"Boom—!"
"Crack—!"
The ultimate moves of the two players were launched simultaneously.
The screen was filled with a blinding white light because the two ultimate moves were both launched and hit the opponents at the same time.
For more than a minute, the screen remained cluttered.
With the message [Battle Ended], the chat in the live - stream room fell silent. Everyone held their breath, waiting to see who would emerge victorious.
When Ji Siyue saw the figure standing in the middle of the arena after the smoke cleared, her heart sank.
What's going on, Gunner? Didn't Qin Chengyao win?
The health bar of that figure was almost empty, but when she checked the details of both sides, she found out...
One percent!
He still had one percent of his health left!
He had managed to withstand the ultimate move and still had one percent of his health remaining!
The battle was over. Ji Siyue silently turned off her microphone, ended the live - stream, and then logged onto Weibo.
"The battle is over. Xingxing has won."
That was the outcome.
She was really worried, so she called him: "Senior, are you okay?"
"I'm fine."
The voice on the other end of the phone sounded quite relaxed, which made Ji Siyue a bit confused.
Didn't he lose? Why did his voice sound so relaxed now?
"Aren't you bothered at all about losing the match?"
"I did it on purpose."
"... Huh?"
"My skill levels weren't fully upgraded. I only used level - 14 skills. I was one level short, and the damage was just a bit less. My skills are faster. If I had fully upgraded them, I should have been able to defeat him first."
As he said this, Ji Siyue felt even more confused.
What was going on? Why did he throw the game?
"You'll understand what I mean soon."
After saying that, he hung up the phone.
Ji Siyue was a bit puzzled, but she still went back to her computer to do what she hadn't had time to finish—invite Xingxing to her team.
After all, this person had wanted to join the team from the start.
But surprisingly, the invitation was quickly declined.
Then, a message came through.
[Private Chat] Xingxing: Can I call you?
[Private Chat] Jiyueji: ???
[Private Chat] Xingxing: I have something to explain, but it's a long story. It might not be clear in text. You can record our call and post it on your Weibo to clear things up.
Ji Siyue remembered his identity and agreed.
Soon, she got her recording tool ready and made a QQ call to him on her computer.
"Hello? Is that you?" Ji Siyue said tentatively.
"Yeah, hello, Jiyueji."
The voice on the other end of the phone belonged to a very gentle - sounding senior, quite different from the Gunner he played.
Ji Siyue was briefly stunned and then said, "Hello. What do you want to say? Don't worry. I'll record the whole call and post it on Weibo exactly as you asked."
"Okay. First, let me explain that 'Xingxing' is my younger brother. I'm Landu. I'm sure most people are familiar with this name, right?"
"What??? "
Ji Siyue was shocked, her mouth hanging open.
Of course, she knew this name! He was her second - favorite professional player!
Back then, the Landu Team was extremely popular, and Landu was the team's captain. He had even made it to the finals, where his opponent was the team that Huang Feng was on.
In the end, Landu lost to Huang Feng by a single point and took second place.
After that, both teams disappeared from the public eye.
"Please listen to me first. I'd like to apologize to you and Huang Feng. My younger brother knew that I once narrowly lost to Huang Feng. He also loves the game and wanted to defeat Huang Feng to prove himself and avenge me. But he's too young and didn't understand many things, which caused you trouble. As for why I played on his behalf, it's because I really wanted to play against Huang Feng one more time. This time, although I seemed to win, in fact, I lost."
"Why do you say that?"
"Back then, I lost by a single point. Not only me, but my younger brother has always been bothered by it. I'm sure Huang Feng guessed it in the first round, but he didn't expose it. He lowered his skill levels and left me one percent of my health, repaying that single point. I failed again. But I heard that he's going to return to the arena soon. I'm also going to return, and I will definitely defeat him. That's all."
"Okay!"
Ji Siyue was still a bit dazed.
She never thought that Landu had noticed? He had noticed the issue with Qin Chengyao's skills and came to confess on his own initiative?
This person was truly remarkable.
Just like that, Ji Siyue's impression of him changed.
After hanging up the phone, she posted the recording on Weibo exactly as it was.
[This is the content of my call with 'Xingxing' and the real 'Xingxing' behind the scenes. Everyone, stop scolding. Listen to the whole story. He confessed everything on his own, and I'm willing to reconcile with him on behalf of my master.]
After posting it, Ji Siyue felt extremely relaxed, as if a burden that had been weighing on her mind had suddenly disappeared.
Now she finally understood why Qin Chengyao had sounded so relaxed. Presumably, his mood was the same as hers.
That person was his opponent but also his friend. Now that the truth was out and he had confessed, he hadn't violated the ethics of a professional player, which was exactly what Qin Chengyao had hoped for.
...
A day had passed since then.
The voice recording on Ji Siyue's Weibo had triggered several hot topics.
#Veteran Players Return to the Battlefield! Reclaiming Glory#
#Landu's Substitute Play#
#The Heart - warming Fengdu CP is Back!#
#A Rare Sight: Landu#
Liu Fanghua was also very satisfied with the way Ji Siyue had handled this matter. Lingyun took the opportunity to ride on the wave of popularity. It was a great reconciliation, and everyone had resolved their difficulties!
Two months later, the next season of the CMK competition would start. Qin Chengyao was determined to participate.
Although she had lost the match, Ji Siyue still invited Qin Chengyao out on her own initiative.
The two of them walked to the school cafeteria for a meal because Ji Siyue had classes in the afternoon and couldn't go too far.
"You can leave school tomorrow. Where are you going after that?" Qin Chengyao asked as they walked.
"Um... I'll go back to my rental apartment. That's my home."
"How can a rental apartment be called a home? As far as I know, there's only a bed, a computer, and basic living facilities in your rental apartment. There's even no place to cook!"
"How do you know?" Ji Siyue asked in surprise.
How did he know what was in her apartment?
He... didn't seem like a creep!