The Beautiful Time With You

“Why do you like Legend?”

Shi Yao was taken aback for a moment before realizing that the one who had spoken was neither Juice nor Expert but Mister Numbers.

Mister Numbers rarely spoke through this voice chat, so this was one of those rare occasions where Shi Yao could hear his voice. Just like the first time, she was mesmerized for a moment before she quickly came to her senses and replied, “I first noticed Legend because he was so different from the rest. Unlike other professional gamers, he never reveals his face during live broadcasts, he never attends commercial events, and he doesn’t actively interact with his fans…”

“Of course, I only recognized him as a professional gamer back then. To be honest, I’m not even sure what kind of games he played back then!

“And I didn’t play games either, so I knew very little about them. So, I didn’t know how impressive he was. I only noticed him briefly before I lowered my head to eat my mala ¹ soup…”

At this point, Shi Yao paused for a moment before she explained further, “… I was in high school back then, and I was at the mala store across from my school with some friends. The boss of the mala store was watching the competition.

“The second time I saw Legend’s name was just a coincidence. I was feeling bored on my way home, so I started browsing through Weibo ² on my phone and saw that he was on the Top Search list. He’d just given an interview, and unlike other pro gamers, it wasn’t through a video but through a classic pen and paper interview.”

“That happened three years ago, but he said something in the interview that I still remember to this day.

“My Adonis said that he isn’t the strongest underdog or a rising star of the eSports industry but a person who simply loves gaming.

“He said that in the eSports circle, every single pro gamer is worthy of respect. That’s because they’ve abandoned more conventional paths in order to tread down the arduous path of eSports. A lot of people think that being a professional gamer is all about the stage, the limelight, the glory, the cheers, and the praise. But that’s not it. This circle is filled with tears and passion, dreams and sweat. Every single professional gamer gives their all in every battle they fight, but in the end, the bridge to the championship is only wide enough for a single person or team to pass. The eSports circle is all about the accomplishments. When you’re accomplished, everyone will respect and admire you. But when you don’t have anything under your name, no one will acknowledge your talent or hard work. People only remember the champion. No one pays attention to how the first runner-up walks off the stage.

“Adonis also said that he doesn’t expect everyone to acknowledge the eSports industry, but he just hopes that people won’t be prejudiced against it, because everyone in the circle is putting their youth at stake here.

“So, at the very end of the interview, Adonis said something else that really moved me…” Shi Yao paused for a moment before continuing, “… The youth have no regrets in eSports, march forward fearlessly and bring glory to your country!

“After that interview, I started keeping a lookout for my Adonis. I looked through all of his previous competitions, and how should I say this… I found that he has passion. He really did enter the eSports circle out of passion.

“Of course, that’s not to say that my Adonis is so noble that he’s completely uninterested in money. I don’t think that there’s anyone in this world who doesn’t love money. I love it a lot myself because I can only buy a lot of delicious food with money.

“But for my Adonis, I realized that it’s not because he wants fame or glory but because he’s sincerely passionate about games. I think it’s a truly rare trait in this world, so I simply began to idolize him.

[Author’s Note: “People only remember the champion. No one pays attention to how the first runner-up walks off the stage.”—This quote is from one of the professional gamers in China, Meng Lei. It hasn’t been long since I first began taking note of the eSports circle. It was in 2016, while I was writing The Adonis Next Door, that the thought of writing about eSports came to my mind. In that year, my friends and I traveled far to watch the KPL Autumn Competition, and once I got into it, everything just snowballed on.]