Chapter 6
A Bit Troublesome?
Lin Xiao suddenly noticed that in the Challenger tier solo queue rankings on the Korean server, apart from some IDs marked with red circles, there were also a few other IDs framed with thinner blue boxes.
These six or seven IDs all shared a characteristic: they all had the prefix "cn," at the beginning.
At the bottom of this post, the topic creator had provided an explanation for the blue-framed IDs: the prefix "cn," was simply an abbreviation for "China" or "Chinese." This indicated that these players, though their true identities hadn't been revealed yet, were at least undoubtedly Chinese.
All in all, domestic server players occupied a total of about ten spots on the Korean server's Challenger tier rankings.
Hmm... Actually, it was still a bit few.
Moreover, these six or seven blue-framed IDs mostly had their rank points in the lower half of the list, with no particularly prominent names.
Ah, no, that's not right—
Lin Xiao's gaze stopped at the sixty-third ID on the list, a name also framed in blue:
cn, dancingshoe.
This was the only ID among the six or seven with the "cn," prefix that made it into the top one hundred of the Korean server's Challenger tier, and its rank was even higher than well-known domestic server grandmasters like "Re Kai Shui" or "Hei An Sen Lin."
"dancingshoe..."
Lin Xiao muttered. He knew the meaning of this word, "Dancing Shoe."
However, he hadn't seemed to hear of any famous figure on the domestic server whose ID would make him associate with this name...
Moreover, this ID sounded a bit feminine.
Could it be that this domestic server expert who climbed to the top one hundred of the Korean server's Challenger tier was a girl?
This thought had just arisen when Lin Xiao shook his head and dismissed it. If there really was a girl who reached such a Challenger standard, she would have long been famous throughout the domestic server. How could she be so mysterious...
At the same time he made this judgment, someone forgot that he and his four old teammates, after continuously winning the WCG, weren't they still mysteriously elusive?
Moreover, among them, coincidentally, there was a girl.
"Hmph, it's definitely not a girl."
Lin Xiao confidently concluded.
Well, expecting him to deduce the truth through such a common ID name was too difficult.
...
The next day, it was another Monday.
Putting aside the matters of team formation and the Tian Xie Cup tournament, Lin Xiao slung his backpack and rode his bicycle to school.
After all, while those matters were urgent, the truly pressing one was the upcoming college entrance examination.
In the morning, after the Literature class ended, during the break, Chen He, sitting at the same desk, leaned over and spoke to Lin Xiao:
"Hey, the other night your dad called my house."
Lin Xiao, biting into a piece of chocolate to keep himself awake, vaguely asked: "What did he say?"
Chen He pouted: "What else could he say? Just asking if you were still at my place. Damn it, luckily I was quick-witted and grabbed the phone before my mom answered, otherwise your secret would definitely have been exposed."
Then he smugly claimed credit: "How about that, was my support play good?"
Lin Xiao gave a thumbs up: "Nice."
After this conversation, Chen He curiously asked again: "Hey, you only told me to play support before, but where did you actually go this weekend?"
Lin Xiao swallowed the chocolate and replied: "Ah, I went to play in a tournament."
"Play in a tournament?" Chen He's eyes lit up: "What tournament!? Don't tell me it's the Tian Xie Cup!"
Lin Xiao was surprised: "How did you know?"
Chen He exclaimed: "Damn it! It really is the Tian Xie Cup!? You went to play in a tournament and didn't even tell me, what were you thinking!!"
Lin Xiao scratched his head: "It's nothing much..."
Chen He was angry: "You call this nothing? The Tian Xie Cup is many times more advanced than our previous internet cafe tournament! Even major university teams like Fudan and Huacai participate, this is absolutely a major tournament, alright!"
Lin Xiao: "Ah, I know... We have to play Fudan in the semifinals."
Chen He's eyes widened when he heard this: "You guys are playing Fudan in the semifinals!? Damn it! That's awesome!! No way, I definitely have to go watch then!"
Lin Xiao thought for a moment, shaking his head repeatedly: "No, no."
Chen He was annoyed: "Why not!?"
Lin Xiao: "If you go too, then I won't find anyone to help me play support..."
Chen He: "... You shameless guy, there has to be a limit! You can ruthlessly betray your friends for your own benefit! I despise you!!"
Lin Xiao spread his hands: "Otherwise, I can't go play in the tournament... You wouldn't even see me there."
Chen He sighed: "Oh, is your family that strict? For such an important tournament, your parents should at least be a little understanding—"
Understanding?
Lin Xiao tried to imagine telling his family openly that he wanted to go to S City to play in a tournament.
Then he couldn't help but shiver.
Hmm, no way, this absolutely couldn't be known by his family.
...
While the two were talking, Chu You returned, her eyes looking towards Lin Xiao, slightly surprised:
"Lin Xiao, did you go play in the Tian Xie Cup yesterday?"
Lin Xiao: "It was the day before yesterday, yesterday I went to watch two other matches." Then he paused, a little surprised: "You You, you know about the Tian Xie Cup too?"
Chu You nodded: "Of course, Xiao Yu kept mentioning this tournament to me a while ago. It seems to be a high-level tournament within the entire province, right—"
Then the Class President glanced at Lin Xiao, huffing twice: "No wonder I didn't see you online in-game last weekend. You even said you wanted to duo with me to help me climb ranks..."
Lin Xiao scratched his head, embarrassed: "Ahem, I've been quite busy lately..."
"Yes, yes, playing in tournaments is more important," Chu You again subtly glanced at Lin Xiao, then asked: "You guys have reached the semifinals?"
Lin Xiao: "Oh, not yet, we just entered the Quarterfinals, and will play this weekend."
"This weekend?"
Chu You frowned slightly upon hearing this, then looked at Lin Xiao: "Does that mean your Tian Xie Cup is one round per week?"
Lin Xiao nodded, still not realizing why the Class President was frowning: "Probably."
Then, he saw a somewhat complicated expression appear on Chu You's face: "Then it's a bit troublesome..."
Lin Xiao was stunned: "Troublesome? What's troublesome?"
Chu You sighed, explaining: "If it's one round per week, then your semifinals will be in half a month, and the finals will be the weekend after that, but by then we still have to—"
Her words were cut short as Senior Sister Tang Guo, in elegant casual attire, walked into the classroom holding a pile of test papers.
Chu You paused, stopped her conversation, and finally added:
"Hmm, anyway, Senior Sister Tang Guo will probably announce it later. You'll know what the trouble is after you hear it."