Zhen Ning didn’t say a word. He stood in the shadows of the hallway, backlit by the light.
Yan Chengfeng noticed his chest rising and falling faintly.
Standing there, Zhen Ning’s expression was blurred by the shifting light from the window. For a fleeting moment, Yan Chengfeng thought he was about to speak.
After delivering that long, aggressive, and harsh speech that was nearly indistinguishable from insults, Yan Chengfeng had been bracing himself for Zhen Ning’s retaliation.
But Zhen Ning suddenly chose to remain silent.
Yan Chengfeng waited for a long time, yet Zhen Ning simply stood there, quietly gazing at him, never uttering another word.
It was unclear how much time had passed before Yan Chengfeng saw him turn his head, drag his suitcase, and continue walking forward.
Yan Chengfeng was stunned. “You—”
Zhen Ning didn’t turn back. His steps were quiet, his footsteps barely audible. The only sound in the hallway was the faint rolling of the suitcase wheels against the floor.
Yan Chengfeng watched as his figure slowly disappeared down the hallway.
It felt as though a fully charged punch had landed on soft cotton. The empty, powerless sensation left Yan Chengfeng unbearably frustrated.
After a long moment, he turned around and snapped, “Enjoy the show?”
The air went still for a beat. From the corner, two people emerged, dragging their feet. The moment they met Yan Chengfeng’s eyes, they started coughing to cover their tracks.
It was none other than Yan Chengfeng’s teammates from the past two years, KYM’s current mid-laner and jungler.
The jungler, Tao Luo, was a tall, carefree alpha girl with a straightforward and lively personality. She was usually talkative and bickered with Yan Chengfeng so intensely that they could flip the training room upside down.
While eavesdropping in the corner earlier, she had only caught the latter part of Yan Chengfeng’s remark: “Not just any AD is worthy of my support.” It had left her so stunned that her jaw had dropped.
“Yan Kitchen1“Yan Kitchen” is a nickname for Yan Chengfeng. The reason will be explained in the next chapter., did you eat gunpowder?” Tao Luo gawked at him. “What did the new AD even do to you? Why are you so aggressive left and right? You scared me and Lao Xu2“Lao” means “old” and is used for addressing older people. so much that we wanted to go and greet him but ended up holding back every time…”
Xu Minghe was an honest and steady beta male who played as the team’s mid-laner. He opened his mouth as if to say something but hesitated, tugging at Tao Luo’s arm. “Forget it. Let it go.”
Yan Chengfeng shot Tao Luo a look. “Got a lot of free time, huh?” he remarked. “Have you nailed down the timing on Strawberry Man’s flash combo yet? If you mess up your ult in the World Championships, you’ll embarrass yourself in front of the entire world.”
Tao Luo froze for a moment, then immediately jumped in anger, “I’ve said it a million times. The time I missed my ult with Strawberry Man wasn’t because of poor execution, it was a judgment error. Let me ask you: with zero vision in the river, can you hit every single skill with 100% accuracy?”
Yan Chengfeng: “I can.”
Tao Luo: “?? Stop right there!!”
Yan Chengfeng wasn’t in the mood to bicker with her today. He turned and headed straight for the training room.
Xu Minghe, the oldest member of the team, had been acting as the peacemaker for the past two years, so he was long accustomed to such scenes. He grabbed Tao Luo’s arm to stop her. “Alright, alright. Don’t argue with him today.”
Still fuming, Tao Luo was about to keep fighting with Yan Chengfeng, but after a moment’s thought, she suddenly realized that Xu Minghe’s words clearly had a deeper meaning. Blinking, she turned to Xu Minghe. “What do you mean?”
Xu Minghe watched Yan Chengfeng’s retreating figure, then at the empty end of the hallway. Finally, he sighed and shook his head. “…So, he really came back.”
Tao Luo was puzzled when she heard this. “Who are you talking about? The new AD?”
Her thoughts were racing and suddenly she remembered something. She clapped her hands and asked, “Oh, right! Didn’t Li Feng say the newcomer was bought from the NA server? So logically, shouldn’t he be a foreigner? I even spent the last few days secretly learning some English. How come he’s actually Chinese?”
Xu Minghe’s expression turned complicated. After a moment of silence, he avoided answering and said, “Before playing professionally, Yan Chengfeng and I were both in KYM’s youth training program. You knew that, right?”
The Forest of the Full Moon’s professional league, the FPL, was infamous for its long and tedious regulations. For example, no team could have more than two foreign players, and every participating player had to be an adult. No matter how talented or skilled a player was, they had to wait until they turned eighteen before stepping onto the real competitive stage.
As a result, underage players generally started by trying out for the club’s youth team. Those who persisted and performed consistently could eventually make it to the starting lineup, but many unlucky ones spent years grinding without ever getting a chance to play. Anyone who had been through it knew it was an excruciating and never-ending experience.
Tao Luo, who had bounced between clubs before, was bought by KYM during the transfer period a year ago. She joined the main team as a starter immediately.
She was considered the team’s luckiest newcomer and had always envied the bond that Yan Chengfeng and Xu Minghe had developed during youth training.
“Yeah, I know.” Tao Luo nodded. “But it’s strange. Yan Kitchen can be annoying with his words, but he has a good heart. When I first came to the base, he helped me out quite a bit. He doesn’t seem like someone who’d cross the line like that. Why was he so hostile to the new guy today?”
“While the person may be new to the team,” Xu Minghe sighed, “they’re old acquaintances.”
Tao Luo let out a confused “Huh?”
“His name is Zhen Ning,” Xu Minghe explained. “He’s the same age as Yan Chengfeng, two years younger than me. Back then, he was also in the youth training team.”
“He’s an alpha, right?”
Xu Minghe was briefly stunned as if he hadn’t expected the question. “Yes, why?”
“No reason. It just felt…” Tao Luo sniffed the air, then scratched her head after a pause. “I can’t explain it. Never mind. I must’ve imagined it. Keep going.”
Xu Minghe hummed. “The two of them trained together for nearly two years in the youth team—”
“Wait, wait, wait.” Tao Luo’s eyes lit up with realization. “I get it now! Did they have a falling out during youth training, which is why things got so tense between them just now?”
“A falling out?” Xu Minghe couldn’t help laughing. “Quite the opposite.”
“They were once inseparable friends, the most outstanding bottom lane duo during the youth training period.” He gave a bitter smile. “You wouldn’t believe how many incredibly talented and quick-reacting players there were in the youth team. Back then, I was just average among them. It was only because I kept going for long enough that I later made some progress in the secondary league, and with a bit of luck, I finally got the chance to play.”
He continued, “But those two were different. Even among so many prodigies, they stood out. Their execution was flawless, and their teamwork was seamless. In that version of the game, their coordination was… almost unbeatable.”
Tao Luo and Xu Minghe were professional players who had competed in numerous major tournaments. Among thousands of players, they were already among the most elite. But in all the years Tao Luo had known Xu Minghe, she had never heard him use the term “unbeatable” to describe any bottom lane duo, whether from their team or another.
She blinked blankly. “Then how could…”
“The coach had already designed several special systems around the two of them. He stared at the calendar every day, wishing they would turn 18 immediately so he could lift both them and their chairs straight into the starting lineup for matches.”
Xu Minghe continued, “The two of them were young and stayed nearly two years together at the base. At the time, it seemed like they were just about to get their big break.”
“But just a few days before Yan Chengfeng turned 18,” Xu Minghe suddenly took a deep breath, “Zhen Ning decided he no longer wanted to pursue a professional career.”
“He said… he felt that esports players’ careers were dependent on youth, and there were too many uncertainties about the future.” Xu Minghe said, “So he ultimately decided to go abroad to study.”
Tao Luo’s eyes widened.
She said in disbelief, “That’s insane! After working so hard for so long, with the goal finally in sight, how could he just walk away? At least he could’ve stayed to play one real match!”
“I don’t know,” Xu Minghe said. “Zhen Ning is a smart person. From his perspective, maybe studying abroad seemed the best choice, and he didn’t want to waste any more time.”
“But Zhen Ning and Yan Chengfeng… they were such close friends.” Xu Minghe looked down the corridor. After a pause, he gave a smile that seemed more bewildered than regretful, tinged with helplessness. “They had such a promising future together.”
“And yet, Zhen Ning didn’t even wait for Yan Chengfeng’s eighteenth birthday. Without looking back, he just… flew off to the sunny shores of the other side of the world.”
Yep, def smell an angsty past. There should’ve been more to mc’s sudden decision of going abroad. Right when the goal was so close 🤧 These people should have thought more to mc.