YPHC Chapter 23.2

At the same time, Commentator A’s excited voice rang out:

“Snow Maiden! Did Siren leave a mark on Snow Maiden before engaging? So Snow Maiden’s earlier retreat wasn’t abandoning her teammate but finding the right position and distance to receive Siren’s exit?” Before the commentator could finish his exclamation, his eyes widened again:

“Wait? Siren successfully escaped but activated his ability again, still stacking marks on Snow Maiden. What does this mean? He still wants to continue fighting?! Although Kafka’s health is very low, his jungler and support are still there! Does Siren dare to fight?”

Before he finished speaking, in the canyon river, Siren opened a phantom vortex in the last moment before the mermaid mark on the enemy ADC disappeared, instantly teleporting to the low-health Kafka!

No one expected him to dare return at this moment. They were stunned for half a second before remembering to use abilities to trap him. But in that half second, Siren had already unleashed all his remaining damage on Kafka, then lit up the mermaid mark again and retreated through the phantom vortex!

[First Blood!]

“What is this? Taking the enemy leader’s head in the midst of thousands of troops! I think Kafka must be stunned-with his jungler and support right there, how did he just die like that? What just flashed by? Was it Siren’s ghost?” Commentator B laughed.

“That was brutal! We can see Team Four’s Qin Hua’s Sword Spirit has arrived at the river, and the ADC and support are on their way. But Team Five has already lost their ADC, and their jungler and support have wasted all their abilities on thin air. How will they engage in the upcoming team fight?”

Of course, they couldn’t engage in the team fight. Although Siren couldn’t participate in this battle, his teammates didn’t let him down. They wiped out Team Five in a small team fight at the river, happily consumed the Octopus Bug, and secured the first advantage.

In the coaching observation area, Fangfei stared at the display screen, her expression seemingly numb. Only after the death notifications finished cycling did she finally seem to regain her ability to think, stiffly shifting her gaze to Yan Jie beside her.

Yan Jie was already proud, sitting arrogantly:

“You deliberately targeted our jungler with bans? Let our Teacher Xiao Shan give you a little Siren shock!”

Fangfei sighed deeply: “I couldn’t tell! He’s usually so quiet, how did he become so fierce in battle? I didn’t see him play this boldly in the Class A internal matches.”

“Well, there’s a lot you don’t know. Learn something, sis.” Yan Jie held up his index finger:

“Our Captain Jiang’s Siren is just one word-fierce!”

With this team fight victory, Team Four gained an advantage and could play much more comfortably.

Jiang Nan’an diligently farmed, supported, and gathered resources, trying to snowball the economy to end the game quickly. But after their first defeat, the opposing team became much more cautious. Knowing they couldn’t win fights, they avoided combat and kept the economy tight, preventing Team Four from opening too large a gap.

Jiang Nan’an knew he couldn’t rush in this situation. So after consuming a wave of resources and pressing the recall button, he dragged his camera view and saw Fire and Fangfang positioned very far forward in the bottom lane. He reminded them: “Bottom lane, stand back a bit. We have no vision of their jungler, and I can’t get over there this time. Be careful and don’t engage them.”

“Got it, Brother.” Fire responded, then added: “Support, go place vision.”

As the brief communication ended, Jiang Nan’an’s recall progress bar filled up. He stood at the fountain opening the shop, but before he could click on the equipment he needed, he suddenly heard a kill announcement.

He raised an eyebrow slightly and immediately checked the view, only to see Fire’s Maya already dead. The support who went to rescue him couldn’t escape either. Mid laner Monica tried to run but was caught by the enemy support’s flash control, and ADC Kafka followed up with damage to secure a triple kill.

“Didn’t I say not to fight?” Jiang Nan’an sighed softly, asking calmly.

“Sorry, Brother. Their Kafka came right up to my face. I had higher economy than him and thought I could kill him, but I didn’t know their jungler was there too.” Fire’s tone was somewhat regretful.

Monica consoled: “It’s okay, it’s okay. Just pay attention to the captain’s instructions. We still have a chance.”

But Kafka’s triple kill was too comfortable, allowing him to snowball on the spot. His mechanics and awareness were already better than Fire’s. Before, they didn’t dare fight because they had no advantage, but now that they had closed the gap, they began to bully Fire under his tower.

Fire and Fangfang lost several points in succession, making Kafka increasingly fed. Later, Kafka’s three bodyguards also got into position, surrounding the ADC like an iron bucket. The four marched out killing everything in their path, no matter how hard Jiang Nan’an and Qin Hua tried, they couldn’t take him down.

Watching their crystal explode, Yan Jie painfully closed his eyes.

This time it was Fangfei who was smug:

“Hmm? You have Siren jungle? So what?”

“This isn’t our Siren’s problem,” Yan Jie sighed helplessly.

“Indeed,” Fangfei nodded. “Your bottom lane has too many vulnerabilities, especially the ADC. It’s like he doesn’t know what he’s supposed to do at all. Didn’t you teach him? Well, it doesn’t matter, it’s only the first week. Keep it up, Brother Spring, practice hard! Someday you’ll definitely be able to beat us!”

Yan Jie rubbed his eyes looking at her, cursing with a laugh: “Get lost.”

“Burning Eternity’s” first round of points competition officially ended in the evening. Team One and Team Four became the only teams with four consecutive wins and four consecutive losses respectively. Team Four’s pitiful bottom lane duo, Fire and Fangfang, were pinned at the last and second-to-last positions on the points ranking table, their ranking numbers even turning red to indicate the elimination danger zone.

After the points competition recording ended, the contestants dispersed. Only Jiang Nan’an stood by the screen in Team Four’s waiting room, staring at the rankings.

Outside the door came the chaotic sounds of staff coming and going, collecting equipment. He didn’t pay much attention until a flash of red passed by the door. It should have just passed by, but after a few seconds, that red figure floated back and leaned against the doorframe, looking at him.

Wearing the Class A uniform, Yan Jie leaned lazily against the door, nodding at Jiang Nan’an:

“What are you looking at, Mr. Hang? Feeling bad about losing?”

“…”

“Don’t be like that, don’t be sad. Victory and defeat are common in war. Come on, cheer up, I’ll treat you to corn sausages.”

Only at these words did Jiang Nan’an glance at him:

“What do I have to be sad about? It’s not my problem.”

Perhaps not expecting this answer, Yan Jie raised his eyebrows in surprise.

His stomach feeling uncomfortably empty, Jiang Nan’an raised his hand to rub his abdomen and turned to walk out of the room.

Yan Jie stepped aside to make way for him, then followed:

“What do you think? Want to review the game tonight?”

“Let’s talk about it tomorrow, I’m tired.”

“Alright. I think you really need to have a good talk with that Fire kid, better give him a scolding. Be strict, use some punishment or extra practice methods. It’s normal for an 18-year-old to be playful, impulsive, and hot-headed, but you need to guide him. Otherwise, he won’t learn his lesson and will keep being the weak link in the team. You guys can’t handle that. Don’t let yourselves get eliminated in the first round.”

“So what if we do?” Jiang Nan’an replied indifferently.

“I’ve done my best. How others act and think has nothing to do with me.”

“…Huh?” Yan Jie was stunned.

“In that last game, I already said to pull back, the enemy jungler hadn’t shown up, don’t fight. I said and did everything I could, but he didn’t listen to me and went in to feed. That was his choice, and the game was lost because of it. So, isn’t failure already the punishment? Why should I punish him extra?” Jiang Nan’an frowned slightly, seeming a bit confused.

“But if you don’t make him realize the seriousness of the problem, he won’t learn his lesson. Next time you encounter the same issue, won’t you just keep losing?” Yan Jie tried to explain.

“Is it my obligation to make him learn his lesson? Isn’t that his own business?” Jiang Nan’an countered.

Yan Jie crossed his arms and stopped, looking at him: “But Mr. Hang, we’re a team, and you’re the captain.”

Jiang Nan’an also stopped and stared straight into his eyes:

“So what? As a captain, isn’t it enough that I do my best to be responsible for every team member and every match? What, besides that, am I also responsible for changing others’ will and thoughts?”

Hearing this, Yan Jie raised an eyebrow slightly.

He carefully examined Jiang Nan’an’s expression, unable to tell if he was speaking out of anger or genuinely confused and puzzled about this.

“No, why would you think that way?”

Yan Jie chuckled:

“Recognizing mistakes is indeed one’s own business, but people need guidance to establish correct awareness. Only AI would define what should and shouldn’t be done within a role so clearly. We’re human, shouldn’t we have some human touch?”

“…” Jiang Nan’an looked at him for a few seconds, then nodded:

“It’s me who lacks the human touch.”

“Hey, that’s not what I meant…”

“It doesn’t matter. If you think something is right, just do it yourself. I won’t interfere with you, and you shouldn’t try to interfere with me either. We’re just captain and teaching assistant, don’t overstep, and don’t try to teach me how to do things.” After saying this, Jiang Nan’an turned and left, leaving Yan Jie standing there.

“Oh my… wow!” After hearing this, Yan Jie rolled up his sleeves, put his hands on his hips, and watched Jiang Nan’an’s retreating figure in disbelief:

“So good-looking… but such a big temper?! You don’t want to manage? Fine, I won’t manage either!”

Jiang Nan’an ignored him.

Arguing so much with Yan Jie made Jiang Nan’an’s already poor mood even worse. He had no desire to go to the dining hall and instead went straight back to his dormitory. But just as he turned the corner in the hallway, he saw a familiar person standing at his room door.

“Xiao Sun?”

“Brother!”

Xiao Sun ran over, first examining his brother up and down:

“How are you, Brother? Have you been well these days? Why haven’t you contacted me! I couldn’t even enjoy myself outside!”

“If I contacted you, wouldn’t you be even more worried?” Jiang Nan’an felt his pocket, originally wanting to take out his card to open the door, but after searching his entire body, he had to face the fact that he had forgotten his door card.

This meant that before Sheng Yujia returned, he could only wait outside the dormitory.

When misfortune strikes, troubles come one after another.

Jiang Nan’an sighed slightly and asked Xiao Sun: “What is it, do you need something from me?”

“Nothing much, just came to check on you, and Sister Hong wants you to call her back. Here, Brother, use my phone.”

Xiao Sun handed the phone to Jiang Nan’an.

Jiang Nan’an nodded, took the phone, and skillfully dialed Qi Hong’s number.

Qi Hong answered almost instantly. As soon as the call connected, Jiang Nan’an heard her high-pitched voice stretching out on the other end:

“Jiang baby-How are the days at the training camp? Are you being mistreated? Are you unhappy? Do you want me to bring you something delicious?”

It’s truly a case of absence makes the heart grow fonder. When they were together, Qi Hong would shout and scold all day, but now after being apart for a while, she was even calling him “baby.”

Jiang Nan’an’s lips curved slightly, but soon his eyes lowered, and he sighed softly.

“What’s wrong?” Qi Hong keenly sensed that his mood seemed low.

“Nothing.” Jiang Nan’an was a bit tired. He leaned against the wall, slowly squatted down, and absently picked at the cold gaps between the floor tiles:

“I just feel… you really shouldn’t have made me come here.”

–

After the first round of the points competition, Team Four became the team with the lowest score and the weakest acknowledged strength among the five teams with four consecutive losses. Another week of training passed, and as the second round began, their four consecutive losses became eight. In the previous round, they had managed to gain an advantage against Team Five, but this time they were crushed in all four matches without any chance to fight back.

On Monday of the third week of the regular points competition, the afternoon was still dedicated to team training. The large screen in Team Four’s training room still displayed the real-time rankings of the five teams.

After two rounds of the points competition, Fire and Fangfang still firmly occupied the last and second-to-last positions in the red zone.

When Jiang Nan’an arrived at the training room, there was no one else there. He walked to the corner and stood in front of the display screen looking at the rankings for a while. A moment later, someone else pushed open the door and walked in, stopping only when they reached his side.

The newcomer carried a scent of roses mixed with a faint tobacco fragrance. Jiang Nan’an knew who it was without looking, but he didn’t acknowledge them.

“Ahem-”

Yan Jie stood beside him, glanced at Jiang Nan’an, then looked away, deliberately clearing his throat.

Since their supposed argument the weekend before last, they had been in what seemed like a cold war until today. As for why it was “supposed”… because Yan Jie truly didn’t understand whether Jiang Nan’an was actually angry or unwilling to talk to him. After all, their communication during training time was completely normal, but as soon as training ended, this proud little star wouldn’t even spare him half a glance!

A week had passed, and Yan Jie’s attitude had already shifted from “he got inexplicably angry first, so I won’t speak to him until he apologizes” to “forget it, he’s just a kid, I won’t hold it against him, considering how good-looking he is, I’ll jump down from my high horse as soon as he looks at me.” But Jiang Nan’an completely ignored him. Even though Yan Jie was coughing beside him like someone with consumption, Jiang Nan’an showed no reaction, didn’t even look at him once, and just turned and left.

What the??

Yan Jie stared wide-eyed at Jiang Nan’an’s heartless back, grinding his teeth in anger, then turned and strode to his coach’s chair, sat down heavily, and didn’t move.

Team Four’s members soon arrived in full. The five sat at their computers playing five-man training matches all afternoon, with Yan Jie sitting to the side watching from a god’s-eye view. At first, he was relaxed enough to rock his chair, but as time went on, he sat more and more upright, even furrowing his brow.

“Fangfang, don’t take my minions! Damn…” Fire clicked his tongue in frustration.

“Sorry, sorry.”

“Mid is missing, bottom lane be careful,” Monica reported as usual.

But as soon as she finished speaking, the enemy mid laner descended from the sky and caught Fire, who was mindlessly clearing minions. Jiang Nan’an, who was hiding nearby, was forced to reveal himself early to join the fight, but because the timing was too passive, he ultimately fell in the bottom lane along with the ADC and support.

Looking at the darkened screen, Jiang Nan’an sighed, released the mouse, and rubbed his wrist, saying:

“Why didn’t you move after the warning? Don’t you know the enemy mid laner’s ability is teleport?”

Fire was targeted in matches and now even in training games. Opening his eyes in the canyon meant getting beaten, and his mental state was on the verge of collapse:

“…My economy was too low, I wanted to farm a bit more. Otherwise, how can I fight?”

Jiang Nan’an pushed up his glasses: “Which is more important, farm or your life? Now that you’ve given them a triple kill, can you fight?”

“I didn’t give them the triple kill alone, did I?” Fire was young after all, and after being suppressed for so long, his temper flared as soon as he opened his mouth, his voice getting louder and louder:

“I got caught, you could have just walked away, right? Why blame the triple kill on me alone? I’m sorry I got you both killed with me, okay?”

“I’m not trying to argue with you,” Jiang Nan’an said calmly. “Just calm down a bit.”

“I am calm! Brother, I know I’m dragging you down, it’s my fault, I admit it. We’ve been playing for half a month, and I’m the only one feeding, the only one being targeted, the worst player in the entire canyon! I’ve been trying hard to practice, training all day every day, I’m really tired. If my condition is bad, I can’t help it. If my economy is low, my awareness is poor, and I play badly, I can’t help that either. I wasn’t even an ADC player to begin with, what can I do? Just don’t bother with the bottom lane, let me die alone, I’ll be your scapegoat. Just hang in there until the remaining four rounds of matches are over. Anyway, your scores are high, if anyone gets eliminated, it’ll be me. In the next stage, you can get a better ADC, and everyone will be better off.”

Toward the end, Fire’s voice carried a hint of tears. Jiang Nan’an glanced sideways and saw that the orange-haired youth’s eyes had reddened.

“…” Jiang Nan’an frowned, paused for a moment, then directly took off his glasses and slapped them on the table. When he picked up the mouse again, he used a bit too much force, and the sound of the mouse hitting the desk was particularly jarring in the quiet, spacious room:

“Don’t need to manage bottom lane? Fine.”

Yan Jie had been quietly observing him but didn’t speak.

In the god’s-eye view, after respawning, the jungle Nana B went straight into the jungle, and then continued to support mid and top as usual, controlling resources and initiating team fights, but never went to the bottom lane again.

The game ended in defeat, as expected. Afterward, Jiang Nan’an directly exited the room, put on his glasses, and stood up:

“We’re done training for today, let’s disperse.”

Hearing this, everyone was stunned.

Monica, perhaps frightened by his demeanor, called out softly: “Captain…”

“Isn’t training every day very tiring? Then let’s not practice, go back and rest first.”

Fangfang immediately began apologizing: “Brother, I’m sorry, I’m sorry, that last wave was all my fault. I farmed minions but didn’t place vision properly. Captain, please don’t be angry…”

“?” Jiang Nan’an raised his eyebrows:

“I’m not angry. Isn’t that what he said? Don’t manage the bottom lane, so we won’t. If training is tiring and your condition isn’t good, then we won’t practice today and go rest. When your condition improves, we’ll continue. Since a request was made, I’m responsible for fulfilling it. Isn’t that right?”

Upon hearing this, the room fell silent for a moment, then suddenly Fire stood up:

“Brother, are you blaming me? If you have something to say, let’s talk it out properly instead of getting angry at everyone. If you have an issue with me, direct it at me, don’t be like this…”

“I blame you? Which part of what I said was blaming you?” Jiang Nan’an grew irritated:

“I’m tired too. I don’t want to practice today. Do as you wish. If you want to continue practicing, please ask Coach Spring to fill in as jungler.”

He was about to leave when Fire, after holding back repeatedly, finally couldn’t contain himself and shouted:

“I’m just a substitute ADC! It’s not like I’m playing badly on purpose. Is it really worth getting so angry just because I gave up a triple kill?!”

“…”

Jiang Nan’an stopped in his tracks.

He turned around, nodded, and looked at Fire with a cold gaze:

“First of all, I’m not angry at you. You said you wanted to be at the bottom, so I think my decision is fine. After all, you’re right-it’s not me who’s going to be eliminated. You haven’t dragged me down, so why would I be angry with you?”

Jiang Nan’an paused, let out a cold laugh, and continued:

“Or are you trying to see what it would be like if I really blamed you and wanted to scold you before you’d believe it? Fine. Li Xiaoyi, go find Spring later and have him list all your stats since you joined the team. See how many people you’ve killed and how many times you’ve died. Do you think I don’t know you’re a substitute ADC? Can’t I tell the difference between limited ability and lack of effort? Eight official matches, countless training matches-how many times have you been a vulnerability, how many opportunities have you given away? Every time, you ignore warnings, ignore retreat calls. As soon as you gain a slight advantage, you think you’re capable, but in reality, your combat effectiveness is worse than a minion. Don’t manage bottom lane? Fine, I won’t manage it anymore. Do you think you play well? Then why aren’t you killing anyone? Is it because you’re kind-hearted, compassionate, and don’t like to take lives? You make mistakes and blame the support for not protecting you or not placing vision, when in reality, even if the support had six healing bottles attached to you, they couldn’t save your suicidal tendencies. Count on your fingers: in two weeks of Team Four training, how many times have you been late, left early, or snuck out to slack off? You open your mouth and say you’re bad-so you know you’re bad, but if you know you’re not as skilled, why don’t you practice more? Are you waiting for the entire esports world to regress by ten thousand times except for you? Where are you when others are practicing extra at night? As soon as training time is over, do your hands immediately lose function, making it impossible for you to touch the keyboard and mouse no matter how hard you try? Do you really want to win? I don’t see it. Talking about being at the bottom for us-don’t act like you’re being so noble. How many people here need you to be at the bottom? Who isn’t trying their hardest to pull you up? Look at how many new heroes the support has practiced in two weeks. What about you? Why do you get banned every time you go on stage? Is the enemy always targeting you because they love you, because you’re everyone’s darling and they want to go to the bottom lane to admire your peerless beauty? Is it because they don’t want to target others?”

Jiang Nan’an watched as Fire’s face grew increasingly pale, then chuckled lightly and shifted his gaze:

“This is what I call getting angry at you. Understand?”

After finishing, Jiang Nan’an immediately left the training room. The room fell into dead silence, with only Fire left cursing through tears.

Jiang Nan’an’s usual demeanor was cool yet gentle, and he was always polite and kind to them. They had been together for over two weeks, and this was the first time they had heard such a long speech and such harsh words from him. They were all stunned.

Yan Jie sat to the side, rubbed his face, and let out a long sigh:

“Why did you have to provoke him…”

After saying this, he stood up, supporting himself on the table:

“Alright, I’ll go check on him. If you want to keep practicing, continue. If not, let’s call it a day. Take a rest today, and we’ll talk about everything tomorrow.”

Yan Jie was about to chase after Jiang Nan’an with his long legs, but before leaving, Monica suddenly called out weakly:

“Coach Spring…”

“Huh?” Yan Jie instinctively turned back to see the young girl, pale-faced, closing the game client to reveal the livestream backend underneath, with comments frantically refreshing.

The production team only required contestants to turn on their personal livestreams during class training, not mandating it during team training. But Monica was a beauty streamer who usually kept her stream on whenever possible to show her face and grow her popularity-a sure way to profit.

Today she had streamed as usual, but hadn’t expected the team to suddenly erupt like this. She had been too shocked earlier to remember about the livestream, and only now realized that their team’s drama involving all six people had probably been broadcast to tens of thousands… now hundreds of thousands of people.

—