The King's "timi" sound went off, and he happily clicked into Ranked mode.
Then, he lost three games in a row.
In the first game, his jungle got completely invaded and destroyed by the enemy team.
One of his teammates even said sarcastically in voice chat: "Is our jungler a spy sent by the enemy?"
In the second game, he switched to the top lane, dominated his opponent during the laning phase, but when his own base exploded, he checked the scoreboard.
His teammates had fed a total of thirty-two kills combined.
In the third game, he had no idea which role to pick anymore.
No matter what he chose, he couldn't win. It felt like Tencent's matchmaking system had personally targeted him.
After watching his base explode once more, he took a deep breath, slowly exhaled, and silently cursed out every single one of his useless teammates in his head.
After cursing, he aimlessly scrolled through his friend list.
Scrolling and scrolling, he eventually came across Qiao Liuyue's game account.
Wait a minute—he froze, his finger hovering over the screen.
Dong Jiaoyan always only played support, but Qiao Liuyue's in-game name was actually "Little Qiao Loves Jungle"?
Zheng Qingyuan raised an eyebrow, curiosity piqued, and clicked into her match history page.
Gold medal jungler.
Silver medal jungler.
He scrolled down a whole page—every single match was MVP or a gold medal title.
And yesterday's results showed a clean six-game win streak.
Zheng Qingyuan took another deep breath, then glanced back at his own brutal three-loss streak.
A strange feeling suddenly welled up in his chest.
Fine, just fine. He had been playing this game for so long, priding himself on being decent, only to find out he wasn't even as good as Qiao Liuyue.
He tossed his phone onto the couch, face down. He wasn't going to play anymore. He didn't want to see this game again today.
Just as he logged out, a new message popped up on WeChat.
Big Hammer Crushes You: [Shadow in the Wind, SOS!]
Zheng Qingyuan raised an eyebrow and casually replied.
Shadow in the Wind: [What's up?]
Big Hammer Crushes You quickly responded: [Lan Lengyu got into a fight with someone and quit the old boost group in a fit of anger. They said they want to start something with us. What do you think?]
Shadow in the Wind: [Start something? Like opening our own boosting studio?]
Big Hammer Crushes You: [That's the idea, but the initial investment will be pretty big. We're still discussing it. Are you interested in joining?]
Zheng Qingyuan didn't hesitate.
Shadow in the Wind: [I've got a little money saved up. Alright, I'm in for this project!]
Speaking of boosting groups, Zheng Qingyuan actually had a somewhat embarrassing history.
He had always thought his skills weren't bad. In fact, he had even worked as a booster for a few games before.
Of course, it wasn't for the money—it was purely for the vanity of having people praise his skills and say he could carry them.
But back when he was boosting, the client was absolutely terrible.
They were bad at the game yet always eager to dive in—charging headfirst into fights without the team, feeding the enemy jungler like crazy.
The result was predictable.
Lost the first game.
Lost the second game.
The client got furious and started screaming in voice chat.
"What kind of trash booster are you? Your skills are so bad! Weren't you supposed to carry me? I died so many times, and you didn't even try to save me!"
Did Zheng Qingyuan let that slide?
He fired right back at the client on the spot.
"Save you? How?! Before I even got there, you'd already died in a flash!"
"During team fights, you went alone to take Baron—bam!—you died instantly again!"
"By the time you revived, the rest of us were all wiped out by the enemy jungler. Not even a god could have saved that!"
In short, he was a troublemaker.
Less than three days after joining the boost group, the group leader personally kicked him out.
Zheng Qingyuan thought: Fine. Since no one wants me around,
I'll just start my own boosting studio and be the boss myself.
Besides, his online friend Big Hammer had been reliable ever since they met.
Just as he was thinking, a noisy commotion suddenly reached his ears.
"Beautiful, beautiful! I told you this hairstyle suits her. Look at the curve of those ends—so natural."
"She's totally a beauty hidden by glasses! With contact lenses on, her eyes are like a doll's—big and bright."
"Hey, this makeup look is so youthful. Oh, add a little more blush and highlighter, dab it on the tip of her nose—yes, just like that."
"Alright, let's go with this outfit." That was Qiao Liuyue's voice.
Compared to the others' excitement, her tone was calm.
A soft rustle of fabric, followed by the muffled sound of shoes on the carpet.
Finally, the cream-colored curtain of the fitting room was pulled open from inside.
Zheng Qingyuan looked up unexpectedly and met a pair of bright, deep, beautiful almond-shaped eyes, the corners slightly tilted upward, carrying an unintentional allure.
They were like two black grapes just washed by morning dew, glistening with a watery sheen.
Gone were the heavy bangs that had blocked the view, gone was the dark-framed glasses that had sealed away her beauty. Her eyes sparkled with light.
The girl before him wore a sky-blue lotus-leaf top, the neckline perfectly revealing a small glimpse of her collarbone, matched with a cream-colored pleated skirt.
Around her waist was tied a white silk scarf, knotted into a pretty bow.
Beneath the skirt stretched a pair of long, slender legs, fair and radiant.
Her once rough, frizzy hair had been smoothed into soft, obedient strands, draping over her shoulders like fine silk, the ends curling slightly inward, making her delicate face look even smaller and more refined.
Her smooth forehead was now exposed, her nose bridge straight and delicate, casting a faint shadow on her cheeks.
Her light pink lips were glossed with a thin layer of lip glaze, moist and shiny.
Blush, neither too heavy nor too light, adorned the tip of her nose and her cheeks, adding an air of vitality to her overall look.
She tilted her head slightly,
her gaze landing on Zheng Qingyuan's face, which was frozen in shock and disbelief. The corner of her lip curled up just a little,
with a hint of a tentative smile.
"Does this... work?"
Zheng Qingyuan's mouth hung slightly open—he couldn't close it, and couldn't say a single word.
In that moment, his brain felt like someone had pressed the pause button.
Wait?
This—this—was Qiao Liuyue?!
He couldn't believe that the person before him was the same ordinary girl who had walked in with him earlier, dressed in a black t-shirt and faded blue jeans.
He opened his mouth, wanting to say something, but his throat felt blocked, and no sound came out.
He could only stare straight at her.
She was so beautiful that he simply couldn't look away.
Two versions of himself were arguing inside his head.
One said: "It's over!"
The other said: "Help!"
One said: "The sky is falling!"
The other said: "She's exactly my ideal type!"
One said: "No! I'm not that shallow!"
The other said: "Not shallow, huh? Then take your eyes off her first, instead of staring so openly."
