Chapter 97: Won't Live Past Next Year

Returning to China on the fourth day, aside from Lao Zhang and Tang Anna who haven't returned to the team, the rest of G2 Zhong Ren came to Snake's training Ji Di.

The place was in a residential community; Snake's team leader greeted them at the entrance, led everyone into the community, then went upstairs.

The entire training Ji Di is a large flat on the fifth floor; objectively it's just a slightly larger ordinary residence, with several non-load-bearing walls knocked through, making it look more spacious, but as an esports Ji Di it's still rather shabby, let alone compared to G2's headquarters; compared to other LPL teams' Ji Di, it's still among the worse.

Snake's boss at this time was one of those early investors in the domestic esports industry, holding a seat in the ACE League; rumored to be a rich second-generation, but his financial strength seems average, otherwise such a large team wouldn't be crammed into this house just over 200 square meters.

But Liang Yan was very happy, meeting Fu Lan Duo (Sheng Qiang Ge, Flandre) and Ke Li Si Tuo (Shuijing Ge, Gangzi, kryst4l) like old friends; when the Snake manager led the G2 group to tour the Ji Di (actually there's nothing much to see), Liang Yan stayed in Snake's training room chatting with the two.

All three were somewhat outgoing, sociable types; after a short chat they got heated, laughter nonstop, as if they were old friends who'd known each other for over ten years, even more affectionate than other teams' members; the chat had a high 'mom' quotient, especially Ke Li Si Tuo, who basically couldn't go three sentences without saying 'mom'.

Liang Yan had often watched their streams before (in his previous life); seeing them in person offline, he realized the on-screen version was restrained, while the real thing was much more unrestrained, giving Liang Yan a feeling of closeness, truly like seeing a fellow townsman.

Of course, Liang Yan came prepared today as well.

At the moment of parting, Liang Yan was to shake hands with both; when it came to Ke Li Si Tuo, Liang Yan grabbed his hand and gave a slight twist.

Ke Li Si Tuo's face changed dramatically, and he let out an 'ow' and started howling.

Liang Yan smiled, let go of his hand:

"Brother, I'm not saying this to you, but your erratic last-hit habit really needs to change; otherwise I think your professional career might not last past next year."

Ke Li Si Tuo held his wrist, stunned, recalling Liang Yan's trash talk on the public channel during previous practice matches against G2, combined with Liang Yan's in-person reminder just now, and the wrist that now sent a sharp pain after being lightly twisted by Liang Yan, Ke Li Si Tuo finally began to seriously consider this issue.

Ke Li Si Tuo naturally had always known his wrist had a problem, but he hadn't paid much attention before, being young and feeling that casual use was fine—if the mouse hurt after prolonged use, a rub would make it better—but now it seems the situation may have really reached a very bad state.

After a moment of dazed thought, Ke Li Si Tuo finally nodded seriously:

"I'll go to the hospital to get it checked, thanks brother."

Liang Yan, however, asked:

"If I remember correctly, you still have two matches left, right? There's one tomorrow?"

"Yes, we play otto tomorrow."

Ke Li Si Tuo laughed and said,

"It's easy to abuse, totally no pressure. But the final match against EDG is dicey."

Liang Yan then said:

"I've checked the LPL schedule; the regular season has three days left. You're 9-5, EDG is 14-0. At a glance it's clear you have no hope of surpassing EDG; second place in Group A is locked, so you don't need to push so hard. Does the team have an AD substitute? Swap someone in to play, you can rest and also have time to go to the hospital."

Liang Yan's words were sound and logical, easy to understand upon hearing.

Ke Li Si Tuo seriously pondered, and indeed it made sense; he grinned, saying, "You really reminded me, I'll go talk to the coach right now!"

Having said that, he stood up and walked out.

Liang Yan secretly breathed a sigh of relief; turning around, he saw Fu Lan Duo staring at him, laughing cheerfully.

Liang Yan looked at her strange smile and felt uneasy: "What are you looking at me for?"

Fu Lan Duo poked Liang Yan with a finger from afar: "You bastard, your mouth is so cheap, but you're actually a good person."

Liang Yan: "Pfft, I'm leaving."

Fu Lan Duo, however, stood up:

"Brother, give me a hug before you go."

"???"

Liang Yan immediately jumped back a step, arms crossed, glaring at Fu Lan Duo:

"What are you doing? I'm not some lg pervert!"

Frightened, Liang Yan let slip a modern term subconsciously.

Fu Lan Duo didn't understand, thinking it was some internet meme from Ou Mei.

Actually Fu Lan Duo had no special thoughts; she just thought Liang Yan was a nice person, and they might not meet again, so this was a 'farewell' and she just wanted a hug.

But the more Liang Yan resisted, the more Fu Lan Duo wanted to tease him, so she lunged forward and hugged him.

"Hey brother, why do you smell so nice."

"Get lost!!!"

Liang Yan struggled hard to break free and fled like a fly.

Fu Lan Duo stroked her smooth chin, watching Liang Yan's silhouette vanish in an instant, thinking, "No wonder he's the Europe MVP—his escape skills are something."

……

Ka Lao Si, after obtaining consent from the Snake manager, took several photos of Snake's Ji Di and posted them on his team's official Twitter, with the caption:

{【See it? Snake's Ji Di!】}

{【We're not lying; coming to China really is for exchange!】}

It has a bit of the 'trying to hide something' vibe.

However, Ka Lao Si actually doesn't care; he posted just for fun and doesn't care whether others believe it.

So-called exchange—just take some photos and chat about experiences; playing practice matches is impossible, let alone Snake's Ji Di not having enough machines for G2 Zhong Ren to use, and even if it did, Ka Lao Si wouldn't want to play.

Externally they said it was for exchange, but internally they'd agreed it was purely a trip.

The G2 group had just reached the community gate when someone suddenly shouted "wei te wei te" loudly; everyone turned around to see it was the Snake manager who had previously received them, rushing out anxiously, waving his hand while clutching a phone.

Everyone stopped and stood in place, waiting for the Snake manager to arrive panting; Ka Lao Si asked, puzzled:

"What is this, sir?"

The Snake manager finally managed to even out his breath, then straightened up:

"VG... VG over there suddenly called me, saying... they also want to invite you to tour their VG Ji Di, and they can... send someone to pick you up."

Ka Lao Si was a bit dazed upon hearing that.

"VG? Who's that?!"

Liang Yan, standing behind the crowd, raised his eyebrows: "VG? Aimed at me?"