WG - 57

The match had yet to begin.

Players from each team entered the arena and took their respective seats, preparing their peripherals—keyboards, mice, and other devices—while adjusting various settings.

The audience below was buzzing, searching for their favorite teams to support.

After locking eyes with Xie Ye from across the hall for a few seconds, Chi Zhiyu blinked. Xie Ye calmly shifted his gaze, pulled out his chair, and sat down.

“How’s it going? Did you see where Chi is sitting?” Yang Bin asked curiously as he sat next to him, setting up his keyboard.

Xie Ye plugged in his mouse, his tone casual. “What’s it to you?”

Yang Bin finished calibrating his peripherals. “I’m just trying to help you relax, so you don’t get too nervous later.”

Xie Ye glanced at him. “Do I need your help for that?”

“...”

Ding Hui chuckled from the side. “Brother Ye has family support; does he need you to help him relax?”

Yang Bin clicked his tongue. “So now we’re discriminating against me?”

“Chi is sitting right there. She saw me earlier,” Lin Jie explained.

“What? Where?” Yang Bin turned around, trying to locate her.

“Stop looking,” Ding Hui interrupted. “The cameras will be on soon. Do you want them to catch you like this?”

Yang Bin remembered this and quickly turned back around.

“Just focus on your computer,” Xie Ye said slowly as he adjusted some parameters. “That’s my family.”

“...”

Damn impressive.

Below, Li Taoran scanned through the seating arrangements of various teams. Eventually, he moved to the front row, spotting Xie Ye sitting in his seat wearing headphones, staring at his computer screen with a blank expression.

“Hiss, I don’t know why, but I’m so nervous, even though it’s not my match,” Li Taoran muttered, slapping Su Le’s thigh.

Su Le jumped, startled. “What the hell is wrong with you?”

“I’m nervous!” Li Taoran clutched his chest. “Why hasn’t the match started yet? It’s been over an hour already. If we wait any longer, I might start having trouble breathing.”

“Don’t you see they’re preparing?” Wu Xuan shot him a glance. “And why are you nervous? Even his official girlfriend hasn’t said anything.”

At these words, Chi Zhiyu shook her head. “No need to say more. Stay low-key.”

“...”

Before Wu Xuan could respond, the large screen on stage lit up, showing the commentators’ platform.

The fans in the audience immediately grew restless.

Hearing this, Chi Zhiyu paused, raising her head to look at the big screen.

“Hello, everyone. You are now watching the live broadcast of the China regional qualifiers for this year’s Asian Invitational.”

The live stream began.

The three commentators gave an introduction to the tournament.

“This qualifier features sixteen teams, including the highly anticipated YG, AKC, Lpo, Eagle Lion...”

“As usual, the competition requires seven intense matches to select four teams to represent the Chinese region, heading to Nanshan to participate in this year’s Asian Invitational.”

“The competition to go from sixteen to four is fierce, and every team here is a powerhouse we all know well. Their strength cannot be underestimated. Of course, we also know that some teams have made internal adjustments this year, and we look forward to seeing their performance later...”

After the commentators finished introducing the overall environment of the first half of the year, the live camera panned to the AKC team on the field.

The commentators naturally introduced the players, and when it came to the YG team, the fans below saw Xie Ye appear on the screen and immediately screamed.

“YG’s Polo retired last year and became a coach, which everyone understands since health comes first. This year, two new members joined the team—Lin, a rookie, and Wild, who everyone knows. This is YG’s first public appearance of their roster, having only released the list without promotional photos, so it counts as...”

The commentator hesitated over his choice of words while looking at Xie Ye’s image on the screen. “They’ve been holding back a big move.”

The other two commentators laughed. “Indeed, it’s a big move. We also look forward to YG performing well in the upcoming matches.”

The camera then panned to other teams.

After the commentators finished their introductions, the match finally began.

Upon hearing this, Chi Zhiyu unconsciously sat up straight, and Wu Xuan nervously gripped her hand beside her.

The live broadcast on the big screen switched to the game interface.

The first match commenced, starting from the military base on the airport line.

Icons of the various teams showed parachuting and flying, with YG jumping towards the bridgehead, opting for a high glide and quickly landing on the outskirts of the minefield.

“Keep an eye on them and move towards the high ground,” Ding Hui quickly gathered supplies and moved upwards.

Lin Jie raised his sight, firing several shots at someone still falling from the sky, eliminating one member of Drop.

“Wow, hunting birds so early?” Yang Bin glanced at the map. “But it seems like a whole group is coming.”

Xie Ye accurately identified the direction. “Here they come, a full team.”

“Alright, let’s see who the unlucky ones are.” Yang Bin fired a shot, knocking down Drop’s Cheng Li. “What? Are they here for revenge?”

Cheng Li was quickly helped up by his teammates, hiding behind a house.

Lin Jie and Ding Hui prepared to flank them, but AKC, who had been lurking nearby, heard the gunfire and rushed in, taking cover and shooting down Yang Bin with a few shots.

“Shit?” Yang Bin gritted his teeth. “Ambushing us like this?”

Lin Jie’s situation was also dire, caught between Drop in front and AKC behind, under double-sided pressure.

He couldn’t save Yang Bin either, or else he’d be vulnerable during the gap.

“Lin Jie, stay crouched by the tree. Yang Bin, don’t move. I’m coming,” Xie Ye adjusted his headphones, quickly switching guns and running over from behind, temporarily blocking AKC’s line of sight.

Lin Jie covered him from behind while Xie Ye listened to the footsteps inside the house, set a landmine, and threw it accurately.

A loud “bang” echoed.

The kill feed announced Wild eliminated three members of Drop and one of his own teammates.

The live footage happened to switch to this moment, and the audience gasped.

“We see YG’s Wild using footsteps to lock positions, setting up a window and throwing a grenade, ending the fight cleanly and efficiently.”

“One for three, Drop wiped out. YG profited.”

Ding Hui quickly deployed smoke, leading Xie Ye and Ding Hui outwards.

The first toxic zone began to shrink, directly covering the minefield. However, due to the time spent fighting Drop, the higher ground had already been occupied by another team.

With only three members left, Xie Ye prepared to crawl slowly when they unfortunately encountered AKC again.

During the fight, Lin Jie made a mistake and was killed. Ding Hui tried to save him but was spotted by Eagle Lion above and eliminated.

“Fuck!” Ding Hui angrily pushed away his keyboard.

Lin Jie pursed his lips. “It’s my fault. I made a mistake.”

“No blaming yourself. They’re ganging up on us,” Ding Hui waved it off. “Rely on Brother Ye. Let’s survive for a bit.”

Xie Ye quickly peeked, firing a shot to knock down one person, smirking slightly. “Surviving my ass.”

Without teammates, Xie Ye couldn’t take on two teams alone. He could only survive for now, but not for long. After managing to eliminate two more people, he was taken out by a team.

The first match ended.

YG had six kills, ranking sixth with a total of six points.

They really did end up surviving for nothing.

The audience below seemed somewhat disappointed, murmuring regretfully.

Chi Zhiyu could hear the conversation of a few boys sitting nearby.

One boy clicked his tongue. “Didn’t they say Wild was strong? What kind of play is this? They didn’t even make it into the top five.”

Beside him, a boy wearing a hat shrugged indifferently. “If he was really that strong, would he have waited until now to join the team and compete?”

The boy laughed. “True, maybe he’s only good at casual games.”

Upon hearing this, Chi Zhiyu turned her head toward the source of the sound, her gaze landing on their faces with a rather indifferent expression.

After the boys finished talking and laughed a few times, they suddenly felt something amiss. Turning their heads, they met Chi Zhiyu’s cold, partially hidden eyes beneath her cap brim. Pausing briefly, they quickly turned back to watch the match.

Not long after, the second match began. This time, the airport line started from S City, and YG jumped at G City.

After the entire team finished gathering supplies, the toxic zone began to shrink—it was a cursed circle.

Yang Bin cursed as he prepared to find a car to run into the safe zone, but unfortunately, they ran into Drop again.

Their team directly surrounded the four of them in a vehicle, intending to engage in a direct gunfight.

“Fuck, Drop must really want revenge from the last match, huh?” Ding Hui couldn’t help but curse.

Lin Jie frowned, half-crouching in the grass to avoid bullets, using his scope to shoot the opponent, draining half their health, but he himself didn’t have much left.

Yang Bin pulled him back, and they timely provided cover fire, eliminating the opponent’s chance to revive their teammate.

“Come on, heal first.” Ding Hui handed Lin Jie a medkit, distributing themselves and engaging Drop from different angles to split their firepower.

However, the toxic zone had already begun to close in completely, enveloping the four of them. Supplies were running low, and they struggled to move, managing to kill two members of Drop.

At this point, Lpo, who had been lying in wait on the side, suddenly emerged to flank them, wiping out both YG in the toxic zone and the remaining member of Drop.

As the saying goes, the sparrow waits for the cicada.

In the second match, YG eliminated three people, ranked eleventh, with a total of nine points.

“Isn’t this a bit off?” Li Taoran frowned as he watched the screen from below. “Why does it feel like everyone is targeting YG?”

Wu Xuan was annoyed. “Drop just came straight for Xie Ye and his team to fight. Isn’t that intentional?”

“It is intentional,” Su Le observed the situation on the screen, frowning slightly, and said calmly, “They’re all preparing to target Xie Ye.”

Chi Zhiyu noticed it too.

In the first match, the other teams were probing Xie Ye’s limits because they had never faced him before and wanted to know how strong he was.

When the results came out, seeing Xie Ye’s number of solo kills, everyone realized he was fully capable of being dangerous. However, YG’s overall ranking was still lacking.

This piece of information made all the other teams unanimously decide to suppress Xie Ye right from the start. This way, YG’s ranking would fall significantly, leaving them no threat or room to maneuver in the final rounds.

Thus, YG’s current situation was already locked in place. No matter where they jumped next, they would be targeted.

While the crowd below discussed this, the third match had already begun.

Just like the previous two matches, the same situation repeated.

After YG parachuted and landed, finding shelter without making any moves and honestly gathering supplies, gunfire automatically sought them out.

This time, it was Eagle Lion’s team. They directly stormed upstairs but encountered Xie Ye first. He pinpointed their position by listening and preemptively took down one of their members.

However, Yang Bin and Ding Hui were at a disadvantage. Another team, attracted by the commotion, flanked and killed them.

Afterward, Xie Ye dragged Lin Jie and barely survived three rounds of the toxic zone, finishing sixth with eight kills.

Total score: 17.

After three rounds, there was a thirty-minute break.

YG’s members stood up and walked back to the rest area, their expressions grim and icy.

Piao Luo, Lao Mu, and Hua Bei saw them return and quickly stood up.

Lao Mu consoled them first. “It’s okay, it’s okay. Come on, drink some water and calm down.”

“Drink what water!” Yang Bin frowned. “I’m so angry I could burst. Is everyone treating us like shooting targets?”

“They’ve already banded together, thinking only of wiping us out,” Ding Hui said with a sharp tone. “The enemy of my enemy is my friend? Friend my ass.”

“Calm down, calm down.” Lao Mu also felt angry but could only console them. “Treat these three rounds as a lesson. In the following matches, we’ll change our strategy. They can’t do anything to us. Moreover, we don’t need to be first; getting into the top four is enough. Calm down and cool off.”

Lin Jie’s thin lips pressed into a line, clearly very angry. “They just want to drag our team’s score down. Our total score is already lagging far behind. How do we play the next few rounds?”

“Just play like this.” Piao Luo’s face was cold. “Are you telling me we can’t handle being surrounded by a few people for three rounds? The match has just started. There will be plenty of such situations. This is their strategy. If you were in this situation, I would tell you to do the same. There’s nothing wrong with it. Getting angry here won’t help. Next round, fight back. Are you telling me you can’t deal with just a few people?”

After Piao Luo’s reprimand, their anger slightly subsided, but their expressions remained sour.

Lao Mu looked at Xie Ye, the only one who hadn’t spoken, and was genuinely surprised. He thought Xie Ye, with his bad temper, would be the first to explode. Even Lin Jie, who usually didn’t get this angry, had lashed out.

Unexpectedly, apart from a slightly cold expression, Xie Ye seemed fine. But Lao Mu inexplicably felt something was off. He asked, “Xie Ye, do you have any issues?”

Xie Ye’s lips pressed into a straight line. “Yes.”

Lao Mu quickly nodded. “Uh-huh, go ahead, speak.”

Xie Ye’s eyes showed no emotion, his tone flat. “When does the next round start?”

“...”

Facing his cold, stern eyes, Lao Mu swallowed involuntarily. “What do you plan to do?”

Xie Ye raised his eyes, speaking word by word. “Reclaim our score.”

...

Sixteen teams returned to the battlefield, and the fourth round began. YG jumped back into the minefield.

Upon landing, Xie Ye saw the guns and scopes in front of him and suddenly sneered.

He quickly picked up an SCAR-L, equipped it with a scope and bullets, turned around, and hid behind a tree, aiming at another team preparing to parachute down.

Xie Ye’s role in the team was as a sniper, and his kill rate was notoriously high, both before and after the matches.

“Ah, we see YG’s Wild has landed. Wow, he’s actually preparing to hunt birds right away. That’s quite bold, considering the current field—”

The commentator’s words were cut short by a gunshot in the footage.

The system announcement displayed:

[YG_Wild used SCAR-L to hit the head and eliminated Lpo_]

The next second, two more gunshots rang out.

[YG_Wild used SCAR-L to hit the head and knocked down Lpo_Rroun]

[YG_Wild used SCAR-L to hit the head and eliminated Lpo_pop]

Triple kill.

Less than one minute into the match.

Only one member of the Lpo team remained.

The three commentators were stunned, and the live broadcast and the venue fell silent for a moment.

The next second, screams erupted throughout the venue.

Xie Ye smirked slightly, put away his gun, and quickly returned to his team, giving an order. “Yang Bin, go finish off those two useless guys with a shot.”

“Shit...” Yang Bin reacted. “Me? Finish them?”

“If not you, then Lin Jie will.” Xie Ye searched for supplies, casually switching to another gun.

“I’ll go! I’ll go!” Yang Bin quickly responded, turning around and running off eagerly, shooting the last remaining member of Lpo.

Team wipe.

The situation in this match had a turning point right from the start. YG had ample time to occupy the high ground of the minefield, gaining a geographical advantage along with the team’s coordination.

The fourth round ended with YG having 13 kills, ranking first with a total score of 38 points.

Everyone was still a bit dazed, completely unexpected by this sudden turn of events. Some were still marveling at Xie Ye’s triple kill at the start.

By the time they regained their senses, the fifth round had begun. Gradually, they felt that YG might win this match too.

Premonitions often hold true.

In the fifth round, seeing YG’s overall ranking rise, the other teams continued their attacks. However, YG had anticipated this and blocked a team from AKC with their vehicles, as if seeking revenge.

Xie Ye continued his ruthless sniping, and in the end, YG secured the chicken dinner once again.

The team had 9 kills, ranking first with a total score of 55 points.

The team’s performance skyrocketed, climbing from eleventh place overall to sixth.

By the end of the sixth round, after decisively eliminating Drop, YG fought their way to another chicken dinner, surpassing the consistently fourth-ranked Awr and securing a spot in the top four.

Their entry ticket to the Asian Invitational was now firmly in hand.

Finally, the seventh round began.

The audience had noticed that in the previous three rounds, the first team Xie Ye targeted was Drop, Lpo, and AKC, who had attacked them in the first three rounds.

They understood.

This was revenge.

Pure, living revenge.

Through these three rounds, the other teams had come to understand Xie Ye’s personality and no longer dared to be the first to block others, instead focusing on fair play.

When only three teams remained, coincidentally, one of them was Drop, who had blocked them twice.

The director wisely focused the camera on Xie Ye.

Everyone in the venue, including the commentators, instinctively looked at him.

Drop was clever this round. They planned to trap Xie Ye inside the house and throw grenades.

However, standing outside the house and breaking down the door with gunfire, they didn’t have time to throw the grenades. Xie Ye, crouching in a corner of the room, aimed his gun through the window with a scope, beginning his sniping.

Drop didn’t notice this external threat, standing as living targets.

The commentator began, “Alright, Wild has started his headshot spree. So if anyone wants to leave, they’ll have to ask Wild’s gun for permission, right?”

As the words fell, in the live footage, Xie Ye’s scope centered on the head of one of Drop’s members.

Xie Ye fired.

The commentator followed up with, “Good, it doesn’t allow it.”

Xie Ye quickly switched to the next target.

Then, bang, bang, bang, several consecutive shots.

The commentator watched the kill feed, exclaiming, “Wow, this headshot spree is excellent. Hmm, one more, beautiful!”

Even though the situation was tense, paired with the commentator’s words and Xie Ye’s calm, arrogant expression, it oddly felt like he might be thinking exactly that.

Drop was mercilessly slaughtered. The audience then watched as Ding Hui and Yang Bin executed perfect coordination, wiping out another team, leaving only one member of Eagle Lion.

Xie Ye lay on the high ground, opening his scoped rifle, and fired with a “bang.”

The match ended.

In the seventh round, YG’s total score was 110, ranking overall.

First.

The Winner screen appeared.

The audience quickly stood up, filled with fervor, cheering wildly. “YG! YG! YG! YG! YG!”

The commentators were also excited, standing up to offer congratulations.

The screen footage switched to the YG members on stage. The audience watched as Xie Ye casually removed his headphones, raised his eyes, and looked into the camera.

That handsome, aloof face appeared on the screen, seemingly carrying an innate arrogance, his lips slightly curved.

At this moment.

Everyone’s breath paused for a second.

In an instant.

The screams of the entire venue continuously amplified.

“Ahhhhhhhhh!”

“Wild! Wild! Wild! Wild!”

Chi Zhiyu sat below, hearing the rising and falling sounds around her, accompanied by the cheers of Li Taoran and the others. Her lips unconsciously curved into a smile.

She looked up at Xie Ye, seeing the director’s footage shift away, returning to the host on stage.

Her gaze moved to the team’s seating area, spotting the young man still seated in the gaming chair, turning his body to face her below.

Across the distance of the crowd, they locked eyes as they had before the match began.

But this time, Chi Zhiyu saw it.

A faint smile played at Xie Ye’s brows and eyes, as if he had seen through her emotions. He lightly raised an eyebrow, his lips curling into a smile, and opened his mouth to say something.

Despite the distance and the overwhelming screams around her, she felt as if she could still hear his familiar, lazy tone.

“Chi Zhiyu,”

“Your boyfriend is waiting for you to take him home.”