E-Sports Boss Wants To Post Messages With New Players Every Day Chapter 18

Chapter 18

Morning, the sunlight was just right.

Xu Ziyan woke up groggily from his sleep, stretched, and glanced at his phone beside him, startled: there were over thirty unread messages.

He quickly tapped to check them, finding that most were from the Coach and the second team members, generally asking where he was, why he hadn’t attended the evening training, and why he hadn’t replied to messages.

Xu Ziyan carefully recalled the events of yesterday.

He remembered that in the Coach’s office, after realizing his condition was off, he quickly excused himself from the two Coaches, intending to rush to the restroom to change his marking patch. However, halfway there, the feeling of discomfort and agitation intensified, accompanied by an unbearable burning sensation emanating from his Gland at the back of his neck. This forced Xu Ziyan to change direction and retreat to the safety stairwell to rest.

And then?

He sat on the steps, hoping his condition would improve, but it only worsened. His brain felt almost melted by the heat, turning into a blur, unable to process anything. There was only one thing Xu Ziyan firmly remembered: he had to return to his dorm.

But the events after that, Xu Ziyan couldn’t quite recall.

However, since he woke up in his dorm bed now, it meant that nothing major had happened to him yesterday.

Xu Ziyan nervously touched the back of his neck. His fingertip brushed over the Alpha’s tooth mark, which was so faint it was almost gone, and he let out a sigh of relief.

He still had the self-awareness of an Omega; yesterday’s situation was too strange. Xu Ziyan had almost thought his Rut Period had arrived.

With so many Alphas in the training base, the consequences of such an accident would be unimaginable.

Fortunately, the Temporary Marking Xie Wei gave him was still there.

As long as the marking remained, he wouldn’t enter his Rut Period for the time being—and even if it came, it would only be effective toward the Alpha who marked him.

However, in half a month at most, this marking would lose its effect, and the scent of Pheromone Xie Wei left on him would completely disappear.

Xu Ziyan felt a momentary pang of loss, then laughed at himself. Although he liked Xie Wei, he never intended to develop that kind of relationship with him. With the marking gone, everything would return to its original state, and he should be relieved.

But desire always tends to swell; once obtained, one wants to keep possessing it.

He couldn’t help but recall last night’s dream.

In the dream, he was also in the midst of a difficult, burning sensation. Just as he felt distressed and anxious, Xie Wei appeared.

The tall, handsome Alpha showed no sign of impatience or disgust. Instead, he gently pulled him into his arms. The lemon-mint Pheromone enveloped him, bringing a sense of security. All the heat and anxiety were instantly extinguished, and his strained nerves completely relaxed.

And so, he slept soundly.

It was a pity it was just a dream.

Xu Ziyan smiled, shook his head, got up, dressed, washed up, and headed downstairs for training.

Since it was still early, only Bai Ke was in the training room, idly playing a casual Match on his computer. Seeing Xu Ziyan, he raised an eyebrow: “Ice! Where were you yesterday? Why didn’t you reply to messages?”

“I wasn’t feeling well yesterday. I fell asleep as soon as I got back to the dorm,” Xu Ziyan smiled, raising his chin to point out, “Two enemies at six o’clock.”

Bai Ke turned and took two shots, cleanly eliminating the enemies hiding behind the building, then turned back to talk to Xu Ziyan: “What did the Coach talk to you about yesterday?”

Xu Ziyan turned on his computer and entered his password, answering truthfully, “He talked about the competition format and told me to focus on 1V1 related training for a while. He also added me to a group for arranging scrims.”

“Is that so?” Not hearing anything interesting, Bai Ke pouted and dropped the topic, but his curious and probing gaze kept circling Xu Ziyan.

Xu Ziyan pretended not to notice and opened the Aim Training software.

After a round of moving targets, his accuracy was nearly perfect.

Bai Ke glanced over and said with admiration, “Wow, Ice, your aim is really good. Why haven’t you considered switching to Assault Player or Sniper?”

Xu Ziyan didn’t really want to engage with him, not because he disliked Bai Ke, but because the guy was too perceptive, and he was afraid of giving anything away. But since the question was asked, he couldn’t leave it unanswered, so he said, “I prefer the feeling of playing Medic.”

Bai Ke let out a long “Oh,” and contrary to Xu Ziyan’s expectation, he didn’t stop talking. Instead, he put down his mouse and keyboard and sat down next to him, looking ready for a heart-to-heart.

“I asked you before if you knew anyone on the A-Team, and yesterday I asked if you knew anyone in the team. Although the answers were all denials, but—”

“Ice, you actually do know someone, right?”

Xu Ziyan’s finger on the mouse trembled. He forced himself to remain calm, turning his head to look at Bai Ke without changing his expression.

The Beta youth had delicate features, and he was sitting very close, tilting his head slightly. There was no doubt on his face; he asked a question, but his tone was almost certain, making it feel like he had caught onto something to be so confident.

“…”

Xu Ziyan was silent for a moment, genuinely confused as to why this person was so fixated on this matter. Reluctantly, he vaguely replied, “Yes, I do.”

“I knew it!” Bai Ke broke into a wide smile. “To be honest, at first, I thought you were someone who got in through the back door, but after playing scrims for a while, I feel like you’re more like an external aid secretly invited by an insider.”

External aid?

Xu Ziyan, who had just been indirectly praised, was stunned and laughed, “No, I’m originally from the Youth Training Camp.”

“But you haven’t joined the team yet. Is it because you changed your mind and wanted to go to another team, which is why you haven’t submitted your application?”

Xu Ziyan was embarrassed to admit that his application had never been approved in the first place. After all, that matter involved the scumbag Coach from the Youth Training Camp, and Xie Wei had handled it. If Bai Ke was observant, he might really figure things out.

He didn’t say anything, tacitly agreeing.

Once the topic was opened, Bai Ke immediately became much friendlier. He smiled and said, “Let me tell you, I genuinely got into the team through the back door. Bai Chen is my brother, right? At the time, I didn’t think much of it and followed my brother’s path, becoming an Assault Player. But I don’t like charging forward, so my performance was always mediocre, and my application was stuck for a long time.”

Xu Ziyan was quite interested in hearing other people’s anecdotes and paid a little more attention than before.

Bai Ke continued, “Later, I had no choice but to go to my brother. He watched two of my Ranked Matches and immediately told me to switch to Assault and practice for two days. Two days later, he brought me to Coach Lu, had me play a Ranked Match, and I got into the second team right away, hahahaha! I was so confused at the time!”

After laughing, he said, “I’m sorry, Ice, I didn’t mean to pry into your privacy. I’m just genuinely curious, after all, TWG is a very strict team, and it’s really hard to find someone with a similar experience to mine.”

Xu Ziyan curiously asked, “Why are you so sure I know someone on the team?”

Bai Ke smiled, “Your contract isn’t complete, and Lu Donglou is deliberately trying to cover for you—it’s practically a confession! More importantly, they chose you for the Rookie Cup. Do you know who TWG sent to the Rookie Cup the year I joined?”

Xu Ziyan understood and twitched his mouth: “…You?”

“Correct!” Bai Ke clapped his hands. “At the time, I was a Sniper, and under my brother’s recommendation, I inexplicably ended up in the Assault Player’s den—usually, there are only two Assault Players in a regular match, so hiding is fine, but in the Rookie Cup, with a hundred players, at least eighty were damn Assault Players!! Do you know what I went through during that time?? At first, I naively looked for Sniper spots to set up, but later I gave up and started playing guerrilla. After the Rookie Cup, Yuan Shaofeng gave me a comment I can never forget.”

“He said: ‘KK, why is your playstyle getting so insidious?'”

“Damn it! As an Assault Player, he doesn’t understand the pain of a Sniper being constantly flanked and killed!!”

As a Medic, Xu Ziyan deeply empathized: “So what was your ranking?”

“First, of course. Later, when there were fewer people and the map was larger, it was a Sniper’s paradise.” Bai Ke patted his shoulder with a look of heavy responsibility. “Go for it, you can do it.”

“…” Xu Ziyan had felt a little encouraged just now, but now it was all pressure. “Thank you.”

After chatting with him, Bai Ke returned to his seat to continue his own work.

Xu Ziyan’s impression of this teammate changed significantly. Before, when everyone was chatting together, whenever Bai Ke mentioned Bai Chen, Yuan Shaofeng would hastily change the subject. Xu Ziyan had therefore thought the brothers didn’t have a very good relationship.

But during their conversation today, Bai Ke not only didn’t avoid the topic of Bai Chen but also referred to him as “my brother” multiple times, completely overturning Xu Ziyan’s previous feeling.

The daily scrims ended, and the day’s training volume was completed. Xu Ziyan began his 1V1 training. He hadn’t played this mode before, but as Bai Ke said, in a place where 80% were Assault Players, the game experience for Snipers and Medics was terrible.

Compared to the map in the normal mode, the 1V1 map was larger and the terrain more complex. The mode was actually more like the Battle Royale mode than Resist, except weapons were provided automatically, and there were class distinctions. Assault Players and Snipers could heal themselves when out of combat, while the Medic’s healing gun had halved healing effectiveness and increased damage.

Xu Ziyan played one round and roughly adapted to the rhythm. He was originally a Medic who liked to rely on dodging and displacement to kite enemies. When playing Ranked Match and being flanked by an Assault Player, he preferred to hide and deal damage himself rather than rely on teammates.

The time he encountered Xie Wei, he chose to trust Xie Wei, and due to certain psychological reasons, he brought all support and utility items/skills. Usually, when playing Ranked Match alone, Xu Ziyan would replace his smoke bomb with a stun gun and his armor pack with a pistol.

He managed to kite and kill one Assault Player by winding through the abandoned town, only to immediately run into another Assault Player. Xu Ziyan gave a wry smile, queued again, and continued to adapt to the rhythm.

Unknowingly, the night deepened again.

Other teammates successively returned to their rooms. Xu Ziyan took a sip of his drink, just about to click the Ranked Match button, when he suddenly heard a few knocks on the door behind him.

He paused and looked back.

The tall, long-legged man leaned casually against the door, arms crossed, his gaze sweeping around the training room before settling on Xu Ziyan.

Xie Wei said, “Supper, want some?”