Chapter 170 - 169: You Are a Team, Not Lone Brutes

Chapter 170: Chapter 169: You Are a Team, Not Lone Brutes

Selena and Sarah didn’t say a word, listening quietly.

Rian paused before continuing. "He told me something once that I still remember to this day.

"He said his love for esports wasn’t a sudden whim, nor was it just following the crowd, but something he had planned for a long time. He said that winning a game made his blood pump faster than solving a hundred math problems. He also said that his passion for gaming was something he couldn’t abandon, even after weighing all the pros and cons."

Rian fell silent, looking out at the night sky through the window. It seemed she was recalling that particular night when she chatted with Ash at the late-night snack stall.

Then she added, "So what reason do I have left to stop him?"

The two on the other end of the line were silent for a long time. Finally, Selena’s voice broke the silence. "The kid’s pretty cultured."

Rian chuckled upon hearing this. Sarah clicked her tongue lightly. "Esports. Someone will always be there to teach him a lesson."

Rian didn’t reply. What Sarah said was true. His teammates, opponents, and netizens would all teach him how things worked—that was beyond dispute.

The two didn’t dwell on the topic and shifted the conversation to other matters.

Selena’s voice sounded tragic. "We have to go back to school tomorrow. I really don’t want to."

The long summer vacation was over. Selena had previously taken a two-week leave due to illness and family matters, and now that it was time to return to campus, she was complaining again.

Sarah was utterly speechless. "You’ve been slacking off for so long. It’s time to go back to school and serve your sentence."

Later.

"Hahahaha! Quick, look at the comment section on Ria’s video! They’re all telling Miss Innocent to check her direct messages, and some are even saying they’ll fly over right this second!"

Hearing Selena’s voice, Sarah opened Sharkstream with great interest. Rian’s composure cracked a little. She opened Sharkstream as well, only for the app to immediately crash.

When she logged back in and checked her video, it already had 10.93 million likes, 6.89 million comments, and 13.63 million shares.

Looking at those staggering numbers, Rian knew she had completely embarrassed herself.

Opening the comments, the very first one that caught her eye read: [Sister, where are you? I’m taking off right now and flying straight to you!]

[Miss Innocent, I’m coming!]

[Who gets it, fam?! I thought she was like an immortal with no worldly desires!]

[Say no more. Starting a massive petition for Miss Innocent’s contact info.]

[Play with me, sugar mommy! I don’t want your money!]

[Seeing all these shameless comments instantly makes me feel like I fit right in!]

[Miss Innocent, where are you?! I’m calling a cab right this second!]

[Boohoo, all those sports cars must be worth hundreds of millions!]

[Sob, is this a dinner party with your besties? I want a gathering like this so badly!]

[Miss Innocent, look at me!]

Rian scrolled through them for a while before finally leaving a comment: [I lost a game of Truth or Dare with my besties.]

Then, she silently exited the app. The other two were still laughing and reciting the netizens’ comments. This game was really detrimental to friendships.

Right now, Rian genuinely wanted to murder someone.

But hearing their laughter, her anger deflated, turning into a long, drawn-out sigh.

After joking around for a bit, they all hung up.

Rian lay in bed, only to hear her phone buzzing non-stop.

She unlocked it and saw messages pouring in from Ulysses Shepherd, Jason Rivers, Ronan Ford, Bamboo, Miro, Ethan Forrest, Nico, Wyatt Shepherd, Scott Sutton, Noel Sutton, and a whole slew of other friends.

They were all asking about the caption on her video. Rian posted a status update to clear things up and ignored the rest of the messages.

She set her phone aside and went to sleep.

She slept soundly without any dreams.

Meanwhile, in Argent.

After finishing his practice matches the previous day, Ash Sinclair immediately jumped into a post-match review and didn’t get to bed until the wee hours of the morning.

The next day, he was up by one in the afternoon to resume training and maintain his mechanical feel.

His schedule was so packed that aside from taking a leak or dropping a dump, he couldn’t squeeze out a single free minute. All his time was devoted to training, and any leftovers were dedicated to his contracted livestreams.

Ash sat in his gaming chair, continuing his aiming drills. The amount of time he spent practicing his aim in the training range exceeded the time he actually spent playing matches.

"Evil, the coach is calling for a review soon."

Ash looked up upon hearing this. "Understood, Captain."

Ash quickly wrapped up what he was doing. When he joined ASG, he became the team’s sniper under the in-game name Evil. The person who had just spoken was the team captain and shot-caller, Seth. The team’s assaulter was named Phantom, and the flex player was Ming.

After logging off his computer, Ash headed toward the conference room.

ASG’s facility wasn’t particularly large, nor was their popularity as high as other teams. They weren’t an esports powerhouse, but they weren’t short on funding either, which made for a pretty good team atmosphere.

He arrived at the conference room and took a seat. The middle-aged man standing at the front spoke up once he saw everyone had gathered. "Since everyone’s here, let’s take a look at the scrims you scheduled with the other teams yesterday and see what mistakes each of you made."

Aside from Coach Forrest, the room also held their analyst, Linden, the tactical planner, and other essential personnel. Forrest looked around the room and said slowly, "Before I start criticizing, I need to praise one person: our sniper, Evil."

Ash, having been singled out, didn’t show much emotional fluctuation. Forrest continued, "Evil played as usual, without making any fundamental mistakes. As for our captain, Seth, I don’t want to elaborate on exactly when you let your emotions dictate your decisions.

"But you have to remember that you’re the captain and the shot-caller. You are the central figure controlling the team’s macro plays. A single wrong call from you could drag the entire team down into the grave. I know you’ve only taken on this role recently, but I need you to adapt as soon as possible."

Seth nodded. They had actually gone over this last night. He had transitioned from an assaulter, so the shift was drastic. "Forrest, I’ll work hard to learn."

Hearing this, Forrest ultimately held his tongue. He sighed, then turned his gaze to Phantom. "As the assaulter, you need to train properly. Fights right in front of you must be resolved quickly, but you also need to stay alert. If you can’t win the fight, retreat. Stop losing your head and fighting to the death every single time.

"And you, Ming, our flex. I know you’re unhappy that the new guy got the sniper position right off the bat, but Evil has the skills to back it up, so you have to step down."

Forrest raised his voice, looking at the group with a heavy tone. "You all need to remember that you’re a team, not a bunch of reckless brutes fighting solo. In solo queues, you can do whatever you want, but the only matches that truly bring glory on the professional stage are squad games.

"If you have any grievances, resolve them early. If your skills aren’t up to par, then train hard. We didn’t sign you so you could sit around at ASG like statues. You’re here to compete and win championships, not go on a fully-funded vacation.

"Remember, out there on the battlefield, your opponents will infinitely magnify your weaknesses and tear you apart. If you don’t want to compete, tell me now so I can replace you."

Forrest had truly been driven half-mad by this bunch lately. He had originally been thrilled about recruiting a talented player like Evil, never expecting so much drama to erupt within a single team.

Instead of focusing on the matches, they were fixated on who stole whose position. It was an absolute joke.