YPHC Chapter 18

 

The early autumn night was very cool, with the hot pot’s steamy aroma filling the room. Several tables of people were chatting and laughing. Later, a singer led everyone in a song, creating a warm and lively atmosphere in the dining hall.

 

Eventually, when everyone had eaten their fill, the hot pots were turned off, emotions had settled, and the team-building event was about to end, the show’s PD suddenly appeared and announced the true purpose of today’s gathering.

 

“Everyone has been in the camp for two weeks now, and I believe you’ve gradually become accustomed to the current rhythm of life and learned a lot in Summoner’s Rift. Of course, we know that day-to-day practice can be quite monotonous and boring, so our training is about to enter the next stage-the regular points competition.”

 

The PD pushed a display from the training room, and the PowerPoint on the LCD screen clearly showed the format of the regular points competition.

 

Yan Jie leaned back in his chair and sighed with a smile: “I knew this hot pot wouldn’t be free.”

 

“Based on the training match performance of all contestants during these two weeks in the camp, we’ve roughly divided everyone into ‘upper’ and ‘lower’ levels within each class, such as A-upper and A-lower, and so on, with five people in each tier. It should be noted that the five contestants rated as A-upper will not participate in the regular points competition. They will join the teams as teaching assistants. Therefore, each team in our regular points competition will consist of one person from each of the five ratings from A-lower to C-lower. A-lower contestants will automatically become team captains, while other contestants will join teams determined by drawing lots.”

 

The PD flipped to the next page of the PowerPoint:

 

“The points competition will be held once a week for a total of six rounds, which is about a month and a half. In each round, each team will challenge the other four teams in succession. Individual points are calculated based on in-game performance, from highest to lowest: 10 points, 8 points, 6 points, 4 points, and 2 points. The losing team only gets the base points, while the winning team’s points are doubled on this basis. After six rounds of the points competition, the five contestants with the lowest total points will leave our training camp. Does everyone understand? If you have questions, you can ask now.”

 

The PD’s PowerPoint was quite clear, and the explanation was thorough. Jiang Nan’an basically understood.

 

It meant that there were only twenty-five spots for the next stage of elimination matches. The top five in Class A were essentially guaranteed admission and could directly enter the next stage, while the remaining twenty spots would be contested by other contestants through individual points in the competition.

 

After the competition format was explained, the PD displayed the list of the five A-upper contestants who received direct admission. Yan Jie and Cai Zheng were both on it. What surprised Jiang Nan’an was that inBlue hadn’t made it into A-upper, but thinking about it, it made sense. After all, Class A could actually be divided into three tiers: the two top-tier junglers at the pyramid’s peak needed no explanation, at the bottom were amateur players from the entertainment circle like himself and entertainment streamer Suave Bro, and as for the six people in the middle, honestly, their skill levels were quite similar-the difference between A-upper and A-lower was probably just a matter of a few highlights or mistakes in the games.

 

“Hey, Mr. Hang.”

 

Just as Jiang Nan’an was staring at the PowerPoint pondering the competition format, Yan Jie suddenly leaned in close beside him, raised his eyebrows, and asked softly:

 

“I’ll pick you later and be your teaching assistant, how about that?”

 

“?” After spending half a month with Yan Jie, Jiang Nan’an had a decent understanding of him. He guessed that whatever followed this sentence definitely wouldn’t be anything good.

 

To prevent this guy from getting satisfaction, he eliminated any possibility of falling into the trap by coldly saying:

 

“No need, thanks.”

 

“Really? You don’t want me? You really don’t want me? I’ve already betrayed my little Blue to join you!”

 

Jiang Nan’an immediately looked toward inBlue: “Teacher Blue.”

 

inBlue was eating grapes when he was suddenly called out, and was a bit stunned: “Huh?”

 

Jiang Nan’an mercilessly reported:

 

“Yan Jie says he wants to betray you, and insists that I beg him to be my teaching assistant.”

 

“Hey, you’re embellishing the story!” Yan Jie said amusedly:

 

“Making you beg me was the next part, I hadn’t even mentioned it yet. Why did you spoil it proactively?”

 

inBlue looked at Yan Jie’s ridiculous expression, rolled his eyes dramatically, and then waved at Jiang Nan’an:

 

“Take him away, take him away. From the moment he entered the camp and chose ‘Looks’ as his keyword, we were no longer on the same side. This two-faced person who talks a good game but has his heart with Jiang while his body is with Blue-good riddance.”

 

“Ah-” Jiang Nan’an dragged out the sound, his tone dropping at the end, sounding particularly disappointed.

 

Yan Jie took a deep breath, leaned back in his chair, and covered his heart with both hands, unable to let it go.

 

Chenghua was nearly laughing himself crazy, slapping Yan Jie’s shoulder hard:

 

“You’re done for, my Spring! Getting worse and worse, becoming universally disliked! How awful that sounds! Even Spring has no takers now!”

 

Yan Jie grabbed a napkin and wiped his perfectly dry eyes:

 

“I have to admit I’m getting old, Flower. Once upon a time, I, Spring, was a man who wouldn’t even glance at million-dollar contracts, who dominated the canyon with skill, conquered the world with looks, and ruled the earth with personal charm. Now I can’t even get accepted as a free teaching assistant. I’m so foolish, really. Mr. Hang is just taking advantage of his good looks to casually break little Spring’s heart-”

 

“Spring, my boy-”

 

“Flower, my man-”

 

The two embraced, crying dramatically.

 

“It’s okay, Spring. If they reject you, daddy wants you! Daddy’s shoulder will always be your warmest harbor! But I need to tell you something-you’re thinking too beautifully. You don’t have a choice in whose team you join. According to the rules, the team captains choose you. Oh no, Spring, you don’t even have a chance to force yourself on anyone-you really have no takers-”

 

“.”

 

“Wait.” After suffering consecutive blows, Yan Jie immediately pushed Chenghua away and went back to negotiate with Jiang Nan’an:

 

“You really don’t want to choose me, Mr. Hang? Spring is fairly priced, honest to all ages, getting me is a bargain, understand?”

 

“Oh.” Jiang Nan’an glanced at him, casually crossed his legs, took a leisurely sip from his teacup, and rewarded him with:

 

“Beg me.”

 

This move of using someone’s own tactics against them was truly brilliant. The trap Yan Jie had dug for Jiang Nan’an ultimately led to his own downfall, but he took it in stride, immediately smiling and pouring more tea for Jiang Nan’an, acting like a complete sycophant:

 

“Please, Mr. Hang, give little Spring a chance. Little Spring loves you.”

 

“Hmm.” Jiang Nan’an raised his eyebrows:

 

“Don’t be disgusting. I’ll consider it.”

 

While these drama queens were performing, the production team had already completed the team draw, and the PD announced the results:

 

“Team One: Captain inBlue, member Sheng Yujia… Team Two… Team Four: Captain Jiang Nan’an, members Qin Hua, Monica, Fire, Fangfang. Team Five: Captain Suave… Alright, all team rosters have been announced. Now the captains of the five temporary teams can gather their members for a brief meeting. The purpose is to get to know each other within the team and determine which teaching assistant you want to invite. This segment is limited to fifteen minutes. After fifteen minutes, each team captain should write the name of your proposed teaching assistant on a slip of paper and hand it to the staff. If there are multiple teams choosing one assistant, the assistant will make the final choice. Any questions?”

 

The contestants all indicated they understood. The fifteen-minute countdown began, and a staff member handed Jiang Nan’an a small sign that read “Team Four,” asking him to hold it up so his team members could gather quickly.

 

Before leaving, Yan Jie sat firmly in his chair, smiling at Jiang Nan’an, and said: “Good luck, Teacher Xiao Shan.”

 

Forced to begin socializing, Teacher Xiao Shan sighed somewhat sadly.

 

After the team members gathered, Jiang Nan’an led them to the temporary Team Four training room. The five of them each pulled up chairs and sat down, but in the first minute of the meeting, not a single person took the initiative to speak.

 

Jiang Nan’an came to this show originally just wanting to be a quiet, transparent person, but unexpectedly, the competition format transformed him into a team captain. Guided by the principles of taking work seriously, being professional, and being responsible for teammates, Jiang Nan’an hesitated briefly, took out a pair of gold-rimmed glasses from his jacket pocket, unfolded them and put them on his nose, then got up and pulled over a whiteboard:

 

“Would everyone like to introduce themselves first? I’m Jiang Nan’an, Class A, highest rank Grandmaster, and I usually play mid lane.”

 

To be honest, of the four people in front of him, Jiang Nan’an didn’t know any of them, at most having heard a few of their names, so the “self-introduction” segment was essential for him.

 

He opened a whiteboard marker and first wrote his name and lane position on the board.

 

After he finished writing, the young man sitting on the far left spoke first: “Qin Hua, Class B, highest rank Diamond, top lane.”

 

Next was a young man with orange-dyed hair: “Fire, you can call me Huohuo, Xiao Huo, or A Huo, all fine. I’m from Class C. Rank… around Platinum, I guess. I play top lane, and can also play ADC, but not other positions.”

 

A girl with black curly hair looked at Fire and then at Jiang Nan’an: “Hello, Teacher Jiang, I’m Monica, from Class B. My highest rank was only Diamond, and I’m a mid laner.”

 

Finally, a thin boy with black-framed glasses: “Hello everyone, I’m Fangfang… from Class C, currently around Silver rank. I can play mid lane and support.”

 

After listing out everyone’s class and lane positions, Jiang Nan’an discovered a very serious problem-they had no jungler.

 

But this problem could be put aside for now. Jiang Nan’an pushed up his glasses and asked:

 

“…It seems none of us can jungle, and ADC is also a bit of a stretch. This means someone will have to switch positions. If we’re temporarily changing positions… we’d better invite a jungler or ADC as our teaching assistant. Currently, only Spring and Cai Zheng are junglers in the A-upper tier, and Fangfei is the only ADC. Who do you think we should invite?”

 

Although Spring had previously communicated with Jiang Nan’an about choosing him, for team-related matters, Jiang Nan’an definitely needed to ask his teammates’ opinions first.

 

“If no one can jungle, then let’s find a jungle teaching assistant. I can still try to play ADC, but jungling with zero foundation and no one to teach would be too brutal,” Fire expressed his opinion first. “I vote for Spring.”

 

Qin Hua thought for a moment: “I think Cai Zheng might be better. His macro strategy is very strong, and he even beat Spring in the previous team match, didn’t he?”

 

Monica twirled her curly hair with her finger: “I also vote for Spring, but have you considered that with Spring’s popularity, other teams definitely want to choose him too? If multiple teams select him, when he gets the right to choose, he might not pick us. If that happens and Cai Zheng gets chosen by someone else, won’t the teaching assistant assigned to us be mismatched?”

 

Fangfang timidly raised his hand: “I think what Sister Kaka said makes sense. Maybe we should choose Teacher Cai Zheng instead?”

 

With more people, discussions tend to get chaotic. Everyone had different ideas and tried to convince each other, which led to the fifteen-minute meeting time ending with a staff member knocking on the door with a slip of paper, yet they still hadn’t reached a decision.

 

Finally, Fire clapped his hands:

 

“Alright, let’s stop arguing. Let’s give the choice to Brother Jiang. Brother Jiang, pick whichever jungler you prefer. If we can get them, it’s divine favor; if not, we’ll accept our fate.”

 

Jiang Nan’an nodded, took the paper from his hand, and removed the pen cap to write. As he was about to write, he thought about the two junglers and his teammates’ discussion, falling into slight hesitation.

 

Before coming, Yan Jie had expressed his desire to join his team, but the problem was… Yan Jie’s image in his mind was too unreliable. Jiang Nan’an wasn’t sure if his previous statement was sincere or just talk, and whether after choosing him, he would treat it as a joke and go to someone else’s team instead.

 

After struggling for a moment, and only when the staff member urged him, did Jiang Nan’an seem to make some kind of determination. He quickly wrote a name on the paper, folded it, and handed it in.

 

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