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Su Mucheng stood shocked. As was the rest of the room."Well? Are you going to contradict me?" asked Ye Xiu, his back was to her and her phone in hand. It was buzzing constantly with messages from QQ. His contract was already signed with his name as it lay on the table.Sun Xiang got up from the captain's chair, "You can't do that! I'm captain now! One Autumn Leaf and the captaincy are mine! Just hurry up and disappear already!" he shouted."Ye Qiu, do you know what you just did?" asked Cui Li, his lips curling in dislike."Yep," Mucheng knew if she was looking at Ye Xiu right now in his face he'd have his smug little not smile on his face that spoke of shameless intent and held up her phone to the crowd, "Oh, look. It's already trending, #CaptainSuMucheng#, isn't that great? Over 2,000 and not even two minutes in. Modern technology is quite amazing don't you think?""Ye Qiu, you knew that Sun Xiang is the new captain yet you dare do this?""Actually I sent it before I came into the room, see you can even check the time stamp,""Let me at him!" Sun Xiang leaped for Ye Xiu his hands going for the throat, Mucheng quickly grabbed Ye Xiu and pushed him behind her. It must look comical in any other situation. His face poking up from behind her head with their 11 centimetre height difference."No, now please get back,""Get out of my way!" shouted Sun Xiang in her face, he was glaring at Ye Xiu."No. Sit back down, you're crushing One Autumn Leaf's account card," Sun Xiang hesitated for a moment looking back down at the account card in his hand before slowly placing it on the table where it would be safe. Everyone else was watching the trio, all looking like they want to support Sun Xiang in his attempt to throttle Ye Xiu."You don't need to protect me, Mucheng,""Ye Qiu, you be quiet, I'm upset with you," stated Mucheng. She loved him, she really did but he did this without her knowledge so she was now angry with him."Ye Qiu you need to retract your post," said Cui Li."I can't let my first weibo post make me a liar and by now everyone important has already seen it. I bet even people have taken screenshots too to commemorate my first post,"That was true. Even though Ye Xiu has had a Weibo account it was never touched or verified but widely accepted as legitimate. Mucheng was even a follower if only so she would be able to see his first post ever when it came out. She wanted to cry, this wasn't how she wanted to see his post!"Can't you let them call you a liar this one time to help the team?" asked Liu Hao, the audacity of him asking Ye Xiu of that after everything made Mucheng burn inside. She was going to throttle him and smile while doing so."I'm sorry can't do that. Now that I'm jobless all I have it my honesty. Without that I can't get a job,"Everyone in front of her looked pissed. What sort of face was he wearing to draw everyone's aggro like this?! Mucheng subtly stepped on his foot with the heel of her foot and twisted to inflict more pain. She felt him wince a bit and felt deeply gratified making her smile brightly."Retract it," demanded Cui Li."Can't and I don't want to. You guys haven't announced Sun Xiang as captain yet so as long as Sun Xiang isn't announced Su Mucheng is going to be the next captain of EE. It's what you guys wanted right, more revenue? What else is better than having the second ever female captain in the pro scene?"Cui Li bit his tongue, he couldn't argue with that. It was largely the reason why they had to undermine Ye Qiu's authority in the first place, he had value as a player but no value in advertising. It was lucky that Su Mucheng hadn't cancelled her contract when Ye Qiu signed his retirement but it was a risk they had to take.Actually having Su Mucheng as captain would be great advertising for their club but Sun Xiang didn't look like the type to take this type of insult to his face either. It was going to have to take a delicate hand to sort out this situation. Cui Li cursed Ye Qiu for causing more chaos just as they got rid of him."Besides Su Mucheng's contract only lasts another year. So you can keep her on as captain for the year then announce that Sun Xiang is going to be captain. Ample time to train him,""I don't need training! I can be captain straight away like all the other captains!""Yeah, brother Sun doesn't need training! He's already great to be captain!""There's nothing that brother Sun can do!""Captain Sun is nothing like you Ye Qiu,""Yeah, he is nothing like me. If he was me he'd know that Yu Wenzhou took a year to be trained,""He doesn't count," dismissed Sun Xiang."He does but every other captain also had the help of the vice-captain to help them,""Isn't the vice-captain Liu Hao?" asked Sun Xiang suspiciously like he thought that it was a trick question."Yep. Very reliable isn't he? So reliable in fact that as soon as he sees the opportunity he'll go right for it and listens very carefully to his superiors, the perfect vice-captain," mocked Ye Xiu in a bland tone so it didn't register any different from normal tone but anyone who had been near him for more than a year would know. Mucheng knew this was closest that he was going to say on the matter as well."You!" shouted Liu Hao."What? He was praising you," said Sun Xiang confused. So he didn't know.Still, she wasn't going to forgive him for his part in making Ye Xiu retire!There was a knock on the door making everyone turn to it and it burst open to show Wei Shui, he was out of breath and panting heavily. She worked with him on occasion since he worked in PR for EE.He panted for a moment before shouting, "Manager Cui Li, you have to see this! Ye Qiu just posted that Su Mucheng was going to be captain!" making silence ring out in his wake."Old news," stated Ye Xiu breaking the silence. Mucheng closed her eyes for a couple of seconds before opening them again. Normally she loved the chaos that Ye Xiu wrought in his wake, it would be difficult to be his partner if she didn't enjoy his brand of chaos, but this time she was suffering."With that I should probably go, bye," said Ye Xiu before coming in front of Wei Shui, "good to see you again Wei Shui, do you mind moving?" said Ye Xiu warmly."Oh yes, good to see you again as well," before he shuffled out of the door way to allow Ye Qiu through. With that Ye Xiu left. Mucheng blinked before running after him saying a quick hello to Wei Shui as she ran after Ye Xiu before he got into the elevator.She didn't manage that. He was better than Wang Jiexi at disappearing! Honestly, Wu Xuefeng shouldn't have allowed Ye Xiu to practice his disappearing skills when he was younger! Mucheng had to go down the service stairs, almost breaking her ankle in her heels as she ran down them and very much out of breath by the time she made her way to the ground floor.She had to take a break to catch her breath before running outside to find Ye Xiu. She didn't need to look far since he didn't go far; he was literally just outside. It was lightly snowing. If he was going to go away he might as well go far not just lingering outside she scolded mentally."You idiot," stated Su Mucheng, coming closer to Ye Xiu."For what? If I can't control when I'm going to retire then I'm not going to allow them to choose who is going to be captain. It is my right at least to nominate a captain,""You did more than nominate a captain! You announced one without their knowledge!""So? Lin Jie did the same when it came to his successor. I don't see why I shouldn't choose my successor either like he did, at least I didn't announce it during the interviews after a match,""Because announcing it on weibo is so much better," said Mucheng sarcastically. She wasn't normally this sarcastic but this time she felt she was in the right."It is. I don't need to show my face if it's on Weibo. Here," said Ye Xiu before handing over her phone back, it was still buzzing with messages, "it's been ringing too.""You're not really going to be retiring are you?" asked Mucheng holding her phone close to her, an indescribable sadness coming over her. She could barely remember seeing Ye Xiu not playing MMOs or MOBAs."I am," Ye Xiu placed his hand on her head and rubbed her hair, bringing her closer to him. She didn't know how cold she was until now, "Hey, don't be sad. Come on, it's alright. I'm going to be coming back, I'm just going to take a year vacation before I comeback,"Mucheng stuck her head into his chest and wrapped her arms around him, forcing him to hug her closer, "That doesn't make it any better you realise. A year is a long time and you're not young,""It's going to be alright. I promise that I'm going to be back,""You really promise?" asked Mucheng, looking up at Ye Xiu. It reminded her of when she was younger and would sometimes seek hugs from Ye Xiu when Muqiu was busy playing against someone."Yeah, I promise." Ye Xiu slowly pulled her away from him, "You need to go back now, captain Su Mucheng," he said while smirking, probably he was enjoying saying her name like that, before giving her quick hug and walking away.She realised something as he walked away."I'm still angry with you!" she shouted making people walking around her look at her but Ye Xiu didn't look back. He just waved as she continued to walk down the street. She continued to wait outside until she couldn't see him any longer before heading back in.She opened up Weibo to see what he actually posted, ignoring the messages for now even as the continuously popped up on her screen. @YeQiu: I'm leaving EE now. @SuMucheng V will be my successor as captain for EE. #CaptainSuMucheng# posted 5:23pm | liked 4671 times | reblogged 3127 times | commented on 2099 times @MoodKiller: FIRST!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! @MoodKiller: Also wtf? I'm so sad! @YeQiuSpotter: omg Ye Qiu's first ever post and it's this I can't tell if I'm happy or sad! @ChuYunxiu V: That's a mood @YeQiuSpotter: !!!!!!!!! @ChuYunxiu V: @YeQiu hopefully you'll go to a good place next! @SuMucheng V congrats and welcome to the club! @HuangShaotian V: What? Where are you leaving to? Is this real? Did someone steal your account @YeQiu? @YeQiu @SuMucheng V is this real? Hey! Answer me! @YeQiu If you're not leaving to anywhere you can join Blue Rain! What do you mean by leaving? @SuMucheng V congrats on being captain! @YeQiu come by the arena so we can PK! PK! PK! PK! You can stay at Blue Rain if you haven't made any other accommodation! @WangJiexi V: You sound desperate. @HuangShaotian V: Fight me. I'll beat your ass across the arena with my awesome skills! I'll PK you so hard that you'll go and cry to @LinJie V! @WangJiexi V: I guess a minute to spare to beat you in the arena. @LinJie V: Please get along with each other. It is this grandfather's wish. @WangJiexi V: Captain Lin Jie you actually respond to weibo? [Expand for more] She laughed at the post. It was so like him so leave a message that short and just explain like nothing. She now had a successor crisis to help solve.
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
The first thing to wake her up was sound of people talking and music, the next thing was the awkward position she was in. Somehow she managed to curl herself up and push her shoulder outwards so that her spine was in an odd angle and she felt like a grandma getting up, slowly cracking various joints in her body to test that they were still working and fine. She then noticed a creamy colour staining her standard red and white EE sheets. A groan worked itself out of her throat and she pushed her hair away from her face so she could actually see what was happening. She was going to have to clean the sheets after she didn't look like she had a wild night out.Looking over at the sound was her laptop connected to her wide screen playing episodes of what looked to be Thank You and Goodnight...? What? Her laptop was playing the second episode on low with subtitles on. Her shoes were scattered on the other side of the room with her jacket on the floor.Looking at herself she noticed that she was still in yesterday's clothes; gross.She absentmindedly went to grab her phone where it usually lay charging over night on the bedside table near her lamp so she could see what time it was. It wasn't there. Her heart leapt in her throat as she looked for it, it had to be in her room somewhere! She couldn't have lost it! Think! Think! When did she last see it? Last night she was watching Thank You and Goodnight because...Ye Xiu left! He left last night because EE made him retire! And...she had to...give up her phone?She slumped back down into her bed face first, the scent of clean laundry just barely there under the smell of herself. The covers were already ruined, what was going to happen to them? Be ruined more?She had to give up her phone so that she could be in lockdown. She was in a technological lockdown because they couldn't resolve who was going to be captain last night. The meeting lasted ages and it even came to the point where Tao Xuan had to be called in, then the lawyers had to be called in after hours to go over each of their contracts and they said that it was going to take up to three days to work this out on their side. It was a mess. So Cui Li did the only thing he could do and asked that newcomer Sun Xiang and herself to hand over their phones. Both of them weren't happy about it.She got up to wipe the makeup from her face and check the time, 9:23 am, she couldn't get breakfast from the cafeteria by now but she wasn't hungry either. Something about being upset and angry that really does it for a girl she mused. Normally she would be rushing to get ready for something like training or another thing like a photo shoot by this time but Cui Li had told her that everyone was to take a few days off while everything was getting sorted despite the upcoming game in a week's time.Nature called as she sat on the toilet for far too long as her bowels tried to make her regret every single meal of McDonald's she ever had. However the heat from her shower afterwards soothed her, she could stand under it forever and it would be fantastic but she had commitments. She patted herself dry as much as possible and vigorously rubbed at the places where her clothes would usually hide any red marks left from the rubbing while walking into her bedroom again to grab her clothes. Absently cleaning up while she did so while romantic music and people talking played from her laptop.There was something about getting rid of dirty things or washing it off that just appealed to her; maybe it was from her background or maybe it was something she picked up along the way. However to Mucheng cleaning was calming in a way that only the restless or depressed could really understand. When she was all dressed and had makeup on, her room cleaned, and the old bed sheets in her arms ready to go to laundry she felt more human. Ready to head off to the cleaning room where she could dump her sheets under the judgemental gazes of the cleaning ladies.After her walk and dump of shame she was ready to face the world!First thing was first was getting information. No tactician could work with nothing and if you could get no information you make your own; Ye Xiu taught her that. Second was acting upon that information.So she went back to her room; to her laptop and looked up Sun Xiang. Looked at Baidu, looked at his Glory page, the forums and watched his games. Grudgingly she could admit he was good. And as much as she would hate to admit it he was like a young Huang Shaotian good, though like a really young, young Huang Shaotian. Sun Xiang was over ambitious and quite aggressive but could also wait for an opportunity like Huang Shaotian but there was something during his games that worried her. He played as if he was the only core. That might have been true in Conquering Clouds but in Excellent Era he couldn't play like that. Could he be like Wang Jiexi and tone down his play style for the sake of the team?She didn't know.So she got a pen and paper and started to plan out everything that was wrong in the matches. Then it evolved into EE's matches, and then strategies. By the time she knew it her stomach was rumbling from being ignored too much, the light source in the room had changed and her back was aching from sitting in the same position too long. Her paper was thoroughly ruined with her messy, quick handwriting all over it with lines going to places; all her thoughts over two pages.It was time to move. In the cafeteria, the smell of deep-fried bean curd rolls, something oily yet delicious she knew from experience, and the never spicy enough dongpo pork filled the air from lunch. Food was still being served though it was leftovers from a few hours ago. Usually the meals came with a main, a choice of fruit juice or tea and a snack that the board near the till proudly proclaimed was a black sesame seed pudding today.EE only offered two meals a day from the cafeteria; breakfast and lunch. This usually meant that you had to buy dinner yourself and keep the receipt but Mucheng knew that Zhang Jiexing only ate 2 meals anyway since he got a big lunch and didn't want the third meal coming from his pay check. He was slightly cheap like that but she heard that he was trying to save for an apartment soon so he needed as much money as possible to do so.Mucheng made sure to greet the cafeteria workers, some staff members that filtered around for a snack and those few from the training camp as she walked by the tables to get her food. She ended up getting the dongpo pork with rice if only because she didn't think she could stomach something oily for breakfast .Looking around she chose to sit with Yang Qingqi, her future successor as a Launcher in the training camp, and Hong Lina, another female in the training camp who plays Mechanic. They both turned to greet her when she sat down. Their light chatter about parents and school washed around her making her feel old but she still chimed in from time to time. They were young, real young, only sixteen and a few years off from debuting. It's been so many years since she debuted after all. So many long and short years.Yang Qingqi was more outspoken, loud in her opinions and reminded Mucheng of a snake, not in her looks just in her personality. She was never above putting someone down to get what she wanted, even Hong Lina wasn't entirely safe from her words though she always looked apologetic whenever she said something mean to Hong Lina. If she was to be summed up in one word then that word would be ambitious. Kids these days were really something Mucheng often thought around her. Mucheng wasn't even that much older than Yang Qingqi but the thought still persistedHong Lina was more soft spoken, clingy in a way that said that she only started to play Glory to make friends and clung to Yang Qingqi as much as she could despite everything. She was no less ambitious but knew where she stood in the training camp. Yang Qingqi and Hong Lina had a close friendship and were practically inseparable. Management were looking forward to presenting the both of them on the team when it came time for Mucheng to retire.A couple of tables away Qiu Fei was sitting with Wen Li, another loner in the training camp. Qiu Fei was quiet, saying a hello when she went by but nothing else. He must be taking it hard with Ye Xiu gone. Ye Xiu wasn't even able to say goodbye to the training camp either since he quickly walked out and knowing him he wouldn't even send a message to say anything.Ye Xiu had been close with Qiu Fei, going to the training camp often to see him, and the others, giving them tips on how to use their characters. Ye Xiu gave Qiu Fei special attention since he saw the younger boy as his successor and taking his time in training the other. In the end it didn't matter.Looking around she didn't let her face sour as she saw Liu Hao, his friends (Wang Ze, Fang Fengran, He Ming, and Chen Yehui she noted), and Sun Xiang sitting together on the far side of the room. Why were they even here? She knew she was late and the training camp members usually had a snack before training but them? They shouldn't be here.They were fawning over Sun Xiang with praises rather loudly, disturbing the low chatter of the cafeteria so confident in Sun Xiang's captaincy. Yang Qingqi and Hong Lina would occasionally look over at the table while talking with her, their thoughts written over their faces; were they doing the right thing by associating with Mucheng?It made her pissed. Where was those praises for Ye Xiu? He carried the team as much as possible but they never helped him carry the burden. Instead during the major games they subtly sabotaged him, not listening to him, not supporting him. She could now even show everyone at which parts they did so!Toxic. This environment was toxic. The whole building was toxic. And Ye Xiu wanted her to fix it? How was she meant to fix it? Did she want to fix it? She could just leave it; let it destroy itself and take perverse enjoyment out of it. She shot up. She couldn't stand it -she had to go- leave to anywhere but here. Right now this space was bad for her and she wasn't going to let it make her feel bad so she had to leave. Yang Qingqi and Hong Lina stared at her as she cleaned up, placing her tray in the right spot and taking her drink with her.She wandered aimlessly, taking sips of her drink until it was all gone and throwing it away, before she went to one of the free training rooms. It was empty, which was good.She didn't want anyone else around her now.She couldn't take it.She needed to relieve her stress without a drama to sate her. So instead of opening up Glory or QQ she opened up CS so she could shoot. Shoot what? Just shoot. Ye Xiu said that he could never understand why when she was angry she played CS instead of Glory and smile while she was at it. She could never understand why he never got angry or feel angry. She suspected that it was from before she met him because people ran away for a reason, especially second generation people like him (she had eyes, she saw his fancy yet worn clothes but never asked him when she was younger and now she can't ask him, it was too late). It used to frighten her, that he'd disappear to his rich family; that they'd find him and take him away and she'll never see him again.Now she had new fears.Fears that involved him disappearing, forced away from Glory and fade into the distance like a shooting star; always knowing that he was there but forgetting him so very easily as days went by. New fears that actually come true unlike her old ones.So she played CS. She killed everyone with a headshot, over and over again and died several times. She didn't say anything and only killed and practiced keeping up her smile with her headphones on to block out everything else. The door to the training room opened once but she didn't turn to look, only noting that light from outside flooded the room for a short period of time. The person was quiet and didn't mind that she wasn't play Glory. Good. More than once her teammates congratulated her on her accurate shots and asked her if she was a pro. One of them even asked if she was Zhou Zekai since she wasn't using voice chat. She didn't answer him. Several matches later she felt more human and a lot less people were willing to fight against her.Her stress was gone but her smile was still up.So she changed over to Glory. There was a new server up but she had no need to get a new character, Dancing Rain was all that she needed. She left her first character behind a long time ago to take up the mantle of Dancing Rain.She looked at her friends list, a lot of them were from Muqiu meaning that a lot of them weren't online and wouldn't be online ever again but a few were from her she was happy to note. She automatically scanned for Ye Xiu's smurf accounts or the EE spare accounts. She had hoped that Ye Xiu had found a computer to play on and managed to be in Heavenly Domain but he wasn't there.
Stupid, stupid, why did she think he would be there?
He was always online, pulling all-nighters and she had forgotten that she was meant to be angry with him. That the large amount of chaos around her was just the consequences of his actions but all the chaos around in EE was from him so it wasn't new. But she had to live with him not being around forever. She was older and stronger than the first time she lost a brother and this one wasn't even dead yet. EE had a decision to make and she did as well. So it was going to be alright.She joined in a raid. Most of the people in the raid were not pros, though there might be a few people from training camps here and there. She didn't accept any items from the raid, just going through the motions. Taking care of her team. Watching their backs. Supporting them.The people who she suspected of being from the training camps messaged her with questions to do with Launchers. It was nice helping them, it reminded her of when she just started out, when she asked Ye Qiu questions about Launchers and how they worked just so she could use Dancing Rain in the future.She didn't know why she was thinking of the past so much. She normally wasn't like this.A private message popped up on screen.Windy Rain: Why haven't you responded to my messages?Windy Rain: Why are you ignoring me?Windy Rain: I thought that we were close! I even asked to marry you if we were both in our 40s and didn't have anyone!Dancing Rain: I'm on communications blackoutWindy Rain: Waht?Windy Rain: *What?Dancing Rain: They took my phone and are monitoring my computerWindy Rain: Why? When are you getting your phone back?Dancing Rain: Possibly in a few days I don't knowWindy Rain: Right! We're doing a dungeon together
[Windy Rain sent you a party invite! Do you wish to accept it? Yes/No]
Mucheng smiled, if it was a little sad and a little grateful, well, only one other person in the room would be able to tell and she doubts that they would. Chu Yunxiu was a force of nature and Mucheng was glad to be her friend.
[Yes]
[Dancing Rain is now part of the party!]
Dancing Rain: ThanksWindy Rain: You can't even use the voice chat?Dark Forest: Welcome Su MuchengDancing Rain: I'd rather not chance itDancing Rain: ThanksLily Magnolia: Hi Senior SuDancing Rain: Ci Meiting you're here too?Wildly Secret Ruler: senior mumu im here tooDancing Rain: Even Ping Ngo-Kwang? Are we having an all girls team?Windy Rain: We are! Well all girls and Li Hua. Not enough pro girls to make an actual teamDancing Rain: One day we'll have an all girls team and then we'll all be out of the job because of how popular they areLily Magnolia: When that time arrives my future is toast :')Dark Forest: I'm a girl to captain for this purposeWildly Secret Ruler: lmao poor senior liWildly Secret Ruler: whats it like to be captainWindy Rain: Stressful!Wildly Secret Ruler: not youWildly Secret Ruler: senior mumuWildly Secret Ruler: i guess its captain mumu nowDancing Rain: Can't say ;)She couldn't say. She wasn't even captain yet but she was happy to spend time with Ci Meiting from Bright Green and Ping Ngo-Kwang from Everlasting.Wildly Secret Ruler: meanieLily Magnolia: Did you watch Thank You and Goodnight?Windy Rain: Didn't have Wang Xiao so didn't watchWildly Secret Ruler: it was okayDancing Rain: So good! I binged all of the last 3 episodes! I felt so sorry for Wang Guangli! Chou Mengyao is totally a villain!Lily Magnolia: Chao Mengyao is good for Zhu Mulan, she'll treat him right and change him.Dancing Rain: No way! He only wants her for her prestige, he doesn't love her! He's even an alpha like her!Dark Forest: Is this the ABO show that captain didn't want to watch?Wildly Secret Ruler: now you know our dark shame we must kill youMucheng smiled as played, careful to limit how much they knew about her situation. It was relaxing talking to the other female pros. Chu Yunxiu would probably have an idea of what's going on and Li Hua by extension but the other two she'll keep in the dark. She ran a few dungeons with them before she looked at the clock in the room.It was so late and the others were probably done with training as well! She felt guilty that they were spending so much time with her instead of practicing. Especially Ping Ngo-Kwang whose team had been in the challenger's league this year and lost. Their team was probably training very hard to get back into the alliance...She thanked the group before logging out. She stretched to help her poor sore back, she probably should keep a watch on the time more since it was the second time that day that she lost track of it, and got up, with her chair scrapping against the floor."Su Mucheng, wait,"She turned to the other person in the room; Guo Yang.He was unassuming, in a bland way but different from Wu Xuefeng who was unassuming in an anonymous way, with thick, short, black hair and just a little taller than Ye Xiu. He had a hunchback from playing so much and squinted because he needed glasses but didn't bother to get a set. He debuted the same year that she did and was part of two of her chats but didn't talk that much in either of them.He must have been waiting for a while to talk to her while she was playing. She felt a little guilty for that but he didn't say anything until now. That didn't lessen the guilt."Yes?""What do you think about our situation?""You mean the succession crisis?" asked Su Mucheng as she stepped closer towards him to stand by his desk. He didn't mind it since he knew how friendly a person Su Mucheng was normally. What frightened him was when she smiled cheerfully since he's seen people get killed by her while smiling like that.Yang nodded and said, "I wanted to know your thoughts," while he fiddled with closing down his computer. He wasn't sure if he wanted to bring this up but he saw Su Mucheng alone in this room and decided to wait for her to be done."I really don't know. Sun Xiang has a claim on captaincy and I have the post from Ye Qiu, it seems like a no brainer really," Su Mucheng laughed like it was a cute joke but Yang had worked with her for four years now, he liked to think that he knew her a little bit better than casual acquaintance, they played Werewolves together with the rest of the Golden Generation in season 5 championship and again in season 6. Sometimes in the hallways they'd talk as well. She didn't think that it was a joke."But?" he asked curiously."We'll see if the greed of EE is more than what their promises are," Su Mucheng smiled again, her cheerful I'm-going-to-kill-something smile. Something within Yang automatically shrunk down and cowered before her."That's...what I'll like to talk to you about as well," he said hesitantly. He couldn't believe that he was doing this. Taking a deep breath he said, "if we don't -if we, if EE gets relegated for the season I'll be transferring.""What?" asked Su Mucheng, her big fiery chicken shaped eyes blinked at him from where she stood and just like a real chicken on fire they were wild and crazed with the need to destroy everything around her before they died. He was always somewhat uncomfortable with her because while she did socialise with everyone and smiled happily her eyes were either dead or wild to him with the exceptions of when she was by Ye Qiu's side. He was even hestiant to confront her like this since he never knew when she was going to smile in that sickingly sweet way and coyly ask people what they mean. It was freaky and with her as captain there was no way he was staying."I'm thinking of transferring, if we lose I mean, if we don't lose then I'll stay. I need something -I mean, I need assurance that EE isn't going to disperse,"Su Mucheng frowned delicately at his words."So you want me to reassure you?"Yang could see that she was looking down at him for this need but he wasn't handsome nor most talented either. He needed something to know that he was not going to be forgotten."Please," begged Yang, his focus at her neck since he couldn't look her in the eyes."Do you want me to lie to you?" she asked, he couldn't help noticing that the neck of her turtleneck top wasn't even; one side was slightly higher than the other making the shadows from the light above look hypnotising as it hinted to curves and lines along that region of her body.Yang shook his head, "No, I want the truth," but he wish that she would lie to him. Tell him that he decision to leave EE was a bad one. Tell him that she might be leaving too. Make him feel better about his choices in life."I think that Sun Xiang is talented," Yang watched her carefully as she gathered her words carefully, "have you seen his matches? They're good, very good but I do think that he's inexperienced. I don't know how long top management has been in contact with him but I don't think he's been playing Battle Mage for long so I don't know how he fairs with that. I think that he's immature as well from his outburst from yesterday," he wasn't there at the meeting so he didn't know, in fact he purposely didn't show. He hadn't wanted to watch his once idol retire even though Liu Hao had been bragging about it to everyone but Ye Qiu and Su Mucheng, "however I don't know him well so I don't know if that was just a outlier or a norm for him. I especially don't know how he handles a duo core style since he came from Conquering Clouds. There's too many factors to tell,""But could you do a better job than him?" he asked bluntly. Su Mucheng looked him in the eyes, searching him as he did to her previously. He tried to hold his ground."I think so. It is what Liu Hao would do or not do in this case that worries me," she confessed. Yang knew a lot about Liu Hao, how he slowly gathered allies and friends within EE and how he ramped up everything this year. Knew how his admiration for Ye Qiu got the better of him and became bitterness. He once was there himself. Long ago, he was once like Liu Hao but while his didn't turn into bitterness it became something worse; indifference."For what it's worth I think that you'd be a good captain," said Yang. He meant it too. Su Mucheng would be a good captain if her team was good too. He only hoped that EE would be that team for her despite everything."Thank you! But if we do lose and we are relegated I want to ask you of something,""What?"She glared into his eyes, her smile gone, "Don't look down on relegated teams." and left with a swish of her skirt and carefully closed the door behind her leaving Yang stunned for a few moments. His heart racing in his chest from fear. She really did look like she was going to kill someone just then."Damnit," Yang laughed because did he really know her at all? Apparently not, "I know I shouldn't look down on relegated teams but I will never work on one. I won't have my name go down and forgotten so I'll never work on a relegated team," he announced to the room, basking in the silence that it offered him. He still had time to make his choice of going to Wind Howl after all. There was still a week to go.
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
She dreamt that night. She dreamt of her first character on Glory. It was a guy, a counterpart to Dancing Rain called Autumn Comes, to help her learn Launcher. He looked like her long forgotten brother. She spent so much time on his looks so he looked like her brother, not quite liking it until she got it perfect but it never was perfect in the end. She had continuously looked at her photo of herself, Xiu and him to the point where the sides had gone soft and rounded and the creases on the photo had made a permanent home on the colours. He was showing her around Glory, helping her to shoot a cannon and it was so light and everything was so faded."Do you like Glory?" he asked in Ye Xiu's voice.She nodded before saying, "Yes, I love it,""You don't have to love it for me," and he let go of the cannon, suddenly it was heavier than she thought it would be. What happened to the lightness?"I don't," she answered, she did love Glory. She may have not always loved Glory but she does now.He stared into her like he was trying to look into her soul before smiling warmly, her brother's face with her brother's faded colours and Ye Xiu's warm voice, "Then don't forget that," he said and burst into a shower of golden powder that was scattered quickly in a whirlwind that forced her eyes closed.She woke up crying.Rubbing at her eyes she struggled to remember where Autumn Comes account was but didn't know where it went. She had the sudden urge to play it once more but instead she had Dancing Rain. She didn't know if it was better or worse.Heading to the joint bathroom to her room she splashed cold water to reduce the redness that she knew was going to be there if the blocked nose was any indication, she had been crying for a while apparently. And honestly cold water really didn't make her feel better. Now she was just wet and miserable on top of cold feeling like her face was a balloon. Mucheng sighed. Why did she have to dream about her first character? She probably lost it a while ago anyway somewhere in the abyss that was her room.It had been a couple of days of trying to avoid Liu Hao, his friends, and the newbie. It was awkward to be in the same room as the main roster, if it was any combination of He Ming or Guo Yang with her then it was fine but if Liu Hao was in the room then he would make comments about how Sun Xiang was captain, and she didn't find out any information that would help her either. Everyone was mum on the subject. Not even her usual office gossips helped!In those days she hadn't seen Tao Xuan at all or Cui Li and she hadn't spoken with Ye Qiu but floods of supporters had commented on her page or Ye Qiu's post. She didn't know if she was captain yet. Or if she was going to be captain. It was frustrating; worse than knowing if Ye Xiu was going to be replaced as captain. At least they knew that even if they didn't know that he was going to be forced to retire though they should have seen it coming. Soon the meeting was called.Sun Xiang was already sitting the captain's chair looking like he already won the captaincy when she got there. She was the last one so she sat at the only seat left next to Zhang Jiaxing and Guo Yang, near the door. Everyone was there including the substitute roster. Cui Li was at the front along with Tao Xuan with a bottle of wine and many glasses sitting on the table. She was trying to avoid looking at any of them in the eye."I thank you all for coming. As you all know before Ye Qiu left he sent out a post over Weibo and refused to take it down where he stated that Su Mucheng will be captain. Unfortunately he disappeared before we were able to try again to convince him and he isn't responding to any messages that we sent him.", yeah since you haven't let me contact him to see where he was thought Mucheng angrily, "In light of this the upper management has spoken to many of our sponsors and lawyers and have decided that Su Mucheng will be captain for a year to promote females in eSports and Excellent Era," stated Tao Xuan.BAM!Sun Xiang had slammed his fist on the conference table over what Tao Xuan said, "You said that I could be captain! That was one of the reasons why I joined EE!""And you will, next year, but for now Su Mucheng is captain," said Tao Xuan coldly. Sometimes Mucheng didn't know who this person in front of her was. This Tao Xuan was different from the one that her brother used to know. Cui Li was already opening the bottle of wine and started to pour the glasses for everyone in the room."In an hour we've got a press conference to confirm the new captain so I expect that none of you show up to the conference drunk," said Cui Li as he passed around the glasses of wine. Su Mucheng accepted one but held it in front of her as Cui Li made his rounds. The red wine swirled around in her glass staining the glass a little bit before the liquid went back down to join its brethren."I know you maybe a little angry but you'll still be the star," said Tao Xuan to Sun Xiang and rose his glass making everyone else follow in suit, "Let us toast to our new captain. To new beginnings for Excellent Era,""To new beginnings," said everyone in various tones of voice. The wine was a little too dry as it slid down her throat, the bottle was expensive and foreign looking, and probably stained her lips a darker shade of red than her lipstick. She preferred white wine instead. Sun Xiang coughed on his wine and stared at it like it was disgusting while Guo Yang swallowed the whole glass and looking for the next glass to down. Mucheng wished that she could subtly pass her glass over to him.She was now captain. However she didn't want to get up, she had no desire for the captain's chair nor getting closer to that side of the table. When did she grow to dislike them so much? She used to be close with Tao Xuan and Cui Li back when she was smaller to the point of where she called them brother. Where did the years go?"Su Mucheng, do you have any parting words before we leave?" asked Cui Li, his glasses glinted under the artificial light. With that same fake smile he gave Ye Xiu before he kicked him from his captaincy. Are they going to do the same to her when it's her time to stop?Su Mucheng smiled, covering up any dislike she may hold, "Yes, I hope that we will work hard for our upcoming match since we've lost so many days. Starting tomorrow we're on double training. Please don't skip it." She was going to run them through the ground. Ye Qiu made her captain so she was going to captain them and they were going to try their best in the upcoming match next week or so help her she was going to destroy them until they cried for their mums'. She sighed as she got back to her room. She basically had a wing of a floor to herself with female guards wandering and watching her area and state of the art security on her door. She had a little bit of time before she had to get ready for but she didn't feel like doing anything. She could go get her mobile from HR by now but that was effort that she wasn't willing to do. For now she lay in her bed, stuffing her face into her pillow, probably smudging her makeup across it while she was at it. She'll take it to laundry later.Was she going to have to pack? Move into Ye Qiu's room or did Sun Xiang already take over it?Su Mucheng groaned and turned her head to the side so she could breathe without inhaling her own CO2. Was she really going to captain them? This team that ruined Ye Qiu to the point of almost breaking him if it weren't for his love of Glory? Oh god, she was going to have to do Ye Qiu's paperwork now. She wasn't going to have anytime to watch Johnny Huang's new drama!Instead she stayed in her spot, ruining her pillowcase for the second time this week until she had to get ready. It was mechanical by now: touch up her make up or re-do it completely if it was too ruined, fix up her hair to make sure it was all smooth and weightless looking, practice the smile she wanted to wear at the conference. A routine that she had to get used to ever since she debuted.She put on her team outfit and looked herself in the mirror. When she was younger she had to ask one of her high school friends, Wang Siyin, to help her buy and practice putting on makeup. The fell out of touch when Mucheng started playing professionally and Wang Siyin went to university overseas. Mucheng's final message was wishing Wang Siyin a happy birthday that Weibo reminded her of two years ago.She walked out of the room to outside with a brief stop to HR to get her phone back. She was scrolling through her phone with the frenzy of an addict getting their latest fix. Even when she was technically allowed to be on the internet she didn't feel like this; she didn't feel connected to anyone. Her QQ was filled with messages and she was struggling to get through them all even as she got into the black van with tinted windows.Everyone else that was going to the conference was in the van barring Tao Xuan meaning that Cui Li, Liu Hao and Sun Xiang was in the van with her. Low conversation carried about the van as they waited for Tao Xuan. Cui Li handed her a speech card that she glimpsed at. It was a basic speech thanking everyone and how grateful she was to be captain so she turned back to her phone looking through Huang Shaotian's massive block of texts. He didn't know the meaning of restraint!She had to basically live message everything as she was going along to respond to him. How was she meant to know the best place for internet cafes? Did she look like she went to internet cafes when she could be playing in the EE building? She didn't know where Ye Xiu was either! What captain chat? They had a captain chat and Ye Xiu never told her? Knowing him he probably never messaged on it apart from maybe once in a red moon. She didn't actually have the power to fire Liu Hao no matter how much she wanted to. Was he really that much of a dick in the vice captain chat???Too soon they were at the hotel that EE had hired out a conference room from. The Red Crown was a semi-prestigious hotel in H city, it became the usual spot for EE for this year. Over the years they had used something like The Four Seasons or Hilton Hotel to hire conference rooms ever since she joined; something foreign and expensive was the way that they usually did things. In comparison this was a downgrade and most of the group that arrived knew it. Tao Xuan hid his dislike as he walked in flanked by Cui Li while Sun Xiang was escorted by Liu Hao leaving her to follow the rest. It was fine, he was just about done finishing up her message to Shaotian, complete with no punctuation and running sentences in his style. She smiled as she sent it thinking of how Shaotian would have to decipher her message to him, she even made sure to have some parts out of sync just to mess with him too."Su Mucheng, you know what you're meant to say?" questioned Tao Xuan. Mucheng nodded in consent while putting her phone away and putting it on silent. No need for Shaotian to message her during her conference. He'd make it ring non-stop! "Good, you're on third," Tao Xuan turned to Sun Xiang, "Remember to keep it brief. I want nothing else from you," he stared at Sun Xiang until the younger man nodded his consent as well.They walked in as a group.It was all very impressive. Tao Xuan and Cui Li in their bespoke suits, while Mucheng, Liu Hao and Sun Xiang in their team uniforms. The cameras loved it. Mucheng could see all the major (and a few minor) papers, sporting channels, and even a local channel as well filming while taking pictures. She made sure to give a smile for them while sneaking in a little wave. She wondered how much they would buy for the real story? How far could she sink EE? She smiled brighter at those thoughts as she got to her seat and sat down."Hello everyone, I thank you all for coming. Today marks both a wonderful and sad event in Excellent Era's history. We have our second ever captain, and first female captain, as well as welcoming our new main roster member, Sun Xiang, who was came from Conquering Clouds, and is taking over One Autumn Leaf," Tao Xuan paused for a moment to allow the media to gain their bearings, he wanted more of a reaction however Ye Qiu's Weibo post took the wind out of that, "and we are sad that Ye Qiu's time with Excellent Era has come to a close as he retires. We thank him for his contributions to our team and wish him the best with whatever endeavours he chooses to pursue," lied Tao Xuan. For a guy with no high school education and no money to his name it was unlikely that he'd go far. His loss for giving his money away and not doing advertising in the first place, "now our manager, Cui Li would like to say a few words on the new roster, then Su Mucheng will do her speech, followed by Sun Xiang. We'll take questions afterwards,"The sound of nails hitting screens, paper being scribbled, and low murmuring on filled the air between Tao Xuan leaving the podium and Cui Li stepping up."Thank you CEO Tao, now with the retirement and loss of Ye Qiu we have been fortunate enough to able to find a replacement for One Autumn Leaf. This means that Sun Xiang will be on the main roster playing as One Autumn Leaf for the next coming years. Now we know this is a change from his previous class but we are confident that he is able to command the Battle Mage class just as well as he did the Berserker class. Other than this there has been no changes to our roster as we feel that having too many changes at this time will not benefit us. That is all, thank you," said Cui Li. There wasn't much that he could report from the team so he stepped away from the podium. They only made Ye Qiu retire after all, although towards the end of the regular season than later.Mucheng stepped up and flipped her stray hair towards the back as some of it had come to the front. Cui Li gave her a look as she walked past time that screamed if she did something like Ye Xiu did then he was personally going to bury her. She wanted to make a face back but she had the cameras on her she so she smiled brighter towards him and kept that smile up for the whole speech."Thank you everyone, I'd like to thank Excellent Era and the whole staff there for this opportunity," much like everyone else who spoke on the podium she too was a practiced liar. She wasn't always a practiced liar but she became one with time, "I'm aware this may seem like a decision that came out of nowhere," and it did come out of nowhere thanks to Ye Xiu, "however this has been a long term thing where Ye Qiu has been training me to be the next captain for a few years now however we didn't know whether or not our supporters would be alright with this so we kept it quiet but after a while we saw the overwhelming support that our fans had for us so we decided that it was time to announce that I was to be captain." she now had to side step the whole Ye Xiu retiring part here, "So with our fans' support I shall captain the team to a new age in Excellent Era. Thank you,"She bowed to the crowd before walking back. Cui Li was giving her a tight smile since she was meant to say that she was going to bring the team to another championship but there was no way she was promising that. It would be social suicide with their current ranking so she edited it.Next was Sun Xiang. He looked a little out of his depth with this. Conquering Clouds weren't that big were they?"Thanks to everyone being here. I'm Sun Xiang, I used to be part of Conquering Clouds but now I'm with Excellent Era. For this I say as a promise to everyone: I'm going to be better than Ye Qiu with One Autumn Leaf, I'll make sure that this team will reach championships .And most of all I won't disappoint the fans either," said Sun Xiang arrogantly. She could feel her smile trying to break free of its mould. She shouldn't have worried about him whatsoever. He better have some teamwork to back up that skill of his. "So I thank everyone for this opportunity." he bowed as well before walking off leaving many mutterings behind him and smirked challenging towards her. She was going to beat him to the ground during practice even when he cries mum.Tao Xuan cleared his throat before speaking again, "We will now take questions," and looked around as hands shot up and picked one from the far back."Xiao Wang, E-sports quarterly; is it true that EE paid 7 million for Sun Xiang?" asked Xiao Wang after everyone else had settled down into quiet background noise."That is correct. We chose to buy his fresh contract to help the team as we knew that Ye Qiu was going to retire this season. Originally we wanted him to stay and train Sun Xiang some more however he chose not to do that and retired straight away instead," Mucheng gritted her teeth behind her smile. Training Sun Xiang? YOu wanted him to be a training partner! Of course he'd leave! Any professional would do that if it wasn't their idea in the first place!Tao Xuan pointed to a reporter close this time."Li Jian, Sports Today; where is Ye Qiu now?" after Li Jian asked that question the whole room exploded into chatter, mainly of reporters trying to get closer to the podium. Tao Xuan put on his most sad face he could."I'm afraid that we don't know where Ye Qiu is now currently, we have tried to look for him after he left suddenly to talk some more about his sudden leave but no matter how much we contact him he hasn't responded. We can only hope that he's doing fine wherever he may be currently and we are still reeling from his loss but we are truly fortunate to have been able to get someone in quickly to fill the gaps," Mucheng wanted to vomit blood. What kind of words was that? Like she was expecting something along those lines but it still made her want to vomit blood!Tao Xuan chose again, this time a female reporter."Yuan Xiaoyun, Professional Women; a question for Su Mucheng: how does being captain effect your work ethic?"Tao Xuan stepped to the side to allow her the podium. At least this wasn't a question about her makeup routine she thought charitably."Being captain of this -" previously, "- wonderful team is a honour. However I don't think much has changed. The amount of respect that I have been given by my team has risen thanks to being captain and I'm glad to say that we are tighter than ever." if you discount Liu Hao and his friends,"I am glad to lead this team -" in the future, "- and hope that everyone still continues to support us. So I don't think being captain has changed any part of my work ethic -" as she's been captain for all of an hour, "- as I always put in 100% into all my trainings and games. Thank you," said Mucheng before heading back to her seat. She was already tired. It wasn't even night yet and she was so tired. When was bedtime?Tao Xuan looking around at the desperate hands in the crowd, inwardly smirking at how desperate they were for him to pick them and said, "last question as we have training after this," just to watch those desperate hands become even more desperate."You," he picked a person from the side and watched as a bit of confusion happened between two reporters, "only one," he said just so he could watch them both look about to murder each other for the question before looking back at Cui Li and mimed tapping a watch. Cui Li nodded. "Okay, both of them should be fine," it felt so good to have all the power in the room.One shot up immediately much to the envy of the other reporter, "Yuan Rong, Rong's Sports, a question for Sun Xiang: How do you feel about moving from a mid ranking team to a bottom team?" there was a shift in the air like sharks smelling blood. She was going to have to train him not to be so honest during conferences.Sun Xiang quickly moved to the podium, his hands practically slamming the podium, "I have no worries about Excellent Era. I may regret leaving my previous team as they were the team I started out on but every person needs to move on eventually. Nobody can truly stay in one team forever without being captain. So I too moved where the wind took me. And let me say this: I personally issue a challenge to anyone who thinks that they can best me in Battle Mage. I may not be playing this class for long but I am no weakling in playing this class either." Sun Xiang watched each of the reporters taking this down before sitting back down again, passing Su Mucheng as she smiled happily for the crowd. Maybe Ye Qiu will resurface again so he can beat his old, shaking hands in Glory and prove that he is worthy of One Autumn Leaf so nobody can disclaim that he isn't the Battle God.The other reporter stood up looking very serious. "Yang Minsheng , Online Sports; question for captain Su: do you think that you'll win your next game with 301 Degrees?"Tao Xuan felt like he had bitten a sour lemon with these last two questions. All this power and only two questions for himself? But outwardly he allowed Su Mucheng to have the podium again."To answer your question..." Mucheng had to think fast. Saying yes and losing would look bad but saying no was an instant kill! "I believe that our current team can -" lose, miserably lose, they had no teamwork! "win if we train hard during the week that we have left before we challenge 301 Degrees. It will be tough but our team is strong enough to handle this," said Mucheng with false conviction before leaving the podium again. They were doomed. They were so doomed. They were going to be relegated.Behind her cameras flashed and people tried to get her attention to answer questions like Shaotian liked to answer them; in a free flowing stream of honest words. Not likely.Tao Xuan resumed the podium once more to deliver his closing speech before all the people from EE left the room together in a single stream before heading to the van again."Good job, the both of you, for answering the questions nicely. Though Su Mucheng, when we give you a script you stick to it," said Cui Li once they were already in traffic."I'm not going to say that we're going to win the next match. It's suicide to say it straight up. You know that," argued Su Mucheng."Su Mucheng -!" started Cui Li harshly before he was interrupted.Tao Xuan held up a hand to physically stop Cui Li's words and said, "Now, hold on. She did a good job of fielding those questions so I wouldn't go so hard on her, she has plenty of time to prove her words,"Mucheng got out her phone again."Su Mucheng, thank the CEO for his kind words," said Cui Li like she was a little girl. What did they think of her as? A child? A source of money? Make up your minds she thought towards them trying to establish a mental link with them so she could chew them out."Thanks," she said dully going through her messages to answer them all once more. Shaotian took up so much of her time and he's already replied! He has way too much time on his hands!"Thanks, what?" questioned Cui Li while Liu Hao snorted to hide his laughter. Anything to humiliate those that got his captaincy."It's fine, don't bother her. Youth, right?" joked Tao Xuan despite his words if anyone looked in his eyes they were screaming that he was scheming something.Sun Xiang looked around the van. It was odd to him. Before everyone was smiling happily but now something was wrong and Su Mucheng was fiddling with her phone while Cui Li and Liu Hao made small talk. He would join in but they were talking about family and promotions, it was all just boring. Liu Hao could kiss ass but he wasn't going to. The only other option in the car was Tao Xuan and it was kind of weird talking to his boss in this kind of setting in the first place. So he followed what Su Mucheng was doing and got out his phone to browse Glory videos of the 301 Degrees play style; better to know the enemy by watching them.