ignore these issues when she was younger, but after seeing her teammates retire or change positions due to injuries, she finally started to take them seriously. Now, after every stream, she gets up to move around.

In the past year, Tong Yi’s hands would feel sore after a day of training, but the soreness would disappear after a night’s sleep. However, this was a wake-up call for her. After all, when she first started playing esports, her training volume was even higher than it was now, but she never experienced any soreness.

After her exercises, Tong Yi poured some freeze-dried food for Sweet Melon before getting into bed. After turning off the lights, she quickly fell asleep.

But that night, Tong Yi had a hazy dream. She dreamed she was back in the New Fire team’s S6 season, on the night of the global finals. That night, the champion was the WF team from the Korean region.

The five members of the New Fire team bowed together in a forgotten corner, and at the same moment, the championship ribbons were released. The golden ribbon rain fell on the stage. The five members of the WF team and their coach embraced each other excitedly, then ran toward the championship trophy. The audience cheered and screamed enthusiastically, everyone celebrating the winning team.

Tong Yi’s eyes were filled with tears of unwillingness. A vast shower of golden ribbons fell in front of her, but they were blurred by her tears, and she couldn’t see anything clearly. They had done their best, and they had won second place. But esports was a cruel world. No one cared about second place. No one cared about what happened to the runners-up.

…

That night, Tong Yi slept restlessly. She woke up at noon the next day. Tong Yi sat up in bed and zoned out for a while before picking up her phone and looking at the time. It was exactly 12 PM. The confusion she felt before she went to bed last night was completely gone, replaced by an endless fighting spirit. Tong Yi repeatedly recalled the dream she had last night, and the more she thought about it, the more unwilling she felt. In the end, she swore to herself that she would never give up, and she would get the championship sooner or later.

Tong Yi, full of fighting spirit, got out of bed. She felt completely energized and wanted to go and train for seven or eight hours straight. After washing up, Tong Yi went out to get some food. Before they moved their training base, their team had a cafeteria. But after the move, due to budget cuts, they no longer had one. So now they either ate at nearby restaurants or ordered delivery. However, the nearby restaurants were all terrible. Jiangcheng had never been known for its food. Fortunately, Tong Yi wasn’t a picky eater; being full was enough for her.

After eating, Tong Yi packed a meal for Xia Yun to take back. Xia Yun was still sleeping, and Tong Yi mercilessly pulled her out from under the covers.

“Oh, it’s so cold! Let me sleep a little longer, just a little longer. It’s still early, Team Captain Tong…” Xia Yun held on to her blanket, looking like she really didn’t want to get up. It was early spring and still very cold. When you’re in a warm blanket, you don’t want to get up at all.

“It’s about time. Get up and review yesterday’s match,” Tong Yi said without any sympathy.

Xia Yun sighed and subconsciously asked, “Did you see Coach Zhou?”

“She told me this morning that she’ll be busy for the next few days and won’t be at the base,” Tong Yi said. The team was about to disband, and Zhou Shiqing was also preparing to resign. She had a lot to deal with, so she was naturally busy.

“The coach isn’t here, the marksman and jungler are leaving, and the support is gone. It’s just the two of us. What’s the point of reviewing?” Xia Yun said dejectedly. Tong Yi had regained her confidence after last night, but Xia Yun clearly hadn’t. After saying that, Xia Yun was taken aback. She looked at Tong Yi with some regret. “Xiao Yi, that’s not what I meant. I—” She remembered that her teammates’ negative comments had upset Tong Yi yesterday. She knew Tong Yi was a serious person, but that phrase just slipped out without her thinking.

However, Tong Yi didn’t scold her for her negativity.

“We still have to review, even if it’s just the two of us,” Tong Yi said. “New Fire hasn’t disbanded yet. The team can only rely on us now.”